MTG Salvation

I am a big fan of the Izzet League. I like their steampunk, scientific style, and UR is my favorite two-color combination. I'd like to build a fun Izzet deck to play with my two regular MTG buddies, but this first draft did not perform very well. I don't have a lot of experience with hardcore, encyclopedic EDH players, so any advice I can get would be appreciated! I saw a thred by rockondon from last year, but it's not quite what I'm going for. (I was going to link it, but I don't have enough posts yet - hello, board!)

Here is what I threw together the other night. I will be the first to admit, it's all over the place. I suppose what I'm going for is something heavy on Instants and Sorceries, but not in the same way as the newer Grixis Commander set with Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge. I want to include Dack Fayden and possibly Dack's Duplicate, should I pull them in the box of Conspiracy I just bought to draft with my friends - later tonight, we'll find out! I have a lot of hand-switching cards like Acquire and Blatant Thievery, which were originally intended for a Zedruu the Greathearted deck, as well as a flavor-based pirate deck. I could look into including them in this build - though I'm not against a strategy based on digging for and copying spells.

I cannot afford cards like Scalding Tarn, but please suggest anything you want - if it's rare and somewhat valuable, I might already have one. Please, just include a budget alternative, if there is one. I might spring for a Sensei's Divining Top or a Scroll Rack, but my budget is tight right now.

Isochron Scepter seems like it would be pretty good here.

I would add both Terramorphic Expanse and Evolving Wilds.
Early game they act as mana fixing. Late game they provide shuffle effects for Melek, so you can get a different top deck.
I would also recommend both Turnabout and High Tide so you can pump lots of mana into your X spells.

There are a few ways you can win with Melek:

• Combo out with Epic Experiment, and cards like Twincast and finishing with an Ignite Memories.
• Draw lots of cards while Melek is equipped with Diviner's Wand (with an optional Vedalken AEthermage to search it out) using cards like Blue Sun's Zenith
• Cast lots of spells while Melek is equipped with Leering Emblem or Runechanter's Pike.

The possibilities are endless.

I can give you my Melek list when I get back home, if you like?

I second Runechanter's Pike

If you're looking for fun cards to play, we have a Melek in our playgroup who focuses on card theft like Notion Theft and Spelljack

Thanks for the tips, guys! I have a fresh (un-tested) build to update with, if you think it might look like more of what you were suggesting. I went ahead and ordered a few power cards I'd been wanting for a while: Time Warp, Twincast, Rite of Replication, Enter the Infinite, Temporal Mastery, and most importantly: Keranos, God of Storms! I loooove this guy! I just haven't had the pleasure of playing with him yet, but he was instantly my favorite of all Theros gods - for flavor and functionality. I'm actually considering making him the commander. Should I keep Melek as a wincon in that case, or write him out entirely?

Oh, and I got a few choice pulls from that Conspiracy box - a Mr. Fayden among them I would almost build a deck around his style, but I know he's just one of many good tools in this color combo. That said, I do have Spelljack. I'd love to hear about that card theft build! How do you use Notion Thief with Melek, though? He's UB.

You know, the more I look at this, the more I want to go for a straight Wizard-tribal. Most of the good Wizard-powered cards are pretty cheap, too.