I've massively updated the list to the point that it's no longer recognizable as being the previous list. I took out the cutesy I-win combos like Helm-Leyline, which I found didn't synergize enough with the rest of the deck. I also took out Blightsteel. As a win condition, he was far too slow. The new deck focuses purely on synergy between cards (somethign esper does very well, beaten only perhaps by bant) and winning by grinding it out with creature beats.
I play in an EDH league every week at my LGS. They play by a points list, which actively discourages certain playstyles, namely combo. Here are the relevant point deductions (ie if you do these, you lose points. Considering first place in a 4-man pod is only 4 points, a single deduction is huge)
-1 Take three or more turns in a row (yeah. Can’t play Time Stretch. Ever.)
-1 Draw more than 10 cards in a turn (heard you liked Azami . Well, **** you.)
-1 Search your library 3 or more times in a turn (haha, you wanted to play Momir Vig ? Well, **** you.)
-1 Force an opponent to sac or destroy two or more lands in a turn (heard you wanted to play red. Well, **** you. Also, Eldrazi triggers don't count, so green still gets to nuke someone's board... weird)
-1 Do something other than tap land more than 10 times in a turn (this is the kicker. Almost every infinite combo is shut off. No palichron or any such shenanigans. No kiki jiki + untapper instant win. No sharuum gravestorm or disciple.)
Because infinite combo is essentially banned, green decks are rampant (see what I did there?). Azusa is the most popular commander, with two active players. Recently Ghave and Karador have also begun to make appearances, along with a smattering of other less common commanders, like Mayael. Another guy likes to tinker with various decks, but when he wants to bring the beats he takes out a very strong Rafiq deck. So yeah, as might be expected, when combos are taken off the table, green becomes the strongest color in EDH (if it wasn't already). I really like esper, though, and I wanted to make a deck that could win "fairly" without relying on ramp.
I've taken out some of the more durdley options, like Artificer's Intuition and Salvaging Station. I honestly think they fit better in a combo-oriented Sharuum deck that wants to pitch Sculpting Steel to find Lotus Bloom. Artificer's Intuition would be nice for those games when I draw Darksteel Forge turn one, but it often doesn't do enough, and furthermore it gets blown up easily, usually by me when I nuke the field with Disk. The new list tries to get out Darksteel Forge and Disk out quickly, because the decks that I run into most often have very few outs against it. Nobody else plays blue, so I don't worry about bounce. Few players play white, and even fewer pack Return to Dust. Ideally Darksteel Forge is an entomb target, but I run enough ramp that I can hardcast it easily if necessary.
Card Choices
A few cards are worth mentioning, mostly the non-artifacts that seem out of place in this list.
Future Sight - I wasn't sure about this card until I ran it. It's expensive, hard to recur, color heavy, and totally worth it. I draw the equivalent of 3-4 cards on average per turn with this out. It breaks my mirage tutors wide open. Vampiric Tutor becomes an instant speed, 1-mana demonic tutor. Additionally, it combos with Top and Etherium Sculptor. This is my favorite kind of combo: every piece is worth including on its own, but combined I can draw as many cards as I want (within league rules. Sigh) for free.
Sun Titan - he can recur things that Sharuum can't, like lands, Trinket Mage, Phantasmal Image, ANIMATE DEAD, and Rhystic Study. Moreover, he recurs things more often. He's also a well-costed beatstick with vigilance to protect my planeswalkers. He doesn't even necessarily die to disk. My favorite play with this guy is to blink him with Venser, blow up my opponents' boards with Forge-Disk, then blink him back in EOT, bringing back phantasmal image copying him, bringing back animate dead copying the best creature that just died on my opponent's side. Of course, that almost never happens, but when it does it's damn near impossible to lose.
Venser - this is my favorite card in the deck. He survives Disk. He blinks guys back at EOT, surviving my own wraths. He blinks PERMANENTS. I've used animate dead on a Wurmcoil Engine before, then blinked animate dead, ending the turn with 12 power on the board... then 18... then 24. Of course, he also blinks Sharuum. And Filigree Angel, which is usually good for 30 life per activation. His ultimate is also both useful and very easy to achieve. Even his -1 has uses.
