I've been playing around with a new list for a few weeks. Any thoughts always welcome. I really appreciate the exchange of ideas. The goal is to engineer a interactive control list that aims to win after most combo decks have fizzled out. The deck currently supports quite a lot of recursion. Cuts / Notable missing cards etc. Please let me know.
The first thin I'd recommend is to trim down your list CMC wise. I would be that your average CMC is above 3, which is pretty expensive. My gut reaction is to remove Karn Liberated and Dark Intimations because they're quite expensive while not being 100% effective for a competitive strategy.
I think that Planeswalkers are a liability in a Multi-Player format because there are so many opponents that can swing combat damage into them.
The notable additions that I'd recommend are cutting Mind Twist[/CARD in favor of Torment of Hailfire. This is the big finisher spell for the list I posted and should probably be cast for X>=8 at any given point. The other addition is the inclusion of Counterbalance + Sensei's Divining Top. I'm not sure how competitive your playgroup is, but my observation is that competitive decks have a CMC that centers around the 2-3 range. If you can have your CMC match theirs, then you have a good chance of countering spells for free with the Counterbalance. Add in Top and you dramatically increase the chances that you can counter spells for just 1.
I would also be willing to bet that the card you're most keenly interested in protecting and which you probably always get into play each game is Consecrated Sphinx. Playing control against 3 different opponents is a losing proposition, from a card advantage perspective; you just don't have enough spells in hand to answer every threatening play that could occur from each of your opponents. The Sphinx helps refuel your hand each turn and turns into a nice soft-lock with Forbid. I would also suggest adding in Nezahal, Primal Tide for the same reason. He can draw an almost similar number of cards as the Sphinx, is uncounterable, and can protect himself as well. He also lets you stock up on cards without having to worry about max hand limit size.
How fond of you are the Entomb/Reanimate plan? I cut it from the list I posted because I like having more support for a Reanimation strategy than just a few cards.
Anyways, I hope this helps. I have a Vorthos Nicol Bolas list and an accompanying playmat (which I bought in '09). Niccy Nic is my boi and the Ravager incarnation of him is what I've always wanted. Happy brewing!
Entomb is very good in the list, it does silly things with snapcaster / jace / kess, also bolas flips and can reanimate planeswalkers so end of turn find god-pharaoh put in big, untap flip downtick to reanimate other bolas planewalker is very powerful. Nezahal seems good also looking at Jin. I suspect Mind Twist is much stronger then hailfire but I've never seen anyone cast hailfire for anything all too impressive outside of mono black lists.
I live in the Seattle area and so my pods dent range from highly tooned cEDH list where I just play Baral or Teferi, to focused tooned decks.
I think most of the planeswalkers are very solid Death's Majesty is rather loose but all of the 3 mana planeswalkers are incredibly powerful. Dack steals signets / sol ring / crypts. Most lists do not run creatures that can attack into a 4/4 and they all either protect themselves or generate incredible value very quickly. Lilly of the veil, everyone discard > bolas + Lilly everyone discard, ruins everyone at the table very quickly.
I'll take another look at your list and see if I glean any gems.
1x Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
Planeswalker (8)
1x Dack Fayden
1x Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast
1x Karn Liberated
1x Liliana, Death's Majesty
1x Liliana of the Veil
1x Liliana, the Last Hope
1x Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh
1x Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
Enchantment (5)
1x As Foretold
1x Mystic Remora
1x Rhystic Study
1x Search for Azcanta
1x The Eldest Reborn
Instant (19)
1x Brainstorm
1x Capsize
1x Counterspell
1x Countersquall
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Entomb
1x Fire Covenant
1x Forbid
1x Force of Will
1x Intuition
1x Kolaghan's Command
1x Mana Drain
1x Mystical Tutor
1x Negate
1x Pact of Negation
1x Rakdos Charm
1x Slaughter Pact
1x Terminate
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Ancestral Vision
1x Blasphemous Act
1x Cruel Ultimatum
1x Crux of Fate
1x Damnation
1x Dark Intimations
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Mind Twist
1x Notion Rain
1x Praetor's Grasp
1x Reanimate
1x Syphon Mind
1x Toxic Deluge
1x Vandalblast
Creature (9)
1x Consecrated Sphinx
1x Gilded Drake
1x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy Flip
1x Kess, Dissident Mage
1x Notion Thief
1x Plaguecrafter
1x Snapcaster Mage
1x Spellseeker
1x The Scarab God
Artifact (10)
1x Coalition Relic
1x Dimir Signet
1x Fellwar Stone
1x Gilded Lotus
1x Izzet Signet
1x Mana Crypt
1x Rakdos Signet
1x Sol Ring
1x Talisman of Dominance
1x Talisman of Indulgence
1x Blood Crypt
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Canyon Slough
1x City of Brass
1x Command Tower
1x Dragonskull Summit
1x Exotic Orchard
1x Flooded Strand
7x Island
1x Luxury Suite
1x Mana Confluence
1x Morphic Pool
1x Mountain
1x Path of Ancestry
1x Polluted Delta
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Shivan Reef
1x Steam Vents
1x Sulfurous Springs
4x Swamp
1x Temple of Deceit
1x Tolaria West
1x Underground River
1x Watery Grave
UBRNicol Bolas, the RavagerUBR
R Jaya Ballard, Task Mage R
2DH / Budget Commanders:
WMangara of Corondor 2DHW
BRXantcha, Sleeper Agent 2DHBR
The first thin I'd recommend is to trim down your list CMC wise. I would be that your average CMC is above 3, which is pretty expensive. My gut reaction is to remove Karn Liberated and Dark Intimations because they're quite expensive while not being 100% effective for a competitive strategy.
