MTG Salvation

My playgroup plays with a $25USD/deck price cap.

My basic idea revolves around these cards:

• Grand Architect
  
• Pili-Pala
  
• Invisible Stalker
  
• Silver-Inlaid Dagger
  
• Blue Sun's Zenith
  
• Steel Hellkite
  

The idea is to beat them down with equipped guys, and if that doesn't work, use an infinite mana combo with Blue Sun's Zenith or Steel Hellkite to make them draw their library or just kill them.

I've looked at how to strengthen the idea and I've come up with a few different ways to go.

1. Delver of Secrets is a strong evasive aggro card, but without Snapcaster Mage available, I'm not convinced that it's worth putting in enough instants and sorceries to make it easy to flip. Every spell I include to activate Delver is a card that's not a blue creature or artifact, which is where Grand Architects can help. If I go this way, does anyone have any nice ideas about which spells to include?
2. To get to my win conditions, should I go for card draw or tutoring, or a mixture of both? I think that Azure Mage and possibly some artifacts would work for card draw, and Treasure Mage and Trinket Mage for tutoring.
3. Any thoughts on Adaptive Automaton as a human lord, or Clone as either another Architect or a copy of their best creature?
4. What toys are fun to include for the infinite mana combo or the Grand Architect ramp? Wurmcoil Engine is out of the budget, but I'm afraid it's hard to resist creating an Orochi Hatchery where X= a billion.
5. Removal, or counterspells? I'm leaning towards counterspells because I don't want to splash. As far as I know blue removal doesn't get much better than Turn to Frog.
6. Can Molten-Tail Masticore be good in this kind of deck?

This is just one Delverless take, that I haven't playtested at all. I think it needs removal or counterspells. (My current Grand Architect deck is a proliferate/infect one. Corrupted Conscience my own Ludevic's Abomination = win.)