The win-conditions are Disk/Forge followed by big creatures like SOTSW or Magister Sphinx, ThopterSword for blockers or to fuel Forgemaster or Time Seive, Time Seive + Thopter Assembly. In general, win through virtual or literal card advantage.
There are only a few cards I find questionable, and a few cards that I'm thinking about adding. If anyone would like to share their opinion on these, I would greatly appreciate it!
Questionable cards to remove:
Mox Diamond - I run 35 lands. Oftentimes early game this is fixing rather than acceleration, because it will force me to miss a land drop. It's also card disadvantage. I thought I could stomach it because of Crucible of Worlds, but the interaction hasn't come up enough. I'm thinking of cutting this for Chromatic Lantern or Coalition Relic.
Executioner's Capsule / Dispeller's Capsule - these are tutorable with Trinket Mage and Tezzeret, recurrable with ST, Sharuum, Open the Vaults, etc... but they're slow and kind of narrow. Excutioner's capsule in particular leaves me wondering if I wouldn't rather have either Swords to Plowshares or another wrath effect. Thoughts?
Rhystic Study - my opponents have all finally caught on to the game, and will almost always pay the tax. I want the card advantage more than the tax. Should I cut for Phyrexian Arena or Mystic Remora?
Consecrated Sphinx - I love it, I hate it. I've dropped it turn three thinking to gain an unbeatable lead, only to have it pathed, or worse, stolen with Gilded Drake (same guy also stole my Sphinx of the Steel Wind with Gilded Drake after bouncing it with Venser... I lost that game). He's fragile and a huge target. Should I cut it for Mind's Eye, which is much more resilient and less politically offensive?
Things I'm thinking about adding
Gilded Drake - it's not an artifact. I can't tutor for it easily (demonic and vampiric tutors notwithstanding). But it can be recurred with ST and bounced back to my control with Venser. I also play in a meta with lots of green, so there are ALWAYS big creatures to steal. I really like it, but I'm not sure it fits in the deck.
Read the Runes - I like this card as a way to sculpt my hand and discard sharuum targets. But I would probably cut a draw spell for it, and I'm not sure whether it's worth the loss in CA.
Jace, the Mind Sculptor - I've been eyeing this guy for a while. Card advantage, bounce, and a win condition all in one. He's good, but is he good enough? Also, is he worth buying over something like, for example, a Tundra? Or a scrubland and two zendikar fetches?
Force of Will - another wallet-shredder I've been considering. My shop allows gold bordered cards in EDH, so price isn't a huge problem. However, is the card disadvantage worth it? There are very few cards in the deck that I'm 100% with exiling.
Sheoldred, Whispering One - again, not an artifact. But she is another recursion engine, and one with a sac effect too. I'm not actually sure I like the sac effect, since it encourages my opponents to get rid of her before my turn roles around. Still, a very strong card, and one that goes along with the theme of getting as much value out of cards as possible.
Howdy. I used to play a deck very similar to this one, in a group that had very similar rules regarding combos, taking a ton of turns, and so forth. Without knowing what your experience has been, I have quite a few suggestions based on my own experience with a similar deck list:
1) I agree with what you have in your "buy list." Those cards would improve the deck quite a bit.
3) The biggest challenge that I experienced while playing a combo-less Sharuum deck was untapping with the same board that I had when I passed the turn. In other words, after I had played threats, the challenge came from the fact that I didn't just win, all at once; I had to untap with those threats in play. You might be surprised, for example, by the number of games in which I cast Magister Sphinx as well as reanimated it with Sharuum the Hegemon, but lost anyway. Artifact creatures are very fragile! My solution to this: Play Darksteel Forge and Indomitable Archangel (or Leonin Abunas). Darksteel Forge is one of the better artifacts to return with Sharuum, and Indomitable Archangel has a similar effect as well as thwarts cards like Deglamer. Lightning Greaves is pretty good, too.
