U/b Gorger **Budget**

[Ghost]

Well, here it is, any help you can offer would be appriciated as long as it doesnt involve bying power/bazaars. Thanks

U/B Gorger

Land: 15
4x polluted delta
3x underground sea
1x island
7x swamp

Other mana: 8
4x dark ritual
1x sol ring
1x mana crypt
1x lotus petal
1x mana vault

Creatures: 8
4x worldgorger dragon
2x verdant force
1x sliver queen
1x ambassador laquatus


Bury: 8
4x buried alive
3x compulsion
1x entomb

Tutor: 5
2x Lim-Dul's Vault
1x vampiric tutor
1x demonic tutor
1x demonic consultation

Animate: 8
4x dance of the dead
3x necromancy
1x animate dead

Disruption: 9
4x duress
3x unmask
2x chain of vapor

Sideboard: ? ? ?
4x tormod's crypt
3x powder keg
2x chain of vapor
3x defese grid
3x chalice of the void

[Puschkin]

If you want help, write more about your deck, what it should do, waht you metagame is like and so on. The better your initial post, the better the answers, old rule.

[zamuli]

hmm.. this looks nice, the idea on Sliver Queen. It still isn't so fast as Laquatus, and i don't quite understand the Verdant Forces there (please explain).
I'd add here some counter, Counterspells and FoWs will do fine on this if on budget, no need to buy mana drains, unless you have lots of money  8) . And oh, play 1 or 2 Intuitions on that deck, they're awesome.

Counters are needed, because without power and opponent with graveyard hate SB (like everyone has there days) you'll hardly ever win game2.

[Ghost]

Ok,  I had A mono-black 5-proxy gorger and I'm making a 0-proxy version. I have been playing t1 for about a year so I'm just getting stuff like seas and force of wills now. That should give you an idea about the price range I'm in.
        I started by taking crater hellions build and chaneing it a bit (5-proxy). Since I don't have acess to bazaars if I don't  use proxys I decided to splash blue and use compulsion which IMO is the next best thing. I also added lim-duls vault because it seems to be a very decent tutor.
          I'm not using intuition because this deck is slower than a full-powered version and they just didn't seem that good if I don't have squees to fetch. I'm not using force of will because I don't think I have enough blue in my deck for them to be effective.   Because of this I added to chain of vapors to combat stuff like ankh of mishra.
       Buried alive is my "primary" way to win, as using compulsion is slower. I'm debating the use of caller of the claw instead of sliver queen because the caller doesn't require you to put mana in your pool  to go off. However sliver queen is big and fat.
          I use dance of the dead over animate dead because giving my verdant force +1+1 instead of -1-0 means it takes 2 turns rather than 3 for it to kill. I also use for so if I use demonic consultation it will be easier to find.
 My sideboard is somewhat random and needs the most work.
The decks I can often expect to go against are as follows:
1x fully powered keeper
1x fully powered stax
1x semi-powerd parfait
1x Spoils-mask
statis
other blue-based control
lots of Sui black
lots of sligh

There are others, i'll update when I have time.

[Ghost]

hmm.. this looks nice, the idea on Sliver Queen. It still isn't so fast as Laquatus, and i don't quite understand the Verdant Forces there (please explain).
I'd add here some counter, Counterspells and FoWs will do fine on this if on budget, no need to buy mana drains, unless you have lots of money  8) . And oh, play 1 or 2 Intuitions on that deck, they're awesome.

Counters are needed, because without power and opponent with graveyard hate SB (like everyone has there days) you'll hardly ever win game2.

I'm not sure  how I would incorperate counterspell I'm intrestead in using forces, but I can't seem to find the right amount of blue to make them effective. Luckily there is not a lot of graveyard hate where I play. Verdant forces are an alternate way to win If you can't pull off your combo(ankh). plus against keeper etc. it forces them to use up there swords to plowshares. Against stack/artifact prison it often can be enough to win you the game. Intuition just hasn't been working for me. Maybe I'm not using them right.

