Well the decks seems fine, but the fact that i have to hold abck repeal limits drawing a bit. However, at the same time, if I cna't repeal anything, the game is porbably going slow which will allow me to wait a while to draw.
Gelectrode and WeeDs are the only creatures you need to win. I find myself drawing lots of cards over the course of a game, and a lot of lands, so I think double Invoke the Firemind is perfectly reasonable. Repeal is draw and stall, although I would replace it with Repulse in a heartbeat if I could. Nothing else is all that questionable.
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Credit goes to Le_Gambit at [Æther] for my "sexy" avvy
(U/R) High Mage of Unpredictability and Leader of the [Izzet] Clan. (U/R) Sales Thread
I fail to see what you are trying to say, black, Annex is a four costing enchant land that streals a land from your opponent...? Its for mana-base screwage, not for countering anything...
As one who played against an annex, confiscate deck they can get very annoying very quickly, or well, slowly. Anyway this deck still operates well, but i still stand by mimeofacture over repeal. Card advantage is always key, but so is removing key threats, and high-costing ones at that. Basically, with mimeo, I can use 4 mana to take care of a 6-mana dragon, although with jitte it costs mroe mana but it removes it permanently isntead of bouncing it.
i disagree i think that izzet is the least playable of the three the only way theese cards are gonna be used is if you add r or u to already exsisting decks unless your talking limited then yes r/u is the best colours in sealed!!!!!!
Wyatt, please don't make comments like that with no evidence to support your claims - it really annoys me when people do that.
Mystical, I think that you are overestimating mimeofacture - the card only really shines in an urzatron deck. You ideally want to be able to replicate it at least once - and with 22-23 lands in the deck, I don't see how you will be able to do that, most of the time. It's still only a 1 for 1 trade - and as far as removal goes, a gelectrode with a char will take out any relevant creature in the format, I think. Mimeofacture, when I tested it, just converted into an off-color land almost every time when I played it - the whole point of the deck is that they won't be able to keep a creature on the table, which is why mimeofacture is an SB card, and a sub-par one, in an aggro-control deck like this one.
just an idea for those of you playing with high CC red creatures (Kumano and Niv-Mizzet)... you could try blazing shoal. Its "free" and it gives like +7/+0 to your dragonauts. Can work as a finisher right on turn 4/5. Just a suggestion...
Ok guys,
This thread is not for stuff like blazing shoal - or schismotivate, or any other really bad cards that rely upon having creatures in play.
The thing about this deck is, THE POWER OF IT LIES IN NOT REALLY NEEDING ITS CREATURES. That's it. I said it. This deck does not need its creatures. It does not need anything that costs more than 3, aside from a recurring win condition versus extremely heavy disruption-based control decks.
There really is not any deck in the format right now (aside from Ghaziglare) that can handle having a 6/6 flier dropped on them without an active jitte in play. The best thing about this deck, with all of its versatility, is that it can easily morph into a control deck versus aggro decks packing jitte. And versus disruption-heavy control, it plays the aggressor.
Let us think of this deck as a Red deck wins deck with far superior card draw. This totally counts niv-mizzet out - the guy is good, but dies to far too many removal spells in the format. With him, you want to be playing a deck where you can prevent them removing him the turn he comes in.
The deck is an inexhaustible card-advantage aggro deck in most matchups - but with all the removal in the deck, when it meets a deck that is capable of outpacing it, it can go slow, and burn away all their threats then pound them to death with firebird.
WeeD and gelectrode help - (I am finding gelectrode to be far superior to WeeD in this deck) but that is all.
The whole point is, the cantrips in the deck NOT ONLY DRAW, BUT ALSO HAVE CONSIDERABLY MORE USEFUL EFFECTS THAN "PREVENT X DAMAGE TO YOU". Bounce and burn is good. Telling time + nivix is really, really good.
Helix is good, but not, (and I repeat, NOT) good enough to splash for. Needless to say, festival of the guildpact is in the same category.