4) I have a couple of comments about your card drawing cards. Why is Thoughtcast in the deck? Draw 2 for U? Personally, I think you can do better than that. The same is true for Brainstorm, Impulse, and Lim-Dul's Vault. The Vault is good but since you have no combo it'll be rare that there is anything you absolutely have to get. I am currently a big fan of Recurring Insight. I'd also cut Diabolic Revelation. It's super slow, and I think you'd be better off with something like Phyrexian Arena (or Increasing Ambition). I also like Baleful Strix. It kills something, cantrips, and is an artifact. Finally, play Consecrated Sphinx!
5) I think playing Open the Vaults instead of Roar of Reclamation is questionable. Any deck that is or could be set up to use Replenish benefits a little bit too much from Open the Vaults. Additionally, you don't benefit from returning enchantments very much.
6) I'm not wild about the artifact lands that aren't Darksteel Citadel. IMHO, they should probably be basics.
7) Venser, the Sojourner is a lot better than Voyager Staff IMHO. This is especially true since you won't have to rely on the Staff to protect Sharuum with cards like Forge and Indomitable Archangel in your deck.
And these are just the adjustments that I'd make to the deck off the bat. In order to deal with a creature heavy metagame, especially one with a lot of Azusa and so forth, I think the best thing for you is to run a couple more mass removal spells. Terminus and Austere Command come to mind. I think the cards that could go to make room for these are Trading Post and probably Animate Dead or Unburial Rites. The latter two seem slightly unnecessary; you have Sharuum to do the heavy lifting, here. And I think Trading Post is pretty useless unless you already have an active Thopter Foundry. At that point, it's a pretty nice source of artifact recursion, but with an active Thopter Foundry you're probably already doing pretty well, and won't benefit from the artifact sacrifice feature of the Post at all. The goat-making and life gain features of Trading Post are going to be MUCH worse than the additional sweepers for the deck.
Thank you so much for such a well thought-out reply!
To respond to your points:
Intuition is definitely superior to Buried Alive. I think I overlooked it in the original list because it’s at the price point where I start to look for alternatives if possible, but I should probably just break down and buy the darn thing. It’s like a double entomb plus demonic tutor with a negligible downside! Absolutely nuts. Added to my acquire-list.
Darksteel Forge should probably be in the list if I’m not strictly combo. The thought of being protected by a swarm of indestructible flying thopters warms my heart a little. And as someone who has, from time to time, bounced an opponent’s Forge with that opponent’s Nev’s Disc trigger on the stack… hexproof would be nice. I like Leonin Abunas better than Indomitable Archangel, simply because he gives hexproof rather than shroud, which is relevant if I run Venser or Voyager Staff. He’s also a little less color intensive, which is especially nice given my budget land setup.
I agree that my draw spells haven’t been completely thought out. I threw in Thoughtcast because it’s such an efficient spell, but after goldfishing with this deck a ton I’m realizing that I usually have more mana than I know what to do with (and no cards in hand!). Recurring Insight has been a favorite in other decks. I’ll put it in. Phyrexian Arena is also solid. I’m still pretty fond of Vault. When I actually finish assembling the deck and play against real people we’ll see if it stays.
Consecrated Sphinx – I know that this card is really strong, if it sticks around. Which can be hit or miss. I also have comparatively fewer ways to recur it, since it’s the only organic sphinx on the list. Still probably warrants inclusion. Draws a removal spell that would have targeted something else, and nets me at least a couple of cards... I’ll take out impulse for it.
I put Open the Vaults in over Roar of Reclamation for two reasons. First, it’s 1 cmc less. Second, it recurs leyline of the void – one of the few ways this deck has to recur that half of my helm+leyline combo. Right now I can’t think of any decks in my meta that would benefit too much from the enchantments clause, but this is certainly something that I’ll keep an eye on and swap out as necessary.
I know where you’re coming from regarding the artifact lands. Right now there aren’t too many shatter effects in my meta, and the artifact lands are nice as a free Tezzeret tutor target, but if they start getting blown up too much I’ll swap them out.
Vampiric tutor is in the deck! Just in the wrong spot… moved to instants.
I debated between Venser and Staff for a while. I like that Voyager Staff interacts so nicely with the rest of my cog tutor+recursion package. It also protects Sharuum which, as you noted, may be less of an issue with your additions. At the same time, Venser’s other ability are both fantastic. I like the idea of using the -1 with a Blightsteel on the field as a “deal with this now or die” play. I might just through him in and keep the Staff, if there's room. We’ll see.