[Jamino]

First off:
In my own experience, Bazzar is the glue that holds the deck together.
Uncounterable creature discarding that easilly nets you cards so without it the deck will lose alot of redudancy and raw power.
However, thought a few many turns slower it is still playable.
Force of Will is like ketchup with fries, its a must. You want to be able to sneak that combo out, and duress and a few unmasks wont eb enough vs control.
Judging by your metagame, I do not see to much reason not to run any null rods? They will hardly hurt you and the advantage they will grant you vs decks like keeper in quite insane.
Why are you playing Verdant force AND Sliver queen in the MD? One of those should eb enough, and why are you playing TWO verdant force? Sure crypts can be a problem, but yet again null rod deals with those.
From what you have said your metagame seems to have enough aggro to warrant Maze of Ith. I know, alot of people may not agree with me on this, but you will really need something to hold aggro or a large tog at bay while trying to set up the combo now.
Splashing green may not be a bad idea, but you also seem to be missing dual lands? In which case it will just not make a very good mana base.
This is all I can think of at the moment,
Good luck!

[RoadTrippin]

Bazaar is obviously a house, but the deck is still a great choice if you are on a budget! I have been working on a handful of budget lists- here is my blue black:

4 Worldgorger Dragon
1 Ambassador Laquatus
1 Sliver Queen
4 Compulsion
3 Dance of the Dead
3 Necromancy
2 Animate Dead
4 Buried Alive
2 Lim-Dul's Vault
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
4 Force of Will
1 Cunning Wish
3 Careful Study
2 Stifle
1 Entomb
1 Mana Crypt
1 Chrome Mox
1 Sol Ring
1 Lotus Petal
4 Polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
3 Island
3 Swamp
SB: 3 Back to Basics
SB: 3 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 3 Powder Keg
SB: 2 Verdant Force
SB: 1 Stroke of Genius
SB: 1 Frantic Search
SB: 1 Rushing River

Now, I have a few things to say about this list. Let me start with the fact that B2B is absolutely awesome for the deck. I ran it back in the 4-Entomb days, but sort of just forgot about it completely after I picked up Bazaars when Legions came out. I'm not sold on the 5 Strips maindeck, but I posted them so I'm going to try to advocate for their use. Mana Denial is what makes this (budget) deck viable. Careful study is in fact playable if you aren't able to get Bazaars, which I'm assuming. Force of Will is pretty damn key however. I urge you to try this list (or a similar one) out. If you prefer to cut the 5 strips for more combo mana accelerators, you should without a doubt maindeck Back to Basics. If you expect much control at all, this is probably a safe assertion. Well, good luck and I'm glad to hear you were able to work off my mono-black list.

[TheFram]

Here is what I'm playing for budget dragon at the moment

BG Survival/Dragon

10
4 Buried Alive
4 Survival of the Fittest
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor

16
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
3 Worldgorger Dragon
1 Ambasador Laquatas
1 Caller of the Claw
1 Verdant Force
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Mesmeric Fiend

8
3 Animate Dead
3 Necromancy
2 Dance of the Dead

7
4 Duress
3 Cabal Therapy

19
4 Bayou
4 Swamp
4 Llanlowar Wastes
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring/ Chrome Mox

Sideboard
4 Xantid Swarm
3 Pernicious Deed
2 Uktabi Orangutan
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Cabal Therapy
1 Withered Wretch
1 Verdant Force
1 Gaea's Blessing

The benefits of playing this over UB are manifold in my opinion.

1) While SOTF is slower than Intuition and will not tutor for get animates, it is usually a game ender against control while Intuition will not always be. Also, 1-ofs are more potent with SOTF.

2) Xantid Swarm + Cabal Therapy >> FOW

3) Mana acceleration is better in green.

4) Better SB options, Such as Xantid, Deed, Ubtabi/Naturalize, Gaea's Blessing.

-TheFram

[The M.E.T.H.O.D]

@TheFram.. Your deck is very interesting and I like it a lot, but honestly I think its piss slow.  Even with a combo of birds/ESG and artifact acceleration I still believe its not as fast as a dragon combo deck needs to function properly.  U/G even budget, you get careful study, and intuition. other BETTER options.  You give your opponent too much time and most of the time an answer.  Though cabal/duress is good, you need force of will not only to protect your combo, but to stop other decks.  Pitch counter is a lot better then using your mana to cast discard, because when you play dragon you need all the mana you can get to combo off as soon as possible.

[TheFram]

I disagree with your comment about the speed of the deck.

The average kill against a non-control opponent is turn 3, turn 2 with a great hand (not a god hand, just a great one, ie: turn 1 land, ESG -> SOTF).

Against control, this deck has many more tools than UB to hold down the opponent and force through the combo. I think that the added resiliency and hand hate are strong reasons to play this over UB Budget Dragon.