This deck is versatile enough to be effective against any deck in the format - but as soon as a person starts putting in extremely mana-intensive (kumano) guys or fat vulnerable utility creatures (Niv-mizzet) then the deck beocmes less versatile and similar to many decks already in this format. With mana-intensive guys, comes vulnerability to LD. With Niv-mizzet, comes vulnerability to Char. Firebird is not vulnerable to char. Firebird is not vulnerable to pecan pie.
Just liek to keep in mind that even though my deck plays the creatures wuffles is rediculing, I would never put in pumpers, etc. Unless you're playing 20+ creatures, cards that depedn on creatures in play should not ven be considered. I do still disagree on the extra creatures topic, although I know less creatures can sometime smean veratility. Still, I really do get the point on mimeofacture. I will take them out for repeal IMO. It's draw and threat removal, and I think the deck needs just a bit more draw, or at least my build does.
hehe I love quicken+ Lava spike... and V. hammer so sexy... i'd almost say try Erayo in that Blink.. it looks like you could flip her pretty easy.. I know the deck doesn't need Wee or Gel to win but having another low CC creature people will want to throw removal at can't be all that bad of an idea.. Plus it erayo gives ya something to do on turn 2..
Now moving to using Kira, Erayo, Wee and Gel.. well thats leaning towards more of a Fish deck, Wuffles deck is kinda of a Fish deck.. its more of a Burn/draw deck that has creatures that enhance the burn/draw... its very odd. But it works and like several people have said before if you don't think so play it.
My friend has a list very similiar to this and i've played it with several decks and oddly the only one that does well against this is My R/W/G control deck. LD hurts this deck a touch, if they get a turn 2 stone rain turn 3 wreak havoc. doesn't happen very often.
If the meta shapes up like i think it may, remands/leaks may have to find a spot in the deck.
Like blinks, it may not have as much Raw power as wuffles deck but the counterspells make it a touch more resilent against LD and combo. Combo is gonna come back hard core, with R/G and R/U in this set there's no way it won't..
This deck is teh best. I hate Urza matchup. It is winnable, but not constantly enough (I'm testing with Wuffles_II's build). Im not very convinced of annex, because they can pretty quickly fish new urza piece with telling times and divining tops. (And they usually play annex, bounce, mimeofacture, confiscate etc. to get the land back.)
There is no space for mana leak in this deck, but honestly, sometimes I wish I had one in hand.
Still very fun deck. I love dragonauts.
And for people suggesting instant creature pumps; They're not worth the trouble. It's better to play something that can affect on board position, because dragonauts actually do enough damage even if pumped only 1-2 times a turn.
I do like the idea of using erayo, the only problem is finding a spot for it.
I think that counter magic is actually really good in this deck. It screws over combo decks and stuff. Also with gelectrode on the feild, it turns into burn also.
What's interesting to me about Wuffles build is that it maximizes cantrips (11 total I counted, not including Mikokoro, but including Telling Time) but doesn't have any actual extra draw (even TT only replaces itself). Thus rather than a few cards dedicated to drawing (like Tidings), you have a wide range of cards that have some other effect but then replace themselves, making for a more reliable supply of threats, thus refueling not only your burn but the WeeDs and Gellys effects. Smooth. Other cards like Smash also fit this strategy.
Might need a less catchy name. People prefer things like U/R Burn or R/G Aggro.
Also, glad to hear Quash was useful for you. I think, maybe, yes... I suggested that in the other thread.
I have this deck proxied and I will get some playtesting results here shortly. I will also paste my other results below:
Quote from Polyjak »
Might I suggest Izzet Signet? It helps you fire off more spells per turn, and it gives your deck something to do turn 2 besides pick its nose.
We ran about 3 matches vs. WW/r with this deck last night, and it fared pretty well when the opponent kept top-decking lands. But it's slow to get rolling, and the creatures are really succeptible to burn. Not to mention the dome is completely defenseless against a burn-face strategy.
I see you have some quality anti-weenie tech in your sideboard now, so I bet that shores up the match vs. Boros. Though it seems to make Gelectrode a bit more... dead.
Lastly, you might want to cut and paste your descriptions of how the deck operates, the founding principles, etc... just for completeness' sake.
Okay, no one cares about this deck, so I'll double-post.
