Crumble to Dust looks attractive, because it can exile their man-lands, but 4cmc and sorcery speed are not good, imo.
Horribly Awry could be useful against hasty creatures, so it depends on meta.
Sphinx of the Final Word - at the first look I thought it's great here against control, but in case of esper dragons it's still vulnerable to Foul-Tongue Invocation and I guess invocation will not leave the deck after the first game because they saw Wandering Fumarole and because of lifegain.
I know we should not play creatures, but these two looks so sweet:
Thing in the Ice against swarm. It blocks early and wipe the board later. If we see heavy sideboarding after the first game, removal are probably gone.
Sin Prodder - more draw, more damage - just what we need.
FNM list:
Awesome ZZpoint, I've been so busy with moving to the new house that I've hardly gotten to play lately besides continued testing on TappedOut vs myself. We definitely need to hear how it goes for you. I've also had some thoughts about the ramp SB. With all their shuffling, and all our shuffling, they may still win the match with just 1 game. However, due to us being a bit weak against them, even post SB, I'd suggest that if you snag Game2, try to just burn Game3 into turns and get the draw. Depending on your store, 1 draw with no losses I would assume still gets you in the game for first place.
As for your list, I think that'll do great. The Void Shatters are definitely better cards, I only used Calculated Dismissal to play nice with Prism Ring, however that may be a bit Win-More. The Mountain I dont think you'll need, but I dont think it will hurt you either. If you FNM is cool with it, keep track during the matchs and see if it would have made a difference it if was an island or a Negate. Best of luck to you sir, go get em!
Days Undoing Price:
Its honestly probably just because of rotation hype, I doubt the thread has enough traction yet to raise 50c.
Prism Ring count:
I put 4 not because I want to draw multiples, but because I want that first one. Its our only T1 play, and its really underestimated by opponents, so getting it T1 as much as possible is IMO the best thing. Multiples are also nice to have, and sometimes I'll take a big hit instead of bounce to play a multiple because I get it back over the course of the game.
Void Shatter vs Calc Dismiss: Void Shatter is the better spell, especially in the games we really need to counter creatures as thats primarily its function. It just doesnt hit Prism Ring. Lets say over the course of the game, we probably average 1.25 Prism Rings (since the 2nd is later), and probably only cast 2 Calc Dismissals. I find that most of the time I get the scry on Calc Dismissal, and most of the time its a hard counter due to mana. So lets say per game, average, here would be the breakdown;
Calculated Dismissal: Scry 3, Counter 1.5 spells, tap 2 lands opponent controls, gain 2.5 life.
Void Shatter is: Counter and exile 2x spells.
Numbers wise Calc Dis wins, however, in reality, these are like our back up, oh ***** counters. The stuff they hit, we NEED gone. So its really up to whoever. I like the 2/2 split as it gives the best of both worlds, or the worst of both haha.
Extra SB thoughts:
I'm going to clean up the OP, and probably take the SB off the post since its old SB. The skeleton is still great, and I'll try to offer multiple SB lists depending on metas. Thing in the Ice I think is a card we can also use against ramp. It may get heat from Chandra and Kozilek's Return, but I think with Negate's it can help. It does bounce any dangerous guys in the ramp matchup, but can favorably block World Breaker, and is an extra target for Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, saving something else. I think its definitely something we side in against RAMP as well. You'll also want to see if they are running Dorks or Ramp spells, and play your counters accordingly. If they're running a dork build, it may be beneficial to keep Engulf the Shore in, but it is a nonbo with TITI. Aligned Hedron Network is also a nonbo with TITI, but Blessed Reincarnation works nice, and if AHN gets killed, hopefully you have another, which our now face up TITI will dodge.
If they're running a spell based ramp, maybe board out some bounces, and side in some more counters.
Hi guys, saw this thread a few days ago and was testing extensively on xmage and i love the deck. PPTQ here next weekend and i'm thinking of buying the deck online. Just testing a bit more to finalize my list.
i'm running almost the same as the one the OP has on the 1st page, though I replaced calculated dismissal with scatter the winds since I find that the dismissal is a bit awkward during long games where the 3 mana tax won't matter.
I read most of the replies here and here's my SB.
3 Illusory gains - have used this against ramp to steal an atarka, they basically have no answer unless they have to use worldbreaker just to exile this.
3 just the wind - additional bounce mainly for decks running manlands and/or aggro decks.
2 displacement wave - additional bounce for go wide.
2 dispel - probably just me but I use this for collected company decks.
