Well, now I kinda feel that I have to at least comment on this pool. Oh well ...
Blue feels obvious as the main color, with Teferi, the Djinn and Drake, and Clutches. Initially I though white would be the best complement here, and then splashing red makes little sense as it only really gives the Barrage. Without more wizards, Firefist Adept does too little as a splash, and the Commander is too color intensive for a splash. Upon closer inspection, the red cards are mostly solid overall, and splashing white for removal would be a good choice. Black and green are too shallow. So for me it comes down to U/R, U/R/w, W/U/r, or W/U.
Alright, after pondering way too long over this, I too think, that U/R is the best choice as a base. Splashing white for Teferi and more removal is a possibility, but I'm trying without white first.
This is as far as I got for now. Still too many cards. Not too happy with it. I want to take out the Homarid, but with the hole at 4 mana, I feel I need another creature, even if it is just a Hill Giant. I included the Powerstone Shard for that reason, too, since it lets me jump from 3 to 5 mana, and also provides another artifact for the Djinn's alternative cost. I don't like the Scholar, but at the same time want as many wizards as I can get for Firefist Adept. Can't take out any lands. Need all the big bodies I can get. Argh. This is a frustrating pool, and I haven't even touched any splashes yet!
Edit:
A new day, let's try to finish this list. Right now, I feel, that there's enough removal in the deck already, that you don't have to splash white. Teferi is mostly a card advantage engine with his first ability, but there are two card draw effects already for this, and Siege-Gang Commander provides more. So what remains is to remove two more cards. Let's get rid of the Homarid, since there are 5 3-drops and the Shard to compensate. And we probably don't need the Warcaller either with 4 more 2-drops. Since there's nothing to abuse its abilty with, it's just a bear, solid, but not overly needed. The 1/3s should be able to stall the ground in the early game, which is good enough, because this deck is trying to win in the air.
Still not overly fond of this build, but it's the best I can do. My deck would probably look way different and be far worse under pressure of time in an actual event. But this was a good excercise to improve myself, I think.
Blue feels obvious as the main color, with Teferi, the Djinn and Drake, and Clutches. Initially I though white would be the best complement here, and then splashing red makes little sense as it only really gives the Barrage. Without more wizards, Firefist Adept does too little as a splash, and the Commander is too color intensive for a splash. Upon closer inspection, the red cards are mostly solid overall, and splashing white for removal would be a good choice. Black and green are too shallow. So for me it comes down to U/R, U/R/w, W/U/r, or W/U.
Alright, after pondering way too long over this, I too think, that U/R is the best choice as a base. Splashing white for Teferi and more removal is a possibility, but I'm trying without white first.
(edited list)
9 Island
7 Mountain
1 Memorial to Genius
Creatures (15)
1 Ghitu Chronicler
1 Voltaic Servant
1 Relic Runner
1 Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
1 Tolarian Scholar
1 Adeliz, the Cinder Wind
1 Aesthir Glider
1 Skittering Surveyor
1 Academy Drake
1 Rampaging Cyclops
1 Firefist Adept
1 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Academy Journeymage
1 Guardians of Koilos
1 Zahid, Djinn of the Lamp
1 Rescue
1 Run Amok
1 Deep Freeze
1 Divination
1 Powerstone Shard
1 Wizard's Retort
1 Goblin Barrage
1 In Bolas's Clutches
This is as far as I got for now. Still too many cards. Not too happy with it. I want to take out the Homarid, but with the hole at 4 mana, I feel I need another creature, even if it is just a Hill Giant. I included the Powerstone Shard for that reason, too, since it lets me jump from 3 to 5 mana, and also provides another artifact for the Djinn's alternative cost. I don't like the Scholar, but at the same time want as many wizards as I can get for Firefist Adept. Can't take out any lands. Need all the big bodies I can get. Argh. This is a frustrating pool, and I haven't even touched any splashes yet!
Edit:
A new day, let's try to finish this list. Right now, I feel, that there's enough removal in the deck already, that you don't have to splash white. Teferi is mostly a card advantage engine with his first ability, but there are two card draw effects already for this, and Siege-Gang Commander provides more. So what remains is to remove two more cards. Let's get rid of the Homarid, since there are 5 3-drops and the Shard to compensate. And we probably don't need the Warcaller either with 4 more 2-drops. Since there's nothing to abuse its abilty with, it's just a bear, solid, but not overly needed. The 1/3s should be able to stall the ground in the early game, which is good enough, because this deck is trying to win in the air.
Still not overly fond of this build, but it's the best I can do. My deck would probably look way different and be far worse under pressure of time in an actual event. But this was a good excercise to improve myself, I think.
Former Rules Advisor
"Everything's better with pirates." - Lodge
(The Gamers: Dorkness Rising)
"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."
(Girl Genius - Fairy Tale Theater Break - Cinderella, end of volume 8)