I just played a few games against Magnivore, and I'm telling you, we NEED Izzet Signet in this build. There is going to be tempo disruption and land destruction and Wildfire GALORE in the post-GP meta. Everything worth playing in this deck costs 3 mana, and Magnivore does a great job keeping me on two lands.
I killed a 7/7 Magnivore with the help of Gelectrode. He is the gelatinous spine of this deck. He MUST remain.
Also, after I killed that Magnivore my opponent was in top-deck mode, and he drew a Tidings, and I had Cerebral Vortex for the win. That card is awesome... everything that Invoke the Firemindwishes it was.
I need to implement the variations you've put in this build, Wuffles, but I think the deck is going to struggle with tempo disruption unless we add the Signet.
I went 1-1. Time constraints kept us from playing the 3rd game.
Even if you think no one cares about the deck, please don't double post. Second post edited in, please don't do it anymore.
-Lesurgo
Sorry, I double-posted because the 2 posts were about different things, and there was a time lapse. I didn't expect all the threads to merge.
I like having separate draw spell, and not having all cantrips. It activiates gelectrode and dragonauts more. Also I would just like to say that this deck should be renamed, gelectrode is amazing while dragonauts are only pretty good. Gelectrode is amazing if you are playing 2 to three instants or sorceries a turn.
Heh Gelectrode is funny when you play a control type of U/R deck. Instead of playing burn spells, you wait for them to play spells then, you activate gelectrode, use a counterspell, then wait to activate him again. Its really a fun time. But again this is around dragonauts not gelectrode. Gelectrode stops dead in face of Ivory Mask and Privlaged Position so dont think that multiple activation is a good thing. Its mainly to activate Wee Dragonauts. The control version of this deck will probably see play with same creature base just different spell base. Which I am still waiting to see a good version of. Mine is draw/control based off of Niv-Mizzet/Gelectrode, but their is probably a better chance of seeing a control version of Wee Dragonauts in the near future if not already in the works.
[card=Dismal Failure]"Two magi could trade spells all day and never crown a victor.
The real battle is not one of power but of will.
If your confidence breaks, so too shall you." —Venser[/card]
the Deck my friend is building I'm putting the sideboard together and it's mostly control elements, Hinder, Remand, Leak/Rewind and pyroclasm.. I'm still trying to find a way to slide in Blood Moon in the SB. its funny cause we were both building the deck but from different ends, he was building it Aggro and I was building more control. and we realized the decks were the same except about 15ish cards. control version is more worried about getting gel out and active and then controlling the board.. for awhile I was actually using Surge of Zeal to give Gel/Wee haste.. it was bad.. but fun..
I'll get the list of the two decks and post them with result tonight, going to a playtest session tonight, I got a lot of stuff to test..
I'm thinking of trying Leyline of lightning in the main of this to see how it effects the curve.
I do have a Control U/R deck with gel and Nivvy that i'm working on...
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"One Day Reason and Sanity will rule the World....."
"Unfortunately that day will be the day after all us Homo Sapiens explode in fiery balls of death from a Thermonuclear Hell..."
Wuffles, you are a great fountain of intelligence in this thread
Was about to ponder Sleight of Hand instead of Telling Time, but tried it a bit and figured that unless you really want to play something besides TT on turn 2 (maybe a Volcanic Hammer, or a Signet if you play those - not recommended, IMO...maybe SB Pyroclasm?) you should probably just use TT.
Anyhow, arguments against Signets, for anybody who cares:
1. Signets don't draw cards.
2. You shouldn't be in any danger of colour-screw.
3. You shouldn't be in any danger of mana-screw (aside from normal).
4. On turn 3, you want to be playing a Dragonauts or Gelectrode. A turn 2 Signet will get you an extra mana on turn 3, which is absolutely useless, considering A) you have no 1CC spells, and B) Dragonauts and Gelectrode have summoning sickness anyways. And then see reason 1.
Edit: Wow...I can deal 20 damage in 1 turn with this deck with 6 mana and Gelectrode + Wee Dragonauts. (And had been dealing plenty of divisible damage (4+) each turn to deal with opposing creatures.