2 horribly awry - used mostly against decks that run ayli and kalitas
3 aligned hedron network - extra removal for eldrazis and ramps
How has your testing against ramp gone with the Illusory Gains and Aligned Hedron Networks? I've had limited testing this week, but I still have only gotten to like a 60% win-rate over ramp playing against myself with tapped out, and thats post board. I'm fairly confident if we can find the best ramp SB we can become a T1 deck, most others just fold to us.
Yeah, I bought the Jace, and most of the rares, I still need 1x Engulf the Shore and 2x Compelling Deterrence. Fortunately, my LGS doesnt card really except for FNM, they'll even ask all the other players if they have any to borrow, or if anyone minds me using a proxy since they know im actively looking.
I think we are in a really good spot right now. Looking at a few of the other UR lists, they are VERY different from ours, and I think that most people will definitely be caught unawares by the deck, and probably sideboard incorrectly.
Yeah, I bought the Jace, and most of the rares, I still need 1x Engulf the Shore and 2x Compelling Deterrence. Fortunately, my LGS doesnt card really except for FNM, they'll even ask all the other players if they have any to borrow, or if anyone minds me using a proxy since they know im actively looking.
I think we are in a really good spot right now. Looking at a few of the other UR lists, they are VERY different from ours, and I think that most people will definitely be caught unawares by the deck, and probably sideboard incorrectly.
What sideboard cards do you think other decks will start using if this deck gets any traction in the meta game? I know that isn't a concern right now since I believe the deck will be able to go under the radar but are there some potentially devastating sideboard cards that would ruined the Fevered Visions / bounce mechanic?
Basically hexproof, things that blow up lands and enchantments, and hand hate
Out of all that, the most likely three would probably be; Dromoka's Command - Enchantment hate with more utility. Dispel - Super cheap, easy to splash. Transgress the Mind - Cheap hand hate that exiles, can beat our Negates on the play
One of the first games I tried was against a weird Mardu Maddness Aggro.
They couldnt keep any board presence and Nahiri, the Harbringer exiled all 4 Fevered Visions.
It was Shambling Vents vs Wandering Fumarole.
Luckily I was able to SLOWLY use Engulf to keep bouncing their Vents, and was able to get in enough with Fumarole. Took almost an hour and a half for that game.
I saw this and just had to try it. When it does play out as planned, it's tons of fun, and I do think this has potential...
I played the Prowess SB (but I will probably switch to something along the lines suggested by zzpoint). Did not matter, as I did not encounter Ramp, but having next to no SB space for anything else did not feel good.
Changes I made was to play 2 Mountains main, 14 Islands (so 61 cards for 23,5 lands), and added 2* Displacement Wave to the SB.
Went to FNM without playtesting first and ended up 0:3:1, but I think the deck can do more. A lot of bad luck with variance was involved.
M1 against Rakdos Control
G1 I did not draw a red source for the whole game
G2 Goblin Dark-Dwellers recursed Kolaghan’s Command, removing my Prism Rings and Fevered Visions. Eventually lost to Chandra, Flamecaller and her Elemental Tokens.
M2 against wubrG Superfriends
G1 went as planned, even smuggly bouncing a Gaea’s Revenge via Engulf before Day's Undoing it back into the library.
G2 I had only 3 Islands out of 6 lands and was unable to handle a 6/6 Woodland Wanderer in time. Dragonlord Dromoka complicated the situation further. The only moment of the evening where I had Engulf and wished for targeted bouce instead.
G2 went to time, with both Fevered Visions and Prism Ring on an otherwise empty board and both players around 16 life when the game ended.
M3 against UB Aristocrats
G1 eventuallz lost against Nantuko Husk sacing Hangarback Walkers for tons of triggers from 2 Zulaport Cutthroat when my lack of cards in hand left an opening.
G2 I neither saw Visions nor one of the (post board 6) Mass-Bounces.
M4 against MonoW ...something.
G1 I used two early Day's Undoing and had the game almost lockded down with 2 Fevered Visions, 3 Prism Rings and 44 Life, with the opponent down to 8. Calculated Dismissal had stopped being of use at this point, Hidden Dragonslayer and Odric, Lunarch Marshal enabled my opponent to stabilize. While I went through 2/3 of my library without drawing the Engulf I desprately dug for with Anticipate and Jace, he was able to add more and more pressure to the board and eventually overwhelmed the lifegain from 3 Prism Rings.
G2 with only 2 and a half minute left, we agreed that sideboarding and shuffling would leave us with less turns to play than either of us would need to kill.
