Narset's Reversal Seems like it could work here. In some cases it's a weird Remand, but it also has combo potential to double-dip on our turn spells/interaction. Also a neat upside is that it can stop turns spells from exiling when they resolve, (because the copy is the one that actually resolves not the original card). Thoughts?
I like Narset's Reversal as well. Not yet sure if it's good enough. I mean, its upside (over things like Remand or maybe Commandeer) is that it can be used proactively to copy Time Warp and friends. But then, in what Modern matchups will Narset's Reversal be useful as an answer? UW control, which we already beat with Gigadrowse? Maybe it's useful against Midrange like Jund or GDS? Or, is copying and bouncing Faithless Looting from Phoenix or Dredge better than remanding it? We have to see, if Narset's Reversal's proactive usefulness outweighs the fact that its only a narrow answer.
I know many players are excited about Kefnet, but I've been mostly impressed by Narset, Parter of Veils 1UU. She can practically brake the symmetry of ours Mines and Edicts, plus she gives us 2 ticks down of Azcanta.
Looks kind of nice. But I also think it's too much work to cast a do-nothing PW for 3 Mana to break the symmetry of Howling Mine any further. At 3 cmc she is probably also to slow to slow down Phoenix decks. However, I never used Search of Azcanta and therefore I could be undervaluing Narset, Parter of Veils loyalty ability. Name-wise, she'd fit in our deck very well.
Very excited to test the new cards from War of the Sparks!
Narset's Reversal will never be what we need... we can't bounce Liliana, Tarmogoyf, TitI, or other midrange spells turn 2-4. Remand is better.
And Redirect a Thoughtseize or IoK is waaay better than bouncing+copying.
I like Narsets reversal maybe as a sideboard option. It can act as a 5th remand early on in some match ups, and there are certainly some match ups where it is just plain better, like any deck that uses spell based ramp spells, but it is far too match up specific to work out as a main deck option I think. Using it to copy our own spells feels winmore to me and can make you vulnerable to some tricks.
I think everyone uses the term "sideboard option" way too nonchalantly lol
You only get 15 cards and they have to encompass everything in modern
Idk.. just seems like a card has to be very powerful to compete with what we already have available. And for me the only card that really competes in this set is Kefnet Eternal
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UU"Brute force can sometimes kick down a locked door, but knowledge is a skeleton key"UU
61 maindeck is my personal signature since 1994, you can cut one Depths (22/60) or one Briefing (23/60)!
Mill myself to win is far, far easier than win with combat damage.
No more worries about nonblue open mana between opponent's lands until we have 4 cards in library (I only have to protect Jace).
No more worries about huge life gain to fight with Inkmoth Nexus.
No more worries about put all Dictate on the field.
I think that Jace will be a new pillar of my list.
I really like him too! Makes mono blue more of a viable thing again!
Couple suggestions in that I could definitely see cutting the 2 snapcaster and instead going to an additional mission briefing, and a second Jace potentially
Also - I think Opt may be nicer then Serum visions since you are running Terminus. I played UW extensively in the past and always felt it performed better with miracles
lastly, this may be super niche.. but if you are going heavy on the self mill plan then I could see walk the aeons going in place of the part the waterveil. I've never been a HUGE fan of the card, but having a guaranteed way to keep time walk effects going seems solid!
~Just suggestions! But I too am having a blast brewing around it!
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UU"Brute force can sometimes kick down a locked door, but knowledge is a skeleton key"UU
Snapcaster can ambush-viper a Goblin Guide or other fast aggro strategies, but blanking opponent's removal could be nice!
Opt vs SV is a long battle, but Turns is a combo deck, miracled Temporal Mastery is the strogest of actions and Serum could set it easily. But a 3-1 split could be viable.
It's super loose right now in it's build but it's because I'm testing several things at once..
Boseju hasn't ever been a card played in this deck but I figured it could be super useful in guaranteeing the Jace resolves or stays protected..
But will continue working on this
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UU"Brute force can sometimes kick down a locked door, but knowledge is a skeleton key"UU
Boseiju, Who Shelters All protects only instants and sorceries, and control is our easiest matchup: it's a bad card for us, leave it to Scapeshift!
25 lands seems too many, I'v never played more than 23.
I would swap numbers between Jaces: the new one is strictly worst than TMS (both basically counts as a mine effect, but old Jace could bounce creatures), and you need only one to win. But I see that you cutted PtWV so maybe 2 copies are the safe spot, but if so you are too high on mana cost so trim a Cryptic Command for one Remand or other cheap interaction.