(Shock + Volcanic Hammer + Char = 9 damage, + 4 from Gelectrode, + 7 from Dragonauts...a couple of Electrolyzes and a Shock and Hammer helped to deal with anything first.)
Edit2: Aaand yay win vs. B/G control Faced 3 Putrefies to my two Gelectrodes and Wee Dragonauts. The deck did exactly what it was supposed to and I got the right cards at the right time. Finished with a Skarrgan Firebird (Bloodthirsted by a Shock) which attacked twice, and then for the win: Volcanic Hammer followed by.....Cerebral Vortex to him right after his draw
Anyhow, arguments against Signets, for anybody who cares:
1. Signets don't draw cards.
2. You shouldn't be in any danger of colour-screw.
3. You shouldn't be in any danger of mana-screw (aside from normal).
4. On turn 3, you want to be playing a Dragonauts or Gelectrode. A turn 2 Signet will get you an extra mana on turn 3, which is absolutely useless, considering A) you have no 1CC spells, and B) Dragonauts and Gelectrode have summoning sickness anyways. And then see reason 1.
1. Shock doesn't draw cards either, but people seem to find that card useful.
2. You shouldn't, but there's always those fluke cases where you are.
3. If you're going against disruption decks / Wildfire decks / Thoughts of Ruin decks, you are in danger of mana screw. Those decks are becoming more and more popular, and Guildpact will give them nice tools.
4. Signets get you to 6 mana a turn faster, which brings the game that much closer to completion. (And I believe Shock is a 1CC spell.)
I don't know what I'd take out for them, but I always feel like there's more stuff I could be doing each turn, and I want to be able to do it.
I've been playtesting this a lot with good results, but will be able to crank up the testing over the weekend. Right now about the only major consideration I'm making is adding a third Tidings, likely at the expense of a land.
My version is set to abuse WeeD and Gelectrode, but can go the route of the infiniSpike combo in a pinch if needed out of the SB. But, obviously, cheaper spells are much more efficient in this deck. No Telling Times, no Repeals, and dear lord, no Vortexes. That card is garbage in this deck.
The Illuminatus is a finisher against decks that manage to survive my early onslaught (BW can pack a tremendous amount of removal, and the bleed spells can get very annoying). Its 5-toughness gives it decent invulnerability and it can turn a simple Shock or Quicken into a game-winner with all that extra mana on the board.
Reefs aren't included because they can get suicidal late and really hinder the deck's replicating abilities. You need your colored mana a lot in this deck.
This is not an aggro deck. It's actually a deceptive control deck with aggro-like win conditions, and has several avenues to victory as well.
1. Shock doesn't draw cards either, but people seem to find that card useful.
2. You shouldn't, but there's always those fluke cases where you are.
3. If you're going against disruption decks / Wildfire decks / Thoughts of Ruin decks, you are in danger of mana screw. Those decks are becoming more and more popular, and Guildpact will give them nice tools.
4. Signets get you to 6 mana a turn faster, which brings the game that much closer to completion. (And I believe Shock is a 1CC spell.)
I don't know what I'd take out for them, but I always feel like there's more stuff I could be doing each turn, and I want to be able to do it.
1. Shock is cheap burn, something necessary for the deck. It can remove an opponent's creature, giving you a 1-for-1 trade. Signets don't do that.
2. Those cases are more infrequent than the cases where you would much rather have a card that actually does something instead of trying to fix mana.
3. A few signets aren't going to stop them. This deck requires sideboard slots to deal with ED, as aside from trying to cheaply burn them out, (which may or may not be a viable strategy - anybody?) there's not much this maindeck can do.
4. Signets requires you to give up a turn casting them in order to get there a turn quicker. In that turn, Telling Time is by far the better play. The benefit you get from the signet will rarely even come online by the turn after that, as you should be playing a Dragonauts or a Gelectrode. You may only get the benefits the turn after that, and that's still at the expense of losing some card quality (via either Telling Time, or simply whatever card would be taken out for the signets).
Edit: Possible sideboard strategy: Transform into Counter-burn?
Sideboard (15)
4 Quash
3 Pyroclasm
4 Dream Leash
4 Annex
This just owns U/R 'tron, which is a BEAST of a deck once it gets its tron out - this way, they never will. ';..;'
Life's for my own, to live my own way...
