Interesting concept. I think you need less hand disruption and more creatures with evasion to equip Dowsing Dagger to. You also want to be able to find your combo pieces fairly fast. This means cards that draw/tutor for the cards you're looking for. You need to have the ability to cast Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh outside relying on Dagger to flip to Lost Vale. And a little removal never hurts either. My suggestion:
Running Evolving Wilds in the deck to make Fatal Push a more potent kill spell. It also helps fetch for R mana the turn we need it to cast Nicol Bolas. Glint-Nest Crane allows you to dig deep into your library to find Dagger and Conqueror's Galleon. Galleon may seem like an odd inclusion, but it's easy to crew once you have Dagger equipped to a creature and maybe have one other creature on the battlefield under your control as well. It's good on defense, with a toughness higher than the power of any creature card in the format. Once flipped, Conqueror's Foothold both allows you to draw even more in a search for Bolas AND return him from the GY to your hand if he's killed or countered.Y ou can setup your sideboard however you see fit. I'd recommend more removal/counter spells + mass removal spell(s) of some sort.
Yeah, I always forget Supreme Will is a card. I'd run it over the Galleon for sure. As for the other cards you mentioned, there are probably better options. Approach deserves to be in a build much different then this one, catered to being built around. And there are other, less costly cards than Rivulet that can put cards into the graveyard.
I think it is a mistake to put tall your eggs into one basket if that basket is a permanent. In testing, Ixalan's Binding has been crushing it and if one hits a Bolas, you have 0 payoffs. That invalidates the entire game plan.
4 Siren Stormtamer
4 Slither Blade
4 Kitesail Freebooter
4 Duress
4 Spell Pierce
4 Dowsing Dagger
4 Supreme Will
4 Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh
4 Fetid Pools
8 Island
8 Swamp
Having 4 Bolases is probably too much, so other options are Torment of Hailfire, Nissa, Steward of Elements, or Nissa, Genesis Mage which can give you 10-11 mana turn 5.
Getting the pieces might be an issue, so maybe Chart a Course for some more card draw.
4 Fetid Pools
4 Drowned Catacomb
1 Spirebluff Canal
4 Evolving Wilds
7 Island
3 Swamp
1 Mountain
4 Slither Blade
4 Siren Stormtamer
4 Glint-Nest Crane
4 River Sneak
PLANESWALKERS 2
2 Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh
INSTANTS AND SORCERIES 12
4 Chart a Course
2 Spell Pierce
4 Fatal Push
2 Walk the Plank
4 Dowsing Dagger
2 Conqueror's Galleon
Running Evolving Wilds in the deck to make Fatal Push a more potent kill spell. It also helps fetch for R mana the turn we need it to cast Nicol Bolas. Glint-Nest Crane allows you to dig deep into your library to find Dagger and Conqueror's Galleon. Galleon may seem like an odd inclusion, but it's easy to crew once you have Dagger equipped to a creature and maybe have one other creature on the battlefield under your control as well. It's good on defense, with a toughness higher than the power of any creature card in the format. Once flipped, Conqueror's Foothold both allows you to draw even more in a search for Bolas AND return him from the GY to your hand if he's killed or countered.Y ou can setup your sideboard however you see fit. I'd recommend more removal/counter spells + mass removal spell(s) of some sort.
I wonder if a better payoff would be Approach of the Second Sun. Maybe add Ipnu Rivulet. That plus Glint-Nest Crane and Supreme Will can churn through the seven cards pretty effectively.
Yeah, I always forget Supreme Will is a card. I'd run it over the Galleon for sure. As for the other cards you mentioned, there are probably better options. Approach deserves to be in a build much different then this one, catered to being built around. And there are other, less costly cards than Rivulet that can put cards into the graveyard.