The reason to play Dragon over other combo is resiliency over speed. While I agree that speed is a large issue, I dont think that UB will be any faster than BG since it will have to be much more careful in the control matchup. Even with FOW there are no certainties. With Duress/Therapy, there are.

UB Dragon is a great budget deck, but taking into consideration the over-abundance of control in vintage i really think BG is better. Both will own aggro most of the time, and both will lose to powered combo, so it comes down to the control matchup, which I'm convinced BG is better at.

[RoadTrippin]

@thefram- but FoW gives you a fightning chance vs. powered combo decks. Blue also gives B2B, which, although not previously used, I think adds a lot to my list vs. control. Now, I've tested Survival. A lot. And although green's ESG and others add to a nice team of mana acceleration, the deck is still slow if you're trying to win through SotF. I've written up an article with a budget deck for each color combination- white being rector, red being actually incredibly solid using gamble and draw 7 action, and in my testing either of these less-than-stellar decks are better than those that revolve around Survival.

[Ghost]

RoadTrippin- Is stifle specifiacally better than chain of vapor? Also is carful study really all that good/ have you actually tested it, seems to me it wouldn't be too good.

[Tychoides]

A couple of questions came to mind when looking at that decklist.

Why do you need four Worldgorger Dragons? You typically only want that many if you plan on drawing them (like in Bazaar builds) and I don't think 3 Compulsions warrants that, really. I think that a budget build is better off with 2 or 3 Dragons and running Intuition with the Buried Alive and Entomb.

Where is Cunning Wish? I think that it's a great addition and opens up some more options in the sideboard. I guess that is more of a metagame call, though.

If you do lower the Dragon count, add Intuition, and add Cunning Wish, you can then probably support Force of Will.

[Ghost]

Ok, Thanks for the help everyone here are the two new versions I'm gonna try. There is no cunning wish in either of these build because I own none I don't know how to use them right and I feel that they are kinda slow for a budget build, I might be horribly wrong.... Back to basics is a great SB suggestion, thanks keep em coming my sideboards aren't that good.

Black-splash blue
This version is much like the mono-black version, but it uses compulsion to discard stuff and find the cards you need, chain of vapor to stall/mess with ishocron scepter/bounce ankh tormods crypt, etc, etc. It also has 4 duress and 3 unmask to help get the combo through. ) This version does not use force of will because there are few blue cards in it. It does not use intuition because it is not really needed, (although evryone says it's good... maybe I'm not playing it right??)

Lands: 15
4x polluted delta
3x underground sea
1x island
7x swamp

Other Mana:8
1x mana crypt
4x dark ritual
1x mana vault
1x sol ring
1x lotus petal

Creatures: 6
3x worldgorger dragon (might go back up to 4)
1x ambassador laquatas
1x sliver queen
1x verdant force (Might drop)

Disruption: 10
4x duress
3x unmask
3x chain of vapor

Tutor: 5
3x lim-dul's vault (might drop one)
1x demonic tutor
1x vampiric tutor

Bury: 8
4x buried alive
3x compusion
1x entomb (might drop)

Animate
4x dance of the dead
3x necromancy
1x animate dead

Potential Sb
3x tormod's crypt
3x back to basics
1x chain of vapor
1x stifle
3x chalice of the void
3x defense grid
1x verdant force

Here is the reasoning behind cards in my SB.
Tormod's crypt- there isn't much in the way of graveyaard based decks where I play but they do show up at time to time.
Back to basics- I hear it's good against control...
1x chain of vapor- in case I'm woried about ankhs, other problem permenants. If there where any mirror matches they would be good....
1x-stifle in general the same idea as the chain, I like chain better cause it's common  
3x chalice of the void- lotsa sligh running around
3x defense grid- control matches
1x verdant force- Stax i guess, In case I need him




B/U Gorger

This is the other version I might try, however this version is thoretical as I havn't played with it, and it's constructed mosly on the advice of others. This version uses force of will to protect itself.

Lands: 15
4x polluted delta
3x underground sea
1x island
5x swamp
2x underground river ( )

Other Mana:8
1x mana crypt
4x dark ritual
1x mana vault
1x sol ring
1x lotus petal

Creatures: 6
3x worldgorger dragon (might go back up to 4)
1x ambassador laquatas
1x sliver queen

Disruption: 11
4x duress
4x force of will
3x chain of vapor

Tutor: 5
3x lim-dul's vault
1x demonic tutor
1x vampiric tutor

Bury: 9
4x buried alive
3x compusion
2x intuition

Animate 8
4x dance of the dead
3x necromancy
1x animate dead


Potential Sb
3x tormod's crypt
3x back to basics
1x chain of vapor
1x stifle
3x chalice of the void
3x ????
1x verdant force

[hillbilly]

I have been working on a budget dragon deck as well and I liked the way the BG looked. I think survival is a good card for the budget deck. I have a list that goes like this.