And yeah, the deck needs a heavy dose of mass removal. I guess I knew that, I just needed someone to objectively tell me what was OK to take out. Trading Post can go. Unburial Rites is probably redundant. I’d like to keep at least one reanimate spell in the deck, especially if I play more non-artifact creatures like Consecrated Sphinx and Leonin Abunas.
I've been looking at a few other lists and had a few thoughts. Anyone want to comment on the following possible inclusions?
Ensnaring Bridge - is this better or worse than just wrathing the field? It stalls for time until I can bring out a win condition, but it also can just piss off the table. I think Austere Command is probably still better for this spot, but does anyone actually have experience running Bridge?
Nevinyrral's Disk - if I'm putting in Darksteel Forge, should I just add this too, perhaps in the place of Scourglass? I like that scourglass is asymmetrical even without forge out... but Forge+Disk just wrecks most decks I play against. Also blows things up the turn I play it if Voltaic Key is out.
Frantic Search - I'm not sure yet how badly this deck needs more draw spells, but this one is pretty good. A free spell that digs and lets me toss fuel into the graveyard seems nuts... but what to cut? I don't think it's better than any of my other draw spells. Maybe Ponder? The shuffle is nice, especially with Scroll Rack, but it could probably go.
Skullclamp - incredibly good interaction with Thopter-Sword: two cards for two colorless mana, repeatable. Given the relative lack of creatures this deck runs otherwise, though, is this just win more?
EDIT: I read Frantic Search as draw three, discard two. Since it's actually a much less ridiculous draw two, discard two, it's card disadvantage that this deck probably doesn't need.
EDIT: Other thoughts - I realized that this deck only has two ways to get rid of indestructible creatures - Duplicant and STP. Given that Ulamog shows up in probably 50% or more of the games I play, should I add more to combat it? Besides exile spells, I've been thinking about bounce spells... maybe Aether Spellbomb? It draws, bounces, and has recursion via salvaging station. Thoughts?
Other option is tuck spells. Oblation could be useful, since I can use it on myself in a pinch, but I'm worried it doesn't do enough. Hallowed Burial / Terminus? Seems like I don't want to shuffle my own creatures back into my library... but if I can hit Skittles, Rafiq, or Ulamog it might be worth it.
I play in an EDH league every week at my LGS. They play by a points list, which actively discourages certain playstyles, namely combo. Here are the relevant point deductions (ie if you do these, you lose points. Considering first place in a 4-man pod is only 4 points, a single deduction is huge)
-1 Take three or more turns in a row (yeah. Can’t play Time Stretch. Ever.)
-1 Draw more than 10 cards in a turn (heard you liked Azami . Well, **** you.)
-1 Search your library 3 or more times in a turn (haha, you wanted to play Momir Vig ? Well, **** you.)
-1 Force an opponent to sac or destroy two or more lands in a turn (heard you wanted to play red. Well, **** you. Also, Eldrazi triggers don't count, so green still gets to nuke someone's board... weird)
-1 Do something other than tap land more than 10 times in a turn (this is the kicker. Almost every infinite combo is shut off. No palichron or any such shenanigans. No kiki jiki + untapper instant win. No sharuum gravestorm or disciple.)
Because infinite combo is essentially banned, green decks are rampant (see what I did there?). Azusa is the most popular commander, with two active players. Recently Ghave and Karador have also begun to make appearances, along with a smattering of other less common commanders, like Mayael. Another guy likes to tinker with various decks, but when he wants to bring the beats he takes out a very strong Rafiq deck. So yeah, as might be expected, when combos are taken off the table, green becomes the strongest color in EDH (if it wasn't already). I really like esper, though, and I wanted to make a deck that could win "fairly" without relying on ramp.
Having said that, here is the list.