10 mine effects are a lot, I would cut one Mine for one more Temporal Mastery (with 2 Jace TMS the playset is a must).
It's super loose right now in it's build but it's because I'm testing several things at once..
Boseju hasn't ever been a card played in this deck but I figured it could be super useful in guaranteeing the Jace resolves or stays protected..
But will continue working on this
Cool list! I especially love your sideboard!! Do you play 3 Dispel because of control? Otherwise, I'd suggest to cut some and add cards against Burn/Aggro (like Timely Reinforcements or Dragon's claw etc)*. In my opinion, your PWs and Gigadrowse + Boseiju, Who Shelters All are enough to make control a good matchup.
*But I could be biased because there are many Burn players in my LGS.
I agree with Dubarrini's suggestion:
- 22 - 23 lands are probably ideal for turns decks and 25 seem to be too many.
- not sure if I like 0 Snapcaster Mage. You said it yourself that you need to protect your Jace, Wielder of Mysteries and sometimes a ambush viper is all you need to untap with your Jace.
I put myself at 25 lands when testing a deck to guarantee that it runs with a safe amount of lands and cut once I figure out the curve. I think 24 is the safe amount for this list. 23 gets to be kind of dangerous.
Boseju was originally a test to overcome mausoleum wanderer in the spirits matchup, but after testing it the past few nights, I don't like it as much as I thought I would..
Dispel is super strong in the format right now because a lot of decks have adapted to an instant speed style. From when I first started playing the deck, it always felt like one of the strongest cards in the burn matchup other then a Chalice of the Void (which I may try to work into the sideboard at some point)
3 Cryptic is one of the best parts of the deck in my opinion.. It is such a blowout card right now with what decks are tier 1. It's the one card that has made Wilderness Reclamation at all competitive IMO.
The snapcaster mage thing is more so that in a deck where you are trying to mill yourself out and win, it is super important you can dig quickly for mine effects and lock it up.. Mission briefing wins over Snapcaster Mage because of it's surveil. That's been my thought at least in testing
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UU"Brute force can sometimes kick down a locked door, but knowledge is a skeleton key"UU
I dont know if I want it in U Turns, or some Bant shell, or UW, but the idea of chaining turns and just milling yourself out has taken root.
EDIT: First game in a long time on MTGO, beat 8Rack with Davriel. I know my list is not optimized, I had sold out of MTGO months ago and just threw this together to get in a game with Jace.
Game 1, drew my deck out after my hand got shredded win with Jace.
Game 2, boarded in the Things (should have the Lab Man too) and even through Extripate on Jace AND Time Warp, was able to eventually get there with a late thing flip.
Simic Turns video is finally here! It took a while before I was reasonably happy with the decklist, and even now I think there's a lot of room for improvement. I'm still of the opinion that Simic Turns is fundamentally weaker and less competitive than any other splash because it lacks meaningful interaction like Lightning Bolt, Fatal Push, or Path to Exile. However, when Simic goes off, it really goes off, and that's when the deck is insanely fun.
61 maindeck is my personal signature since 1994, you can cut one Depths (22/60) or one Briefing (23/60)!
Mill myself to win is far, far easier than win with combat damage.
No more worries about nonblue open mana between opponent's lands until we have 4 cards in library (I only have to protect Jace).
No more worries about huge life gain to fight with Inkmoth Nexus.
No more worries about put all Dictate on the field.
I think that Jace will be a new pillar of my list.
It's super loose right now in it's build but it's because I'm testing several things at once..
Boseju hasn't ever been a card played in this deck but I figured it could be super useful in guaranteeing the Jace resolves or stays protected..
But will continue working on this
I dont know if I want it in U Turns, or some Bant shell, or UW, but the idea of chaining turns and just milling yourself out has taken root.
EDIT: First game in a long time on MTGO, beat 8Rack with Davriel. I know my list is not optimized, I had sold out of MTGO months ago and just threw this together to get in a game with Jace.
Game 1, drew my deck out after my hand got shredded win with Jace.
Game 2, boarded in the Things (should have the Lab Man too) and even through Extripate on Jace AND Time Warp, was able to eventually get there with a late thing flip.