Currently playing:
EDH
:symu::symr::symw: Ruhan the Combolicious
Momir Vig Elfball combo
Kemba tokenator/voltron
Omnath, locus of muscle
4 [GPT] Steam Vents
4 [9E] Shivan Reef
8 [RAV] Mountain (4)
8 [RAV] Island (4)
4 [GPT] Wee Dragonauts
4 [GPT] Gelectrode
// Spells
3 [GPT] Cerebral Vortex
4 [8E] Shock
4 [8E] Volcanic Hammer
3 [RAV] Char
4 [GPT] Electrolyze
4 [RAV] Compulsive Research
4 [GPT] Repeal
2 [GPT] Invoke the Firemind
Gelectrode and WeeDs are the only creatures you need to win. I find myself drawing lots of cards over the course of a game, and a lot of lands, so I think double Invoke the Firemind is perfectly reasonable. Repeal is draw and stall, although I would replace it with Repulse in a heartbeat if I could. Nothing else is all that questionable.
Sales Thread
Mystical, I think that you are overestimating mimeofacture - the card only really shines in an urzatron deck. You ideally want to be able to replicate it at least once - and with 22-23 lands in the deck, I don't see how you will be able to do that, most of the time. It's still only a 1 for 1 trade - and as far as removal goes, a gelectrode with a char will take out any relevant creature in the format, I think. Mimeofacture, when I tested it, just converted into an off-color land almost every time when I played it - the whole point of the deck is that they won't be able to keep a creature on the table, which is why mimeofacture is an SB card, and a sub-par one, in an aggro-control deck like this one.
I like pie.
Ok guys,
This thread is not for stuff like blazing shoal - or schismotivate, or any other really bad cards that rely upon having creatures in play.
The thing about this deck is, THE POWER OF IT LIES IN NOT REALLY NEEDING ITS CREATURES. That's it. I said it. This deck does not need its creatures. It does not need anything that costs more than 3, aside from a recurring win condition versus extremely heavy disruption-based control decks.
There really is not any deck in the format right now (aside from Ghaziglare) that can handle having a 6/6 flier dropped on them without an active jitte in play. The best thing about this deck, with all of its versatility, is that it can easily morph into a control deck versus aggro decks packing jitte. And versus disruption-heavy control, it plays the aggressor.
Let us think of this deck as a Red deck wins deck with far superior card draw. This totally counts niv-mizzet out - the guy is good, but dies to far too many removal spells in the format. With him, you want to be playing a deck where you can prevent them removing him the turn he comes in.
The deck is an inexhaustible card-advantage aggro deck in most matchups - but with all the removal in the deck, when it meets a deck that is capable of outpacing it, it can go slow, and burn away all their threats then pound them to death with firebird.
WeeD and gelectrode help - (I am finding gelectrode to be far superior to WeeD in this deck) but that is all.
The whole point is, the cantrips in the deck NOT ONLY DRAW, BUT ALSO HAVE CONSIDERABLY MORE USEFUL EFFECTS THAN "PREVENT X DAMAGE TO YOU". Bounce and burn is good. Telling time + nivix is really, really good.
Helix is good, but not, (and I repeat, NOT) good enough to splash for. Needless to say, festival of the guildpact is in the same category.
This deck is versatile enough to be effective against any deck in the format - but as soon as a person starts putting in extremely mana-intensive (kumano) guys or fat vulnerable utility creatures (Niv-mizzet) then the deck beocmes less versatile and similar to many decks already in this format. With mana-intensive guys, comes vulnerability to LD. With Niv-mizzet, comes vulnerability to Char. Firebird is not vulnerable to char. Firebird is not vulnerable to pecan pie.
I like pecan pie.