19
4 elvish spirit guide
4 birds of paradise
4 xantid swarm
4 worldgorger dragon
1 squee, goblin nabob
1 ambassador laquatus
1 sliver queen

23
4 survival of the fittest
4 buried alive
3 animate dead
3 dance of the dead
3 necromancy
1 demonic tutor
1 vampiric tutor
4 duress

18
4 bayou
4 polluted delta
4 llanlowar wastes
4 forest
2 swamp

This is very close to the other BG build suggested except I choose to run the xantids main deck.  This accomplishes two things it allows a higher creature count a nice thing in a survival deck and when survival is in play you can go search for a xantid before you combo to make sure everything is clear, you cant tutor up a therapy as easy.  Also a swarm one turn one must be removed otherwise it has an impact over the entire game, and can be a chump blocker if you require some time versus aggro.

It is true this deck is more likely to win on turn 3 which some people may consider too slow but I think in a relatively un-powered Meta this could be a strong deck. Another benefit of survival builds is you can side board some one-of-utility creatures to deal with enchantments and artifacts which could free up other sideboard slots.
What it comes down to I don’t think this is any slower then un-powered BU (bazaar less) and I think survival is a more dangerous permanent to all decks compared to compulsion.

But on another note this deck kind of reminds me of FEB which I enjoy playing so maybe this is why I think the BG version is interesting.

[TheFram]

Nice build.

I have to say though, that therapy, especially given your list is better than duress. You have the little guys to sac to it, and Xantid+Therapy is a sick combo to rape an opponents hand. Swing with Xantid, Therapy, Sac something. Double therapy is awesome to say the least.

Also, I would go with caller of the claw over queen b/c you can hard cast it.

I too was considering the MD Swarms, and may do so in the future, but I think with all the fire/ices ive been seeing they are not as effective in the maindeck as they would have been a few months ago.

-TheFram

[hillbilly]

Good idea i will try the caller of the claw seems like it would be better.

I think i will also take out the 4 duress for the 4 therapy and give it a try. If im really in a pinch I could therapy myself to get a WGD in the GY to atleast draw a game and the instant ability of the caller of the claw might even make one of those draws become a win, although that is a little far fetched it "could" happen.

My meta has very few fire/ice most of the decks are budget aggro like WW/Sui/Sligh. Control is not often seen and if it is it would be a powerless deck and combo is practically non-existent.

[TheFram]

If there's no control why the MD swarms?

[hillbilly]

swarms are nice because people around here swords to plowshares and diabolic edicts are often played. It is a mostly aggro meta so people tend to run full complements of creature removal. so the swarm would either shut that off or take one for the team allowing you hopefully to go through unmolested, aswell as give the control around here a harder time.

these arn't the only cards the swarm will help versus some of the aggro, the white decks all pack disenchant aswell maybe not as a 4 of but coupled with swords could be annoying. Most of the green aggro run naturalise too because artifacts like isochron scepter have become trendy.

I am expecting more people actually to start playing more control like decks because of the scepter making it easier for budget control. Duress might be a better choice but often a chump blocker would be more helpful then duressing them when there hand is empty or only has land and creatures. But I could be totally wrong in my assumptions.

[phelddagrif]

First off, here is my budget dragon build

Main Combo stuff
3 Worldgorger Dragon
4 Animate Dead
4 Dance of the Dead
4 Buried Alive

Kill Cards
1 Ambassador Laquatus
1 Sliver Queen
1 Shivan Hellkite

Mana
1 Strip Mine
3 Wasteland
4 Polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
4 Badlands
2 Swamps
1 Lotus Petal
1 Chrome Mox
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
4 Dark Ritual

Draw/Search
4 Spoils of the Vault
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor

Protection
4 Duress
3 Defense Grid


I really like the deck. Most people don't like the idea of running 4 spoils of the vault but I believe it makes sense mathematically speaking. If you vault for something that you have 4 of in your deck then on average you will only lose 6 life (this assumes that you have 52 cards left in you deck. 52/4 =13. the median of 0 through 13 is 7).  When you realize that, it doesn't sound all that risky. It's also very unlikely that you'll spoils away all three of your win conditions or all three of your dragons. In my experience you normally don't spoil away more than one of each so it's still relatively safe even if you are holding one in your hand and thus only have two in the deck with which to use buried alive to fetch.