1 Sharuum the Hegemon
Lands (35)
3 Island
2 Swamp
2 Plains
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Godless Shrine
1 Watery Grave
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Sunken Ruins
1 Flooded Strand
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Windswept Heath
1 Bad River
1 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Phyrexia’s Core
1 Tolaria West
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Strip Mine
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Academy Ruins
1 Cephalid Coliseum
1 Reflecting Pool
1 City of Brass
1 Arcane Sanctum
1 Command Tower
1 Glimmervoid
1 Vault of Whispers
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Ancient Den
1 Karn Liberated
1 Venser the Sojourner
1 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolus
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
Enchantments (3)
1 Animate Dead
1 Future Sight
1 Rhystic Study
Sorceries (8)
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Windfall
1 Unburial Rites
1 Open the Vaults
1 Damnation
1 Recurring Insight
1 Austere Command
1 Transmute Artifact
Instants (10)
1 Cryptic Command
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Counterspell
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Intuition
1 Entomb
Artifacts (22)
1 Dispeller’s Capsule
1 Executioner’s Capsule
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Mana Crypt
1 Voltaic Key
1 Thopter Foundry
1 Sword of the Meek
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Oblivion stone
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Mox Opal
1 Mana Vault
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Darksteel Forge
1 Time Seive
1 Nevinyrral’s Disk
1 Sculpting Steel
1 Mox Diamond
1 Grim Monolith
1 Sol Ring
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Magister Sphinx
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Duplicant
1 Filigree Angel
1 Etherium Sculptor
1 Sun Titan
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Trinket Mage
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Kuldotha Forgemaster
1 Master Transmuter
1 Thopter Assembly
Deck by functionality
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Cryptic Command
1 Counterspell
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Intuition
1 Entomb
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Transmute Artifact
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Tolaria West
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Future Sight
1 Rhystic Study
1 Windfall
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Recurring Insight
1 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolus
1 Cephalid Coliseum
1 Unburial Rites
1 Animate Dead
1 Open the Vaults
1 Academy Ruins
Ramp
1 Mana Crypt
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Mox Opal
1 Mana Vault
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Mox Diamond
1 Grim Monolith
1 Sol Ring
Utility
1 Kuldotha Forgemaster
1 Master Transmuter
1 Voltaic Key
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sculpting Steel
1 Venser the Sojourner
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Dispeller’s Capsule
1 Executioner’s Capsule
1 Oblivion stone
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Austere Command
1 Damnation
1 Duplicant
1 Karn Liberated
Win Conditions
1 Thopter Foundry
1 Sword of the Meek
1 Darksteel Forge
1 Time Seive
1 Thopter Assembly
1 Nevinyrral’s Disk
I've taken out some of the more durdley options, like Artificer's Intuition and Salvaging Station. I honestly think they fit better in a combo-oriented Sharuum deck that wants to pitch Sculpting Steel to find Lotus Bloom. Artificer's Intuition would be nice for those games when I draw Darksteel Forge turn one, but it often doesn't do enough, and furthermore it gets blown up easily, usually by me when I nuke the field with Disk. The new list tries to get out Darksteel Forge and Disk out quickly, because the decks that I run into most often have very few outs against it. Nobody else plays blue, so I don't worry about bounce. Few players play white, and even fewer pack Return to Dust. Ideally Darksteel Forge is an entomb target, but I run enough ramp that I can hardcast it easily if necessary.
Card Choices
A few cards are worth mentioning, mostly the non-artifacts that seem out of place in this list.
Future Sight - I wasn't sure about this card until I ran it. It's expensive, hard to recur, color heavy, and totally worth it. I draw the equivalent of 3-4 cards on average per turn with this out. It breaks my mirage tutors wide open. Vampiric Tutor becomes an instant speed, 1-mana demonic tutor. Additionally, it combos with Top and Etherium Sculptor. This is my favorite kind of combo: every piece is worth including on its own, but combined I can draw as many cards as I want (within league rules. Sigh) for free.
Sun Titan - he can recur things that Sharuum can't, like lands, Trinket Mage, Phantasmal Image, ANIMATE DEAD, and Rhystic Study. Moreover, he recurs things more often. He's also a well-costed beatstick with vigilance to protect my planeswalkers. He doesn't even necessarily die to disk. My favorite play with this guy is to blink him with Venser, blow up my opponents' boards with Forge-Disk, then blink him back in EOT, bringing back phantasmal image copying him, bringing back animate dead copying the best creature that just died on my opponent's side. Of course, that almost never happens, but when it does it's damn near impossible to lose.