Random Thoughts:
EOT Engulf into Day's Undoing really messes with the opponent's plans, so that's a plus for the mischieveously inclined.
I probably did not mulligan aggressively enough.
Often, I effectively died to a lack of Engulfs. I'll probably side in TiTi in almost all matches, but game 1 it's probably too vulnerable to removal. Maybe add one or two Displacement Wave from SB to MB for more mass bounce?
How has your testing against ramp gone with the Illusory Gains and Aligned Hedron Networks? I've had limited testing this week, but I still have only gotten to like a 60% win-rate over ramp playing against myself with tapped out, and thats post board. I'm fairly confident if we can find the best ramp SB we can become a T1 deck, most others just fold to us.
illusory gains kept them at bay long enough to find a bounce+counterspell. though i think that we should just have a counterspell ready for when they cast the fatties. illusory gains/hedron should just be a secondary option. (haven't gone to try the hedrons yet).
take note that all of my games are done thru xmage so really not sure how this would fare in paper.
Hmm, I've had more trouble with the cast trigger than the monsters themselves. But I guess if I play safe I could probably bounce visions, then save a bounce for them too
If all you're doing is being cautious and saving a bounce or counter, you may want to run a few more targeted bounce, and play blessed reincarnation. With just the wind, you can use that for creature, the rest for visions, and blessed the fatties once they land
There was not a lot of people playing standard today, so there were only 3 matches.
M1 against WG midrange
G1: kept a hand with 3 lands, anticipate, 2 spot bounces and Engulfs, never draw more lands or visions, finally I was out of cards and opponent landed Dragonlord Dromoka, lost.
G2: I brought three Displacement Waves, didn't bring Thing in the Ice, because my opponent did't use sideboard. The game went smoothly but I had only one visions, so it took time. 1-1-draw.
M2 against RU Zada: easy 2-0
M3 against UG mill. The main problem - never draw a single visions. I used two Day's Undoing, but no luck - no visions. And only after that my opponent cast Sphinx's Tutelage-es and Fleeting Memories and created a tons of clues, so I realized too late that I'm playing vs mill and should keep day's undoing for the late game. I was bouncing his Tutelages and then negated them, but he had counters for my negates. I found one more Day's Undoing but again no visions. Then he milled all my visions and last days. We were out of time after the first game, so I lost 0-1.
However it was very fun to play this deck. I'll play it next FNM, probably with slight changes.
Regarding Mountains instead of Negate - I missed negate in the third game, but I still think that 8 red sources ls too low.
After reading some of the results of this deck it seems that you need to almost need to have Fevered Visions on the draw or a Day's Undoing to cycle and try to get it. Red mana maybe an issue as well. I will try to test this deck next week. Still need a few more lands to put the deck together.
Thanks for the write up, sorry it didn't go better. I haven't really had many horrible draws like that, especially with this deck, so that's definitely a bummer. I did have one where I was 44 cards deep before my first Fevered Visions.
I feel like we need more win conditions and/or ways to draw/filter cards, here are some thoughts.
Regarding more win conditions I see two ways and I don't really like both: mill or add creatures. Mill is in conflict with Day's Undoing and I like days in this deck a lot. Creatures unlocks removal for the opponent and it's in conflict with our game plan. Honestly I like creatures more than mill, because they can do more than just hit the opponent, the ones like Thing in the Ice and Sin Prodder.
I thought about doing the white splash for Nahiri and Narset as well. I also feel slightly mixed regarding creatures, but agree it's better than mill.
I still think doing the same with black would be stronger. Opens up a much better SB option, and has finishers that are more in theme like Damnable Pact
I bought this deck online today, now there are more possibilities for testing. It's very fun to play it, so far I lost to ramp with Ulamog, Cryptolith Rite and million of cheap creatures, the most annoying was Dragonmaster Outcast, they easily cast all hand in one turn and visions just helped them to find Ulamog. Other matchups were good.
And yes, as mentioned earlier, if G1 is lost, it's almost impossible to win the match. The best we can do is to win G2 and draw. However on MTGO if opponent is playing slowly it's still possible to win the match because of time.
I think that Trail of Evidence fits the deck the best if you really need more cards. The Investigate tokens are pretty good IMO. They let you chill and draw as you need, and as you have mana. 2-3 Trail of Evidence shouldnt be hard to fit into the deck.
Horribly Awry could be useful against hasty creatures, so it depends on meta.