I've been meaning to try running 4 lim-dul's vault but I think the fact that it requires two colored mana combined with how the card doesn't go directly into your hand makes it strictly a worse choice than spoils of the vault though the ability to stack your deck five cards deep can't be ignored either. If anybody's done the testing to determine which is better then I welcome them to give me their opinion.

Anyways, the above decklist is the fastest you can make the dragon deck in my opinion while on a budget. Your first turn is usually spent tutoring for a buried alive or some other piece of the combo such as acceleration (i.e. dark ritual) or one of the animate enchantments. The second turn you cast buried alive. Third turn you animate the dragon and combo out using one of the win conditions (preferably the shivan hellkite since you win that turn and your oppoent doesn't get an untap and upkeep step with which to kill you via burn or something else).  One hint that I can give is to always use the duress first turn.  This prevents them from being able to brainstorm and hide cards that can ruin your plans next turn.  It also allows you to decide the best course of action for the next two turns.

My next claim may seem outrageous but just goldfish on apprentice if you don't believe me.  The secret is to mulligan until you have two out of three parts of the puzzle, the three parts being 1)animate enchantment 2) buried alive and 3) any tutor.  The high mana component of the deck makes it relatively safe to mulligan down to 5 cards.  Also against decks with lots of non-basics, wasteland is almost always a quasi-time walk.

I LITERALLY GO OFF 90% OF THE TIME ON TURN THREE AFTER PLAYING SOME DISRUPTION LIKE DEFENSE GRID, WASTELAND, AND/OR DURUSS.

The only cards that I might take out are mystical tutor and mana vault.  The reason for mystical tutor is because it can't get any of the animate dead creature enchantments unless you use it for another tutor (either vampiric or demonic, depending on how much mana you have to spare) first and that wastes a lot of time.  Than reason for the mana vault is because I keep coming into the problem that I have to decide whether to cast a business spell or it due the few turns that the deck needs to win. If I took out both cards it would allow me to put in a fourth defense grid and wasteland which have been my mvp's during my control matches.  This would also allow me to go mono black (i.e. swamps only) to avoid my opponents wastelands.  I would obviously have to take out the hellkite but that is not much of a concern since I could just replace it with either an ambassador or sliver queen.  I'd also have the added benefit of being able to spoils for defense grid or wasteland versus control.

My current meta includes some oath, white weenie, goblin, keeper, and psychatog.  I did pretty good at the last tournament (only losing to oath due to gae's blessings because I only used amabassodors at the time).  I've found that the defense grids combined with duresses and wastelands/stripmine allow me to beat most aggro and control decks without too much trouble.

I personally feel that defence grid is the best all around anti-anti-dragon hate (note the double negative) card if you are afraid of things such as swords, disenchant, and edict.  Due to the speed that the deck goes off in, your opponent shouldn't get the four or five mana they need in time.


Thank you,
John Peters

[RoadTrippin]

phelddagrif- you run needless Underground Seas. I suppose if you really have to cast that Laquatus you're able to do so.. but the NBL hate makes it not worth it, without doubt. I suppose you could have some blue sideboard card up your sleeve, but it would probably also not be worth it   . Now, that said, my deck literally goes off more than 50% on turn 2, with disruption played, and actually costs less if you are playing in a proxy metagame.

[dicemanx]

As I posted in another thread, Defense Grid doesn't stop StP or Stifle. At all. I'll let you figure out why. Try running Therapies or splash for green and Xantid Swarms instead.

The Spoils are very bold without Bazaars in the deck, because it all comes down to resolving that Buried Alive. If it doesn't get through, you're toast. You might think about alternate burial effects to add some redundancy to the deck.

As a general comment for those reading this thread: Just out of curiosity, the fastest possible Dragon deck must run 4 Spoils, 4 Rituals, and 4 Bazaars and be at least semi-powered. However, speed isn't everything, because unfortunately every potent Dragon hoser in the environment is either 0 or 1 cc, with a few costing 2. This means that Dragon is not fast enough to evade hate. If you think you're safe because you always have the combo backed by disruption by turn 2-3, then might I suggest your luck at the casino instead? Far more profitable.