Venser - this is my favorite card in the deck. He survives Disk. He blinks guys back at EOT, surviving my own wraths. He blinks PERMANENTS. I've used animate dead on a Wurmcoil Engine before, then blinked animate dead, ending the turn with 12 power on the board... then 18... then 24. Of course, he also blinks Sharuum. And Filigree Angel, which is usually good for 30 life per activation. His ultimate is also both useful and very easy to achieve. Even his -1 has uses.
The win-conditions are Disk/Forge followed by big creatures like SOTSW or Magister Sphinx, ThopterSword for blockers or to fuel Forgemaster or Time Seive, Time Seive + Thopter Assembly. In general, win through virtual or literal card advantage.
There are only a few cards I find questionable, and a few cards that I'm thinking about adding. If anyone would like to share their opinion on these, I would greatly appreciate it!
Questionable cards to remove:
Mox Diamond - I run 35 lands. Oftentimes early game this is fixing rather than acceleration, because it will force me to miss a land drop. It's also card disadvantage. I thought I could stomach it because of Crucible of Worlds, but the interaction hasn't come up enough. I'm thinking of cutting this for Chromatic Lantern or Coalition Relic.
Executioner's Capsule / Dispeller's Capsule - these are tutorable with Trinket Mage and Tezzeret, recurrable with ST, Sharuum, Open the Vaults, etc... but they're slow and kind of narrow. Excutioner's capsule in particular leaves me wondering if I wouldn't rather have either Swords to Plowshares or another wrath effect. Thoughts?
Rhystic Study - my opponents have all finally caught on to the game, and will almost always pay the tax. I want the card advantage more than the tax. Should I cut for Phyrexian Arena or Mystic Remora?
Consecrated Sphinx - I love it, I hate it. I've dropped it turn three thinking to gain an unbeatable lead, only to have it pathed, or worse, stolen with Gilded Drake (same guy also stole my Sphinx of the Steel Wind with Gilded Drake after bouncing it with Venser... I lost that game). He's fragile and a huge target. Should I cut it for Mind's Eye, which is much more resilient and less politically offensive?
Things I'm thinking about adding
Gilded Drake - it's not an artifact. I can't tutor for it easily (demonic and vampiric tutors notwithstanding). But it can be recurred with ST and bounced back to my control with Venser. I also play in a meta with lots of green, so there are ALWAYS big creatures to steal. I really like it, but I'm not sure it fits in the deck.
Read the Runes - I like this card as a way to sculpt my hand and discard sharuum targets. But I would probably cut a draw spell for it, and I'm not sure whether it's worth the loss in CA.
Jace, the Mind Sculptor - I've been eyeing this guy for a while. Card advantage, bounce, and a win condition all in one. He's good, but is he good enough? Also, is he worth buying over something like, for example, a Tundra? Or a scrubland and two zendikar fetches?
Force of Will - another wallet-shredder I've been considering. My shop allows gold bordered cards in EDH, so price isn't a huge problem. However, is the card disadvantage worth it? There are very few cards in the deck that I'm 100% with exiling.
Sheoldred, Whispering One - again, not an artifact. But she is another recursion engine, and one with a sac effect too. I'm not actually sure I like the sac effect, since it encourages my opponents to get rid of her before my turn roles around. Still, a very strong card, and one that goes along with the theme of getting as much value out of cards as possible.
1) I agree with what you have in your "buy list." Those cards would improve the deck quite a bit.
2) Buried Alive is pretty slow. Intuition is WAY better! Intuition for Sword, Foundry, and something like Sphinx of the Steel Wind is a big game.
3) The biggest challenge that I experienced while playing a combo-less Sharuum deck was untapping with the same board that I had when I passed the turn. In other words, after I had played threats, the challenge came from the fact that I didn't just win, all at once; I had to untap with those threats in play. You might be surprised, for example, by the number of games in which I cast Magister Sphinx as well as reanimated it with Sharuum the Hegemon, but lost anyway. Artifact creatures are very fragile! My solution to this: Play Darksteel Forge and Indomitable Archangel (or Leonin Abunas). Darksteel Forge is one of the better artifacts to return with Sharuum, and Indomitable Archangel has a similar effect as well as thwarts cards like Deglamer. Lightning Greaves is pretty good, too.