Sphinx of the Final Word - at the first look I thought it's great here against control, but in case of esper dragons it's still vulnerable to Foul-Tongue Invocation and I guess invocation will not leave the deck after the first game because they saw Wandering Fumarole and because of lifegain.
Chandra, Flamecaller - yes, I like this card a lot, needs testing.
I know we should not play creatures, but these two looks so sweet:
Thing in the Ice against swarm. It blocks early and wipe the board later. If we see heavy sideboarding after the first game, removal are probably gone.
Sin Prodder - more draw, more damage - just what we need.
4 Prism Ring
Enchantment (4)
4 Fevered Visions
Instant (23)
4 Anticipate
2 Calculated Dismissal
4 Compelling Deterrence
4 Disperse
4 Engulf the Shore
3 Negate
2 Void Shatter
4 Day's Undoing
Planeswalker (1)
1 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
Land (24)
15 Island
1 Mountain
4 Shivan Reef
4 Wandering Fumarole
4 Aligned Hedron Network
4 Blessed Reincarnation
3 Displacement Wave
1 Negate
1 Sphinx of the Final Word
2 Thing in the Ice
I did a 2/2 split of Calculated Dismissal and Void Shatter, added 1 Mountain and moved 1 Negate to sideboard. SB vs ramp is 4 Aligned Hedron Network and 4 Blessed Reincarnation, SB vs swarm - 3 Displacement Wave and 2 Thing in the Ice, SB vs control - Negate and Sphinx of the Final Word
Day's Undoing is +.50$ online from 1.50 to 2, is it because of this thread? Does any other deck in current meta plays this card?
Awesome ZZpoint, I've been so busy with moving to the new house that I've hardly gotten to play lately besides continued testing on TappedOut vs myself. We definitely need to hear how it goes for you. I've also had some thoughts about the ramp SB. With all their shuffling, and all our shuffling, they may still win the match with just 1 game. However, due to us being a bit weak against them, even post SB, I'd suggest that if you snag Game2, try to just burn Game3 into turns and get the draw. Depending on your store, 1 draw with no losses I would assume still gets you in the game for first place.
As for your list, I think that'll do great. The Void Shatters are definitely better cards, I only used Calculated Dismissal to play nice with Prism Ring, however that may be a bit Win-More. The Mountain I dont think you'll need, but I dont think it will hurt you either. If you FNM is cool with it, keep track during the matchs and see if it would have made a difference it if was an island or a Negate. Best of luck to you sir, go get em!
Days Undoing Price:
Its honestly probably just because of rotation hype, I doubt the thread has enough traction yet to raise 50c.
Prism Ring count:
I put 4 not because I want to draw multiples, but because I want that first one. Its our only T1 play, and its really underestimated by opponents, so getting it T1 as much as possible is IMO the best thing. Multiples are also nice to have, and sometimes I'll take a big hit instead of bounce to play a multiple because I get it back over the course of the game.
Void Shatter vs Calc Dismiss:
Void Shatter is the better spell, especially in the games we really need to counter creatures as thats primarily its function. It just doesnt hit Prism Ring. Lets say over the course of the game, we probably average 1.25 Prism Rings (since the 2nd is later), and probably only cast 2 Calc Dismissals. I find that most of the time I get the scry on Calc Dismissal, and most of the time its a hard counter due to mana. So lets say per game, average, here would be the breakdown;
Calculated Dismissal: Scry 3, Counter 1.5 spells, tap 2 lands opponent controls, gain 2.5 life.
Void Shatter is: Counter and exile 2x spells.
Numbers wise Calc Dis wins, however, in reality, these are like our back up, oh ***** counters. The stuff they hit, we NEED gone. So its really up to whoever. I like the 2/2 split as it gives the best of both worlds, or the worst of both haha.
Gaea's Revenge:
Gaea's Revenge Yeah, the only thing we have that can hit it is Engulf the Shore, Aligned Hedron Network, and Displacement Wave, and with it being a big bad hasty green creature, thats not good. Honestly, I put that above Dragonlord Atarka on the threat list, maybe above Chandra, Flamecaller
Extra SB thoughts:
I'm going to clean up the OP, and probably take the SB off the post since its old SB. The skeleton is still great, and I'll try to offer multiple SB lists depending on metas.