[Tychoides]

Defense Grid leaves play during the combo, thus opening a window of opportunity for the opponent to play StP, Stifle, etc., in case anyone (like me) missed it.

[Ghost]

phelddagrif- Hey, just out of curiousity have you tried unmask?- I find them to be quite good. Also I think you should use at least 2 necromancy being able to animate at instant speed willl be helpful more often that you would expect. Seeing as you are using 4x delta 4x sea maybe you should try Chain of vapor. It's nice cause it gets rid of things like Scepter-imprint swords, ank of mishra, tormod's crypt, wurm tokens etc. The "drawback" will rarly be effective against you. I'm really surprised that 4x spoils works, I tried it before and I kept killing myself. (although I do play against an ungodly amount of ankh-sligh)

[phelddagrif]

Defense Grid leaves play during the combo, thus opening a window of opportunity for the opponent to play StP, Stifle, etc., in case anyone (like me) missed it.

Thanks, I didn't realize that. . . That kind of sucks. Damn. I might have to go back to the cabal therapies.  I just miss so often with those that it is an annoying, and more importantly, suboptimal use of mana and deck slots.

As for the other questions.

I have considered unmask but I am not sure if the drawback of pitching another card is worth it.  This wouldn't be a problem if I didn't have to mulligan so aggresively but that is how I play the deck.  I usually have another card left in my hand when going off so it is probably worth it but I haven't tested yet.  I have some coming in the mail so I will let you know after they arrive and I have tested.  I'll probably take out the grids and put in unmasks since grids are now ONLY useful for counterspell/mana drain and force of will.

If I added any other cards, it only makes sense to keep them in 4 card blocks so I can spoils for them. (sidenote: spoiling for something that you have less than four copies in your deck is risky but not necessarily suicidal. 51/3=17. Median is 9. So on average you will take 8 damage.  This assumes a random deck which is why I rifle AND pile shuffle SEVERAL times before each game.)  I could add 2 necromancy but I think it would just be better to add more tutors (such as lim-dul's vault) or disruption since the animate spells part of the deck is already very redundant (4 animates, 4 dances, 7 tutors - 8 if you use mystical for demonic).

If your meta is rife with ankh-sligh then I might not run the spoils.  My meta is more goblin-stompy-esque as far as red decks are concerned.  I regularly spoils myself for ten or so on the first turn against those decks and still win since they are high on creatures with summoning sickness and low on instant damage which could kill me duirng their upkeep after I combo them via ambassador or sliver queen.  The key is to be very aggressive.  Don't leave anything to chance.  Mulligan hands that don't have a high probability of a turn 3 kill.  Don't think twice about spoilsing for a swamp or dark ritual either if that is what it will take.  The key is to not take any chances in that matchup.

As of now, I am going to put 4 chains in my sideboard.  I don't have too many cards in my sideboard so one thing that I have been considering is to go monoblack and then put 4 underground seas and 4 chains in my sideboard while leaving 4 polluted deltas in the deck.

There was also a comment about my game coming down to whether I resolve a buried alive.  That is very true but I also think that is very true about any budget build of dragon, even with bazaars.  I realize that you get the squee engine with bazaars but that requires time which favors the control player.  Especially if they are playing with the intuition/AK engine and 5 wasteland/stripmine build.  And if they maindeck swords or cunning wish then giving them more time seems like an even worse proposition.

I also think that the hate versus dragon is not as insurmountable as some might think.  It all costs a very small amount of mana but the probability that they draw said hate combined with the probability that you don't make them discard or bounce it is small.  At least small enough that it shouldn't cause you to lose both game two and three.  You'd be surprised by how many opponents try to win by bluffing hate.

Oh, and the underground seas are there for the mystical tutor which is of course blue.  I'm tempted to take out blue but chain of vapor just seems too usefull.  As I said before, I might go monoblack with deltas and put seas and chains in the sideboard.

My deck also goes off second turn a suprising amount of time (at least for a budget deck) but I find that it usually requires an accelerated buried alive first turn, usually via dark ritual.

On another note, I am curious how aggressively most people mulligan with the deck.  If you count the number of single and double mulligans I take during a tournament it probably works out to something like one each game.  This may sound bad but with 8 main deck tutors (7 at one mana) and 15 sources of reusable black mana (25% of a 60 card deck), it works out.