My initial reaction to Jace, Wielder of Mysteries was that he competes in the 4-drop Planeswalker slot with Jace, the Mind Sculptor (a card I rate lower than most people) and can't protect himself, so he's probably worse. I didn't do any testing yet, but I'm glad that you all did and were happy because now I get to rethink my opinion of the new Lab Man! Wielder of Mysteries definitely lends himself to building a more combo-oriented, less win-con focused deck than just a typical Dictate / Howling Mine list, and it looks like you're all taking advantage of that. I really like the inclusion of Mission Briefing to both contribute to comboing off and also just smooth out the draws. Keep us updated on any other findings in testing!
JtMS to me was always just there to stack the top deck Miracle, nothing more. I never liked him as a WinCon, and his other modes are borderline for what we are doing.
Now, stacking that Miracle is amazing as it often meant we pull ahead, but he wasnt a wincon in and of himself, while netting you a card. This new Jace nets you a card AND is a wincon that you dont need to attack with, dont need to target other players with, and you can just go hard into chaining turns and protecting the Walker.
Mission Briefing is good for the goal of milling out, but its not a body, and I've won games just swinging in with Snaps for 10 Turns...
Simic turns list looks sweet timewalkin, can’t wait to watch the video.
Haven’t got to play much lately, been busy, and do a lot of prerelease activities. Not sure I’m digging the Azorius turns, I’m thinking about going back to mono U. I want to try some chalice of the void and new kefnet in the side. I might try UR turns. @timewalkin why did you use different fetches for UR turns list? Funny is I only have 2 tarns so mine will look just like that
J-Wielder turns sounds zesty, I like it! Keep me posted on how that comes along.
I can speak to that.. The reason to use different types of fetches is for the niche chance that your opponent uses a pithing needle-styled effect to turn off your fetches. It really isn't super important unless that is something you see often in your area.
Also - I like the idea of going back to mono blue turns now. I've been doing the same. Phoenix has a tough time against us from my play testing and since that's the top deck in the format I feel like now's the time.
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UU"Brute force can sometimes kick down a locked door, but knowledge is a skeleton key"UU
I'm thinking I'm going to try a 3-1 or 2-2 Narset/Dictate split. The Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin effect is very powerful. The bonus of shutting off the additional draw for our opponents is probably worth a look too.
JtMS to me was always just there to stack the top deck Miracle, nothing more. I never liked him as a WinCon, and his other modes are borderline for what we are doing.
Now, stacking that Miracle is amazing as it often meant we pull ahead, but he wasnt a wincon in and of himself, while netting you a card. This new Jace nets you a card AND is a wincon that you dont need to attack with, dont need to target other players with, and you can just go hard into chaining turns and protecting the Walker.
I disagree with that view (and this is coming from someone who thinks JtmS is kinda bad). As a quick example, check out a few turns against this Storm opponent. The fact that we got to use JtmS to bounce the Electromancer twice was huge. While I can't say for sure that we would have died if Mind Sculptor had been Wielder of Mysteries, I think we would have. I also think having Jace available as a wincon is a powerful threat, even though I probably win that way less than 5% of the time. It allows you to do things like not worry about your opponent gaining infinite life because you still have a way to win the game. I also think that digging 3 deep is far more powerful than you're giving it credit for.
Simic turns list looks sweet timewalkin, can’t wait to watch the video.
Haven’t got to play much lately, been busy, and do a lot of prerelease activities. Not sure I’m digging the Azorius turns, I’m thinking about going back to mono U. I want to try some chalice of the void and new kefnet in the side. I might try UR turns. @timewalkin why did you use different fetches for UR turns list? Funny is I only have 2 tarns so mine will look just like that
J-Wielder turns sounds zesty, I like it! Keep me posted on how that comes along.
Thanks! To elaborate on @zcowan's point, every fetchable land in my UR list is also an Island. This means that in the context of that deck, every blue fetchland is equal because they can all fetch every land. When I originally built UB Turns years ago, I made that split thinking "the 0.1% of the time the opponent Pithing Needles a fetchland, I'll sure be glad I did this!" But now that Whir Prison exists, it's actually kind of important to diversify fetchlands if you expect to play against it (for example, if you're going to a large tournament with an open field). They run about 2 Sorcerous Spyglass and 4 Whir of Invention maindeck, so letting them preemptively Stone Rain 4 of your lands at once is a weakness you don't need to have. I chose to favor Scalding Tarn because that was the most popular blue fetchland at the time (and as far as I'm aware it still is), so opening on Scalding Tarn gives your opponent the least information about your deck. That point is kind of moot for me because the opponents know what's up when I take out a quad-sleeved behemoth of a deck, but still Also, contrast this choice of fetchlands with the one from the Simic Turns video. In the Simic list, there are a bunch of basic Forests, so Misty Rainforest is much more powerful than any other blue fetchland. There, we're running the full playset of Misty Rainforest and one other fetch (which in hindsight maybe should have been a green fetchland). In that case, the upside of having all your fetchables available all the time is much, much more substantial than the downside of possibly getting mega Stone Rained by a Sorcerous Spyglass. The point being, if you decide to run one or more basics of your splash color, it's substantially more important to have on-color fetchlands that get all of your fetchables than it is to diversify your fetchlands.