Thing in the Ice I think is a card we can also use against ramp. It may get heat from Chandra and Kozilek's Return, but I think with Negate's it can help. It does bounce any dangerous guys in the ramp matchup, but can favorably block World Breaker, and is an extra target for Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, saving something else. I think its definitely something we side in against RAMP as well. You'll also want to see if they are running Dorks or Ramp spells, and play your counters accordingly. If they're running a dork build, it may be beneficial to keep Engulf the Shore in, but it is a nonbo with TITI. Aligned Hedron Network is also a nonbo with TITI, but Blessed Reincarnation works nice, and if AHN gets killed, hopefully you have another, which our now face up TITI will dodge.
If they're running a spell based ramp, maybe board out some bounces, and side in some more counters.
i'm running almost the same as the one the OP has on the 1st page, though I replaced calculated dismissal with scatter the winds since I find that the dismissal is a bit awkward during long games where the 3 mana tax won't matter.
I read most of the replies here and here's my SB.
3 Illusory gains - have used this against ramp to steal an atarka, they basically have no answer unless they have to use worldbreaker just to exile this.
3 just the wind - additional bounce mainly for decks running manlands and/or aggro decks.
2 displacement wave - additional bounce for go wide.
2 dispel - probably just me but I use this for collected company decks.
2 horribly awry - used mostly against decks that run ayli and kalitas
3 aligned hedron network - extra removal for eldrazis and ramps
I think we are in a really good spot right now. Looking at a few of the other UR lists, they are VERY different from ours, and I think that most people will definitely be caught unawares by the deck, and probably sideboard incorrectly.
What sideboard cards do you think other decks will start using if this deck gets any traction in the meta game? I know that isn't a concern right now since I believe the deck will be able to go under the radar but are there some potentially devastating sideboard cards that would ruined the Fevered Visions / bounce mechanic?
Some hate cards against our decks would be
Dromoka's Command
Dispel
World Breaker
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
Pick the Brain
Transgress the Mind
Dragonlord Dromoka
Sphinx of the Final Word
Basically hexproof, things that blow up lands and enchantments, and hand hate
Out of all that, the most likely three would probably be;
Dromoka's Command - Enchantment hate with more utility.
Dispel - Super cheap, easy to splash.
Transgress the Mind - Cheap hand hate that exiles, can beat our Negates on the play
They couldnt keep any board presence and Nahiri, the Harbringer exiled all 4 Fevered Visions.
It was Shambling Vents vs Wandering Fumarole.
Luckily I was able to SLOWLY use Engulf to keep bouncing their Vents, and was able to get in enough with Fumarole. Took almost an hour and a half for that game.
I saw this and just had to try it. When it does play out as planned, it's tons of fun, and I do think this has potential...
I played the Prowess SB (but I will probably switch to something along the lines suggested by zzpoint). Did not matter, as I did not encounter Ramp, but having next to no SB space for anything else did not feel good.
Changes I made was to play 2 Mountains main, 14 Islands (so 61 cards for 23,5 lands), and added 2* Displacement Wave to the SB.
Went to FNM without playtesting first and ended up 0:3:1, but I think the deck can do more. A lot of bad luck with variance was involved.
M1 against Rakdos Control
G1 I did not draw a red source for the whole game
G2 Goblin Dark-Dwellers recursed Kolaghan’s Command, removing my Prism Rings and Fevered Visions. Eventually lost to Chandra, Flamecaller and her Elemental Tokens.
M2 against wubrG Superfriends
G1 went as planned, even smuggly bouncing a Gaea’s Revenge via Engulf before Day's Undoing it back into the library.
G2 I had only 3 Islands out of 6 lands and was unable to handle a 6/6 Woodland Wanderer in time. Dragonlord Dromoka complicated the situation further. The only moment of the evening where I had Engulf and wished for targeted bouce instead.
G2 went to time, with both Fevered Visions and Prism Ring on an otherwise empty board and both players around 16 life when the game ended.
M3 against UB Aristocrats
G1 eventuallz lost against Nantuko Husk sacing Hangarback Walkers for tons of triggers from 2 Zulaport Cutthroat when my lack of cards in hand left an opening.
G2 I neither saw Visions nor one of the (post board 6) Mass-Bounces.
M4 against MonoW ...something.
G1 I used two early Day's Undoing and had the game almost lockded down with 2 Fevered Visions, 3 Prism Rings and 44 Life, with the opponent down to 8. Calculated Dismissal had stopped being of use at this point, Hidden Dragonslayer and Odric, Lunarch Marshal enabled my opponent to stabilize. While I went through 2/3 of my library without drawing the Engulf I desprately dug for with Anticipate and Jace, he was able to add more and more pressure to the board and eventually overwhelmed the lifegain from 3 Prism Rings.