4) I have a couple of comments about your card drawing cards. Why is Thoughtcast in the deck? Draw 2 for U? Personally, I think you can do better than that. The same is true for Brainstorm, Impulse, and Lim-Dul's Vault. The Vault is good but since you have no combo it'll be rare that there is anything you absolutely have to get. I am currently a big fan of Recurring Insight. I'd also cut Diabolic Revelation. It's super slow, and I think you'd be better off with something like Phyrexian Arena (or Increasing Ambition). I also like Baleful Strix. It kills something, cantrips, and is an artifact. Finally, play Consecrated Sphinx!
5) I think playing Open the Vaults instead of Roar of Reclamation is questionable. Any deck that is or could be set up to use Replenish benefits a little bit too much from Open the Vaults. Additionally, you don't benefit from returning enchantments very much.
6) I'm not wild about the artifact lands that aren't Darksteel Citadel. IMHO, they should probably be basics.
7) Venser, the Sojourner is a lot better than Voyager Staff IMHO. This is especially true since you won't have to rely on the Staff to protect Sharuum with cards like Forge and Indomitable Archangel in your deck.
8) Either the Mystical Tutor or Enlightened Tutor should be a Vampiric Tutor!
To recap,
In:
1x Mana Crypt
1x Polluted Delta
1x Scrubland
1x Tundra
1x Underground Sea
1x Transmute Artifact
1x Darksteel Forge
1x Indomitable Archangel
1x Recurring Insight
1x Intuition
1x Phyrexian Arena
1x Consecrated Sphinx
1x Baleful Strix
1x Roar of Reclamation
1x Venser, the Sojourner
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Plains
1x Island
1x Swamp
Out:
1x Rupture Spire
1x Bad River
1x Flood Plain
1x Gemstone Mine
1x Ancient Den
1x Seat of the Synod
1x Vault of Whispers
1x Reshape
1x Everflowing Chalice
1x Voyager Staff
1x Brainstorm
1x Lim-Dul's Vault
1x Buried Alive
1x Thoughtcast
1x Diabolic Revelation
1x Open the Vaults
1x Mystical Tutor
And 2 other cards of your choice.
And these are just the adjustments that I'd make to the deck off the bat. In order to deal with a creature heavy metagame, especially one with a lot of Azusa and so forth, I think the best thing for you is to run a couple more mass removal spells. Terminus and Austere Command come to mind. I think the cards that could go to make room for these are Trading Post and probably Animate Dead or Unburial Rites. The latter two seem slightly unnecessary; you have Sharuum to do the heavy lifting, here. And I think Trading Post is pretty useless unless you already have an active Thopter Foundry. At that point, it's a pretty nice source of artifact recursion, but with an active Thopter Foundry you're probably already doing pretty well, and won't benefit from the artifact sacrifice feature of the Post at all. The goat-making and life gain features of Trading Post are going to be MUCH worse than the additional sweepers for the deck.
To respond to your points:
Intuition is definitely superior to Buried Alive. I think I overlooked it in the original list because it’s at the price point where I start to look for alternatives if possible, but I should probably just break down and buy the darn thing. It’s like a double entomb plus demonic tutor with a negligible downside! Absolutely nuts. Added to my acquire-list.
Darksteel Forge should probably be in the list if I’m not strictly combo. The thought of being protected by a swarm of indestructible flying thopters warms my heart a little. And as someone who has, from time to time, bounced an opponent’s Forge with that opponent’s Nev’s Disc trigger on the stack… hexproof would be nice. I like Leonin Abunas better than Indomitable Archangel, simply because he gives hexproof rather than shroud, which is relevant if I run Venser or Voyager Staff. He’s also a little less color intensive, which is especially nice given my budget land setup.
I agree that my draw spells haven’t been completely thought out. I threw in Thoughtcast because it’s such an efficient spell, but after goldfishing with this deck a ton I’m realizing that I usually have more mana than I know what to do with (and no cards in hand!). Recurring Insight has been a favorite in other decks. I’ll put it in. Phyrexian Arena is also solid. I’m still pretty fond of Vault. When I actually finish assembling the deck and play against real people we’ll see if it stays.