Also - I like the idea of going back to mono blue turns now. I've been doing the same. Phoenix has a tough time against us from my play testing and since that's the top deck in the format I feel like now's the time.
I still feel like a splash adds a lot of power to the deck without taking away much. Yes, there are games that you'll lose to tapped lands or losing too much life to fetches and shocks, but the upside of having a few interactive spells substantially outweighs that downside in my opinion. What's your reasoning behind wanting to go mono-U?
I'm thinking I'm going to try a 3-1 or 2-2 Narset/Dictate split. The Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin effect is very powerful. The bonus of shutting off the additional draw for our opponents is probably worth a look too.
My main concern with Narset is that you only get two activations off of her. Turning off your opponents card draw is nice (and also has a cute "combo" with Geier Reach Sanitarium when you Sanitarium at your hellbent opponent's upkeep), but in my opinion having a finite number of activations is a huge downside for a deck aiming to take multiple turns in a row. I'm curious how your testing goes. Keep us updated!
So I havent done a lot of games, but I do believe Narset is worth some additional looks. Dig 8, pull 2, if she doesnt die, is really strong. I've not regretted casting her in the games I have played.
I also like the new Jace a lot. I was a huge fan of PtWV, but not having to attack? Just draw cards and win? Thats a pretty easy life.
So I havent done a lot of games, but I do believe Narset is worth some additional looks. Dig 8, pull 2, if she doesnt die, is really strong. I've not regretted casting her in the games I have played.
I also like the new Jace a lot. I was a huge fan of PtWV, but not having to attack? Just draw cards and win? Thats a pretty easy life.
I love that idea too, but I wonder if that requires changing the deck further. these days I never get to the point of selfmilling.
My finisher of choice for a bit of time now has been Entreat the Angels, and now I'm going to test God-eternal Kefnet
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Huey, Dewey and Louie are always dressed in RUG. it is CLEARLY going to be the wedges block Pioneer: WURFaerie fires BRGDragons ModernBGElves WRBurn UR Fires Turns URGift Storm UG Twiddle Storm
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I like Narset's Reversal as well. Not yet sure if it's good enough. I mean, its upside (over things like Remand or maybe Commandeer) is that it can be used proactively to copy Time Warp and friends. But then, in what Modern matchups will Narset's Reversal be useful as an answer? UW control, which we already beat with Gigadrowse? Maybe it's useful against Midrange like Jund or GDS? Or, is copying and bouncing Faithless Looting from Phoenix or Dredge better than remanding it? We have to see, if Narset's Reversal's proactive usefulness outweighs the fact that its only a narrow answer.
Looks kind of nice. But I also think it's too much work to cast a do-nothing PW for 3 Mana to break the symmetry of Howling Mine any further. At 3 cmc she is probably also to slow to slow down Phoenix decks. However, I never used Search of Azcanta and therefore I could be undervaluing Narset, Parter of Veils loyalty ability. Name-wise, she'd fit in our deck very well.
Very excited to test the new cards from War of the Sparks!
And Redirect a Thoughtseize or IoK is waaay better than bouncing+copying.
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You only get 15 cards and they have to encompass everything in modern
Idk.. just seems like a card has to be very powerful to compete with what we already have available. And for me the only card that really competes in this set is Kefnet Eternal
Here's the list:
2 Cryptic Command
3 Exhaustion
3 Gigadrowse
2 Mission Briefing
3 Remand
4 Serum Visions
2 Terminus
Creatures [2]
2 Snapcaster Mage
Turns [10]
1 Part the Waterveil
4 Temporal Mastery
1 Temporal Trespass
4 Time Warp
4 Dictate of Kruphix
2 Howling Mine
1 Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
Lands [23]
4 Flooded Strand
3 Glacial Fortress
2 Halimar Depths
1 Hallowed Fountain
9 Island
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Plains
1 Prairie Stream
1 Temple of Enlightenment (or Celestial Colonnade)
3 Path to Exile
3 Silence
2 Spell Pierce
2 Spell Snare
3 Thing in the Ice
2 Timely Reinforcements
61 maindeck is my personal signature since 1994, you can cut one Depths (22/60) or one Briefing (23/60)!