G2 with only 2 and a half minute left, we agreed that sideboarding and shuffling would leave us with less turns to play than either of us would need to kill.
Random Thoughts:
EOT Engulf into Day's Undoing really messes with the opponent's plans, so that's a plus for the mischieveously inclined.
I probably did not mulligan aggressively enough.
Often, I effectively died to a lack of Engulfs. I'll probably side in TiTi in almost all matches, but game 1 it's probably too vulnerable to removal. Maybe add one or two Displacement Wave from SB to MB for more mass bounce?
illusory gains kept them at bay long enough to find a bounce+counterspell. though i think that we should just have a counterspell ready for when they cast the fatties. illusory gains/hedron should just be a secondary option. (haven't gone to try the hedrons yet).
take note that all of my games are done thru xmage so really not sure how this would fare in paper.
If all you're doing is being cautious and saving a bounce or counter, you may want to run a few more targeted bounce, and play blessed reincarnation. With just the wind, you can use that for creature, the rest for visions, and blessed the fatties once they land
M1 against WG midrange
G1: kept a hand with 3 lands, anticipate, 2 spot bounces and Engulfs, never draw more lands or visions, finally I was out of cards and opponent landed Dragonlord Dromoka, lost.
G2: I brought three Displacement Waves, didn't bring Thing in the Ice, because my opponent did't use sideboard. The game went smoothly but I had only one visions, so it took time. 1-1-draw.
M2 against RU Zada: easy 2-0
M3 against UG mill. The main problem - never draw a single visions. I used two Day's Undoing, but no luck - no visions. And only after that my opponent cast Sphinx's Tutelage-es and Fleeting Memories and created a tons of clues, so I realized too late that I'm playing vs mill and should keep day's undoing for the late game. I was bouncing his Tutelages and then negated them, but he had counters for my negates. I found one more Day's Undoing but again no visions. Then he milled all my visions and last days. We were out of time after the first game, so I lost 0-1.
However it was very fun to play this deck. I'll play it next FNM, probably with slight changes.
Regarding Mountains instead of Negate - I missed negate in the third game, but I still think that 8 red sources ls too low.
Regarding more win conditions I see two ways and I don't really like both: mill or add creatures. Mill is in conflict with Day's Undoing and I like days in this deck a lot. Creatures unlocks removal for the opponent and it's in conflict with our game plan. Honestly I like creatures more than mill, because they can do more than just hit the opponent, the ones like Thing in the Ice and Sin Prodder.
Regarding more draw/filter - possible candidates are Artificer's Epiphany (synergy with Prism Ring), Grip of the Roil, Hydrolash - all of them are 3cmc which is bit high, grip is potentially 2cmc, Magmatic Insight, Tormenting Voice - I don't like these two because they are red and they are sorceries.
Another option for draw/filter is to add white colour and play Nahiri, the Harbinger and Narset Transcendent. Nahiri filters and can exile something, Narset draws and can redound something, both are hate targets for the opponent. Splashing white would be not too hard: 4 Island can be replaced by Prairie Stream and Engulf the Shore is not impacted, 4 Shivan Reef can be replaced by Battlefield Forge (I never used reef for blue).
What do you think about it?
I still think doing the same with black would be stronger. Opens up a much better SB option, and has finishers that are more in theme like
Damnable Pact
I bought this deck online today, now there are more possibilities for testing. It's very fun to play it, so far I lost to ramp with Ulamog, Cryptolith Rite and million of cheap creatures, the most annoying was Dragonmaster Outcast, they easily cast all hand in one turn and visions just helped them to find Ulamog. Other matchups were good.
And yes, as mentioned earlier, if G1 is lost, it's almost impossible to win the match. The best we can do is to win G2 and draw. However on MTGO if opponent is playing slowly it's still possible to win the match because of time.
Comparative Analysis (Only for its surge cost)
Pore Over the Pages (Slow card)
Coastal Discovery (Slow card and generates clues)
Confirm Suspicions (Slow card)
Learn from the Past (Not a fan of this card)
Press for Answers (Generates a clue)
Roiling Waters (Very slow card)
Trail of Evidence (Slow card but generates a clue every time an instant/sorcery is cast. Could provide protection against Dromoka's Command)
More Bounce
Crush of Tentacles
Just the Wind
Cycle
Reckless Scholar
For other white cards, definitely Declaration in Stone for ETB creatures we dont want to bounce. O-Command is decent. Roil Spout