6 [MR] Island (2)
6 [B] Mountain (1)
4 [9E] Shivan Reef
4 [GP] Steam Vents
// Creatures
4 [GP] Gelectrode
4 [GP] Wee Dragonauts
// Spells
4 [BOK] Flames of the Blood Hand
3 [GP] Quicken
4 [CHK] Lava Spike
4 [9E] Mana Leak
3 [RAV] Remand
3 [RAV] Telling Time
4 [RAV] Char
4 [9E] Volcanic Hammer
3 [9E] Boomerang
This is my version of the deck, it has been testing really well. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Now moving to using Kira, Erayo, Wee and Gel.. well thats leaning towards more of a Fish deck, Wuffles deck is kinda of a Fish deck.. its more of a Burn/draw deck that has creatures that enhance the burn/draw... its very odd. But it works and like several people have said before if you don't think so play it.
My friend has a list very similiar to this and i've played it with several decks and oddly the only one that does well against this is My R/W/G control deck. LD hurts this deck a touch, if they get a turn 2 stone rain turn 3 wreak havoc. doesn't happen very often.
If the meta shapes up like i think it may, remands/leaks may have to find a spot in the deck.
Like blinks, it may not have as much Raw power as wuffles deck but the counterspells make it a touch more resilent against LD and combo. Combo is gonna come back hard core, with R/G and R/U in this set there's no way it won't..
"One Day Reason and Sanity will rule the World....."
"Unfortunately that day will be the day after all us Homo Sapiens explode in fiery balls of death from a Thermonuclear Hell..."
I need a new avvie and sig banner...
There is no space for mana leak in this deck, but honestly, sometimes I wish I had one in hand.
Still very fun deck. I love dragonauts.
And for people suggesting instant creature pumps; They're not worth the trouble. It's better to play something that can affect on board position, because dragonauts actually do enough damage even if pumped only 1-2 times a turn.
I think that counter magic is actually really good in this deck. It screws over combo decks and stuff. Also with gelectrode on the feild, it turns into burn also.
Also, glad to hear Quash was useful for you. I think, maybe, yes... I suggested that in the other thread.
I have this deck proxied and I will get some playtesting results here shortly. I will also paste my other results below:
I see you have some quality anti-weenie tech in your sideboard now, so I bet that shores up the match vs. Boros. Though it seems to make Gelectrode a bit more... dead.
How are the Faeries fairing? What happened to Flames of the Blood Hand?
Lastly, you might want to cut and paste your descriptions of how the deck operates, the founding principles, etc... just for completeness' sake.
Okay, no one cares about this deck, so I'll double-post.
I just played a few games against Magnivore, and I'm telling you, we NEED Izzet Signet in this build. There is going to be tempo disruption and land destruction and Wildfire GALORE in the post-GP meta. Everything worth playing in this deck costs 3 mana, and Magnivore does a great job keeping me on two lands.
I killed a 7/7 Magnivore with the help of Gelectrode. He is the gelatinous spine of this deck. He MUST remain.
Also, after I killed that Magnivore my opponent was in top-deck mode, and he drew a Tidings, and I had Cerebral Vortex for the win. That card is awesome... everything that Invoke the Firemind wishes it was.
I need to implement the variations you've put in this build, Wuffles, but I think the deck is going to struggle with tempo disruption unless we add the Signet.
I went 1-1. Time constraints kept us from playing the 3rd game.
Even if you think no one cares about the deck, please don't double post. Second post edited in, please don't do it anymore.
-Lesurgo
Sorry, I double-posted because the 2 posts were about different things, and there was a time lapse. I didn't expect all the threads to merge.
:symr::symu: Reality Bites
:symr::symu: Delver Cyclops
:symr::symu: Niv Control EDH
:symg::symw: Sigarda EDH
The real battle is not one of power but of will.
If your confidence breaks, so too shall you."
—Venser[/card]
I'll get the list of the two decks and post them with result tonight, going to a playtest session tonight, I got a lot of stuff to test..
I'm thinking of trying Leyline of lightning in the main of this to see how it effects the curve.
I do have a Control U/R deck with gel and Nivvy that i'm working on...
"One Day Reason and Sanity will rule the World....."
"Unfortunately that day will be the day after all us Homo Sapiens explode in fiery balls of death from a Thermonuclear Hell..."
I need a new avvie and sig banner...