Mill myself to win is far, far easier than win with combat damage.
No more worries about nonblue open mana between opponent's lands until we have 4 cards in library (I only have to protect Jace).
No more worries about huge life gain to fight with Inkmoth Nexus.
No more worries about put all Dictate on the field.
I think that Jace will be a new pillar of my list.
Couple suggestions in that I could definitely see cutting the 2 snapcaster and instead going to an additional mission briefing, and a second Jace potentially
Also - I think Opt may be nicer then Serum visions since you are running Terminus. I played UW extensively in the past and always felt it performed better with miracles
lastly, this may be super niche.. but if you are going heavy on the self mill plan then I could see walk the aeons going in place of the part the waterveil. I've never been a HUGE fan of the card, but having a guaranteed way to keep time walk effects going seems solid!
~Just suggestions! But I too am having a blast brewing around it!
Snapcaster can ambush-viper a Goblin Guide or other fast aggro strategies, but blanking opponent's removal could be nice!
Opt vs SV is a long battle, but Turns is a combo deck, miracled Temporal Mastery is the strogest of actions and Serum could set it easily. But a 3-1 split could be viable.
Thanks for your reply, keep this deck alive!
2 Jace, Weilder of mysteries
1 Jace, the Mind sculptor
Instants/Sorceries [25]:
3 Cryptic Command
3 Mission briefing
2 Exhaustion
4 Gigadrowse
4 Time Warp
3 Temporal Mastery
1 Walk the Aeons
3 Serum Visions
1 Opt
1 Commandeer
4 Dictate of Kruphix
3 Howling Mine
Lands [25]:
15 Islands
3 Scalding Tarn
2 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Boseju, Who Shelters All
2 God-Eternal Kefnet
4 Thing in the Ice
3 Dispel
1 Negate
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Hurkyl's Recall
It's super loose right now in it's build but it's because I'm testing several things at once..
Boseju hasn't ever been a card played in this deck but I figured it could be super useful in guaranteeing the Jace resolves or stays protected..
But will continue working on this
25 lands seems too many, I'v never played more than 23.
I would swap numbers between Jaces: the new one is strictly worst than TMS (both basically counts as a mine effect, but old Jace could bounce creatures), and you need only one to win. But I see that you cutted PtWV so maybe 2 copies are the safe spot, but if so you are too high on mana cost so trim a Cryptic Command for one Remand or other cheap interaction.
10 mine effects are a lot, I would cut one Mine for one more Temporal Mastery (with 2 Jace TMS the playset is a must).
Cool list! I especially love your sideboard!! Do you play 3 Dispel because of control? Otherwise, I'd suggest to cut some and add cards against Burn/Aggro (like Timely Reinforcements or Dragon's claw etc)*. In my opinion, your PWs and Gigadrowse + Boseiju, Who Shelters All are enough to make control a good matchup.
*But I could be biased because there are many Burn players in my LGS.
I agree with Dubarrini's suggestion:
- 22 - 23 lands are probably ideal for turns decks and 25 seem to be too many.
- not sure if I like 0 Snapcaster Mage. You said it yourself that you need to protect your Jace, Wielder of Mysteries and sometimes a ambush viper is all you need to untap with your Jace.
I dont know if I want it in U Turns, or some Bant shell, or UW, but the idea of chaining turns and just milling yourself out has taken root.
EDIT: First game in a long time on MTGO, beat 8Rack with Davriel. I know my list is not optimized, I had sold out of MTGO months ago and just threw this together to get in a game with Jace.
Game 1, drew my deck out after my hand got shredded win with Jace.
Game 2, boarded in the Things (should have the Lab Man too) and even through Extripate on Jace AND Time Warp, was able to eventually get there with a late thing flip.
I still love you Time Warp!