Consecrated Sphinx – I know that this card is really strong, if it sticks around. Which can be hit or miss. I also have comparatively fewer ways to recur it, since it’s the only organic sphinx on the list. Still probably warrants inclusion. Draws a removal spell that would have targeted something else, and nets me at least a couple of cards... I’ll take out impulse for it.
I put Open the Vaults in over Roar of Reclamation for two reasons. First, it’s 1 cmc less. Second, it recurs leyline of the void – one of the few ways this deck has to recur that half of my helm+leyline combo. Right now I can’t think of any decks in my meta that would benefit too much from the enchantments clause, but this is certainly something that I’ll keep an eye on and swap out as necessary.
I know where you’re coming from regarding the artifact lands. Right now there aren’t too many shatter effects in my meta, and the artifact lands are nice as a free Tezzeret tutor target, but if they start getting blown up too much I’ll swap them out.
Vampiric tutor is in the deck! Just in the wrong spot… moved to instants.
I debated between Venser and Staff for a while. I like that Voyager Staff interacts so nicely with the rest of my cog tutor+recursion package. It also protects Sharuum which, as you noted, may be less of an issue with your additions. At the same time, Venser’s other ability are both fantastic. I like the idea of using the -1 with a Blightsteel on the field as a “deal with this now or die” play. I might just through him in and keep the Staff, if there's room. We’ll see.
And yeah, the deck needs a heavy dose of mass removal. I guess I knew that, I just needed someone to objectively tell me what was OK to take out. Trading Post can go. Unburial Rites is probably redundant. I’d like to keep at least one reanimate spell in the deck, especially if I play more non-artifact creatures like Consecrated Sphinx and Leonin Abunas.
Changes
+ Damnation
+ Consecrated Sphinx
+ Recurring Insight
+ Phyrexian Arena
+ Darksteel Forge
+ Leonin Abunas
- Trading Post
- Thoughtcast
- Impulse
- Brainstorm
- Unburial Rites
- Diabolic Revelation
- Buried Alive
It doesn't come free if it's in the initial hand, but does the same for half the mana...
Ensnaring Bridge - is this better or worse than just wrathing the field? It stalls for time until I can bring out a win condition, but it also can just piss off the table. I think Austere Command is probably still better for this spot, but does anyone actually have experience running Bridge?
Nevinyrral's Disk - if I'm putting in Darksteel Forge, should I just add this too, perhaps in the place of Scourglass? I like that scourglass is asymmetrical even without forge out... but Forge+Disk just wrecks most decks I play against. Also blows things up the turn I play it if Voltaic Key is out.
Frantic Search - I'm not sure yet how badly this deck needs more draw spells, but this one is pretty good. A free spell that digs and lets me toss fuel into the graveyard seems nuts... but what to cut? I don't think it's better than any of my other draw spells. Maybe Ponder? The shuffle is nice, especially with Scroll Rack, but it could probably go.
Skullclamp - incredibly good interaction with Thopter-Sword: two cards for two colorless mana, repeatable. Given the relative lack of creatures this deck runs otherwise, though, is this just win more?
EDIT: I read Frantic Search as draw three, discard two. Since it's actually a much less ridiculous draw two, discard two, it's card disadvantage that this deck probably doesn't need.
EDIT: Other thoughts - I realized that this deck only has two ways to get rid of indestructible creatures - Duplicant and STP. Given that Ulamog shows up in probably 50% or more of the games I play, should I add more to combat it? Besides exile spells, I've been thinking about bounce spells... maybe Aether Spellbomb? It draws, bounces, and has recursion via salvaging station. Thoughts?
Other option is tuck spells. Oblation could be useful, since I can use it on myself in a pinch, but I'm worried it doesn't do enough. Hallowed Burial / Terminus? Seems like I don't want to shuffle my own creatures back into my library... but if I can hit Skittles, Rafiq, or Ulamog it might be worth it.
Oh. Hadn't noted that, sorry, haha.
Thanks!