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
RBW [Primer]-Kaalia of the Vast
BUG [Primer]-Tasigur, the Golden Fang
GWU [Primer]-Arcades, the Strategist
WUB Primer-Aminatou, the Fateshifter
UBR Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
CMC is siting at exactly 3 currently.
UBRNicol Bolas, the RavagerUBR
R Jaya Ballard, Task Mage R
2DH / Budget Commanders:
WMangara of Corondor 2DHW
BRXantcha, Sleeper Agent 2DHBR
4x Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
Mana Sources (12)
0x Mana Crypt
1x Sol Ring
2x Talisman of Indulgence
2x Talisman of Dominance
2x Dimir Signet
2x Rakdos Signet
2x Izzet Signet
2x Fellwar Stone
2x Thought Vessel
2x Grim Monolith
3x Coalition Relic
5x Gilded Lotus
Card Draw (17)
1x Mystic Remora
1x Brainstorm
1x Preordain
1x Sensei's Divining Top
2x Impulse
2x Shadow of Doubt
2x Night's Whisper
2x Pull from Tomorrow
2x Search for Azcanta
3x Rhystic Study
3x Phyrexian Arena
3x Blue Sun's Zenith
4x Fact or Fiction
4x Notion Thief
5x Future Sight
6x Consecrated Sphinx
7x Nezahal, Primal Tide
1x Rolling Earthquake
1x Vandalblast
1x Rapid Hybridization
2x Terminate
2x Cyclonic Rift
2x Gilded Drake
3x Plaguecrafter
3x Capsize
3x Kolaghan's Command
3x Fire Covenant
3x Toxic Deluge
4x Damnation
5x The Eldest Reborn
7x Cruel Ultimatum
7x Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh
8x Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
Counterspells (11)
0x Pact of Negation
1x Swan Song
1x Flusterstorm
2x Counterspell
2x Negate
2x Countersquall
2x Mana Drain
2x Counterbalance
3x Disallow
3x Forbid
5x Force of Will
1x Mystical Tutor
1x Vampiric Tutor
2x Demonic Tutor
2x Lim-Dul's Vault
2x Torment of Hailfire
2x Snapcaster Mage
3x Spellseeker
4x Kess, Dissident Mage
5x The Scarab God
34 Lands
I think that Planeswalkers are a liability in a Multi-Player format because there are so many opponents that can swing combat damage into them.
The notable additions that I'd recommend are cutting Mind Twist[/CARD in favor of Torment of Hailfire. This is the big finisher spell for the list I posted and should probably be cast for X>=8 at any given point. The other addition is the inclusion of Counterbalance + Sensei's Divining Top. I'm not sure how competitive your playgroup is, but my observation is that competitive decks have a CMC that centers around the 2-3 range. If you can have your CMC match theirs, then you have a good chance of countering spells for free with the Counterbalance. Add in Top and you dramatically increase the chances that you can counter spells for just 1.
I would also be willing to bet that the card you're most keenly interested in protecting and which you probably always get into play each game is Consecrated Sphinx. Playing control against 3 different opponents is a losing proposition, from a card advantage perspective; you just don't have enough spells in hand to answer every threatening play that could occur from each of your opponents. The Sphinx helps refuel your hand each turn and turns into a nice soft-lock with Forbid. I would also suggest adding in Nezahal, Primal Tide for the same reason. He can draw an almost similar number of cards as the Sphinx, is uncounterable, and can protect himself as well. He also lets you stock up on cards without having to worry about max hand limit size.
How fond of you are the Entomb/Reanimate plan? I cut it from the list I posted because I like having more support for a Reanimation strategy than just a few cards.
Anyways, I hope this helps. I have a Vorthos Nicol Bolas list and an accompanying playmat (which I bought in '09). Niccy Nic is my boi and the Ravager incarnation of him is what I've always wanted. Happy brewing!
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
RBW [Primer]-Kaalia of the Vast
BUG [Primer]-Tasigur, the Golden Fang
GWU [Primer]-Arcades, the Strategist
WUB Primer-Aminatou, the Fateshifter
UBR Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
I live in the Seattle area and so my pods dent range from highly tooned cEDH list where I just play Baral or Teferi, to focused tooned decks.
I think most of the planeswalkers are very solid Death's Majesty is rather loose but all of the 3 mana planeswalkers are incredibly powerful. Dack steals signets / sol ring / crypts. Most lists do not run creatures that can attack into a 4/4 and they all either protect themselves or generate incredible value very quickly. Lilly of the veil, everyone discard > bolas + Lilly everyone discard, ruins everyone at the table very quickly.
I'll take another look at your list and see if I glean any gems.
UBRNicol Bolas, the RavagerUBR
R Jaya Ballard, Task Mage R
2DH / Budget Commanders:
WMangara of Corondor 2DHW
BRXantcha, Sleeper Agent 2DHBR