Was about to ponder Sleight of Hand instead of Telling Time, but tried it a bit and figured that unless you really want to play something besides TT on turn 2 (maybe a Volcanic Hammer, or a Signet if you play those - not recommended, IMO...maybe SB Pyroclasm?) you should probably just use TT.
Anyhow, arguments against Signets, for anybody who cares:
1. Signets don't draw cards.
2. You shouldn't be in any danger of colour-screw.
3. You shouldn't be in any danger of mana-screw (aside from normal).
4. On turn 3, you want to be playing a Dragonauts or Gelectrode. A turn 2 Signet will get you an extra mana on turn 3, which is absolutely useless, considering A) you have no 1CC spells, and B) Dragonauts and Gelectrode have summoning sickness anyways. And then see reason 1.
Edit: Wow...I can deal 20 damage in 1 turn with this deck with 6 mana and Gelectrode + Wee Dragonauts. (And had been dealing plenty of divisible damage (4+) each turn to deal with opposing creatures.
(Shock + Volcanic Hammer + Char = 9 damage, + 4 from Gelectrode, + 7 from Dragonauts...a couple of Electrolyzes and a Shock and Hammer helped to deal with anything first.)
Edit2: Aaand yay win vs. B/G control Faced 3 Putrefies to my two Gelectrodes and Wee Dragonauts. The deck did exactly what it was supposed to and I got the right cards at the right time. Finished with a Skarrgan Firebird (Bloodthirsted by a Shock) which attacked twice, and then for the win: Volcanic Hammer followed by.....Cerebral Vortex to him right after his draw
2. You shouldn't, but there's always those fluke cases where you are.
3. If you're going against disruption decks / Wildfire decks / Thoughts of Ruin decks, you are in danger of mana screw. Those decks are becoming more and more popular, and Guildpact will give them nice tools.
4. Signets get you to 6 mana a turn faster, which brings the game that much closer to completion. (And I believe Shock is a 1CC spell.)
I don't know what I'd take out for them, but I always feel like there's more stuff I could be doing each turn, and I want to be able to do it. 1.
2 Djinn Illuminatus
4 Gelectrode
4 Izzet Guildmage
4 Wee Dragonaut
//Spells (24)
2 Electrolyze
4 Quicken
4 Reach Through Mists
4 Shock
4 Sleight of Hand
2 Tidings
4 Volcanic Hammer
9 Island
9 Mountain
4 Steam Vents
2 Char
4 Desperate Ritual
1 Electrolyze
4 Lava Spike
4 Pyroclasm
I've been playtesting this a lot with good results, but will be able to crank up the testing over the weekend. Right now about the only major consideration I'm making is adding a third Tidings, likely at the expense of a land.
My version is set to abuse WeeD and Gelectrode, but can go the route of the infiniSpike combo in a pinch if needed out of the SB. But, obviously, cheaper spells are much more efficient in this deck. No Telling Times, no Repeals, and dear lord, no Vortexes. That card is garbage in this deck.
The Illuminatus is a finisher against decks that manage to survive my early onslaught (BW can pack a tremendous amount of removal, and the bleed spells can get very annoying). Its 5-toughness gives it decent invulnerability and it can turn a simple Shock or Quicken into a game-winner with all that extra mana on the board.
Reefs aren't included because they can get suicidal late and really hinder the deck's replicating abilities. You need your colored mana a lot in this deck.
This is not an aggro deck. It's actually a deceptive control deck with aggro-like win conditions, and has several avenues to victory as well.
2. Those cases are more infrequent than the cases where you would much rather have a card that actually does something instead of trying to fix mana.
3. A few signets aren't going to stop them. This deck requires sideboard slots to deal with ED, as aside from trying to cheaply burn them out, (which may or may not be a viable strategy - anybody?) there's not much this maindeck can do.
4. Signets requires you to give up a turn casting them in order to get there a turn quicker. In that turn, Telling Time is by far the better play. The benefit you get from the signet will rarely even come online by the turn after that, as you should be playing a Dragonauts or a Gelectrode. You may only get the benefits the turn after that, and that's still at the expense of losing some card quality (via either Telling Time, or simply whatever card would be taken out for the signets).
Edit: Possible sideboard strategy: Transform into Counter-burn?