21 Island
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
//Interact
4 Gigadrowse
3 Remand
3 Exhaustion
3 Cryptic Command
//Draw
4 Serum Visions
1 Telling Time
2 Howling Mine
4 Dictate of Kruphix
2 Snapcaster Mage
3 Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
//Turns
4 Time Warp
4 Temporal Mastery
1 Temporal Trespass
2 Dispel
2 Disdainful Stroke
1 Laboratory Maniac
3 Ashiok, Dream Render
2 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Mana Leak
4 Thing in the Ice
Spirits
2 Savor the Moment
4 Nexus of Fate
Engine (11)
4 Rites of Flourishing
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Search for Azcanta
3 Wilderness Reclamation
Ramp (7)
3 Arboreal Grazer
4 Growth Spiral
Draw (4)
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
3 Serum Visions
Interaction (5)
2 Remand
2 Cryptic Command
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Lumbering Falls
3 Hinterland Harbor
3 Breeding Pool
2 Botanical Sanctum
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Flooded Strand
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
2 Gemstone Caverns
1 Watery Grave
1 Halimar Depths
4 Island
4 Forest
2 Thing in the Ice
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Negate
1 Spell Snare
1 Dispel
1 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Nature's Claim
1 Fracturing Gust
2 Boomerang
1 Echoing Truth
My initial reaction to Jace, Wielder of Mysteries was that he competes in the 4-drop Planeswalker slot with Jace, the Mind Sculptor (a card I rate lower than most people) and can't protect himself, so he's probably worse. I didn't do any testing yet, but I'm glad that you all did and were happy because now I get to rethink my opinion of the new Lab Man! Wielder of Mysteries definitely lends himself to building a more combo-oriented, less win-con focused deck than just a typical Dictate / Howling Mine list, and it looks like you're all taking advantage of that. I really like the inclusion of Mission Briefing to both contribute to comboing off and also just smooth out the draws. Keep us updated on any other findings in testing!
Now, stacking that Miracle is amazing as it often meant we pull ahead, but he wasnt a wincon in and of himself, while netting you a card. This new Jace nets you a card AND is a wincon that you dont need to attack with, dont need to target other players with, and you can just go hard into chaining turns and protecting the Walker.
Mission Briefing is good for the goal of milling out, but its not a body, and I've won games just swinging in with Snaps for 10 Turns...
Spirits
Haven’t got to play much lately, been busy, and do a lot of prerelease activities. Not sure I’m digging the Azorius turns, I’m thinking about going back to mono U. I want to try some chalice of the void and new kefnet in the side. I might try UR turns. @timewalkin why did you use different fetches for UR turns list? Funny is I only have 2 tarns so mine will look just like that
J-Wielder turns sounds zesty, I like it! Keep me posted on how that comes along.
Also - I like the idea of going back to mono blue turns now. I've been doing the same. Phoenix has a tough time against us from my play testing and since that's the top deck in the format I feel like now's the time.
Spirits
Thanks! To elaborate on @zcowan's point, every fetchable land in my UR list is also an Island. This means that in the context of that deck, every blue fetchland is equal because they can all fetch every land. When I originally built UB Turns years ago, I made that split thinking "the 0.1% of the time the opponent Pithing Needles a fetchland, I'll sure be glad I did this!" But now that Whir Prison exists, it's actually kind of important to diversify fetchlands if you expect to play against it (for example, if you're going to a large tournament with an open field). They run about 2 Sorcerous Spyglass and 4 Whir of Invention maindeck, so letting them preemptively Stone Rain 4 of your lands at once is a weakness you don't need to have. I chose to favor Scalding Tarn because that was the most popular blue fetchland at the time (and as far as I'm aware it still is), so opening on Scalding Tarn gives your opponent the least information about your deck. That point is kind of moot for me because the opponents know what's up when I take out a quad-sleeved behemoth of a deck, but still
I still feel like a splash adds a lot of power to the deck without taking away much. Yes, there are games that you'll lose to tapped lands or losing too much life to fetches and shocks, but the upside of having a few interactive spells substantially outweighs that downside in my opinion. What's your reasoning behind wanting to go mono-U?
My main concern with Narset is that you only get two activations off of her. Turning off your opponents card draw is nice (and also has a cute "combo" with Geier Reach Sanitarium when you Sanitarium at your hellbent opponent's upkeep), but in my opinion having a finite number of activations is a huge downside for a deck aiming to take multiple turns in a row. I'm curious how your testing goes. Keep us updated!
I also like the new Jace a lot. I was a huge fan of PtWV, but not having to attack? Just draw cards and win? Thats a pretty easy life.
Spirits
I love that idea too, but I wonder if that requires changing the deck further. these days I never get to the point of selfmilling.
My finisher of choice for a bit of time now has been Entreat the Angels, and now I'm going to test God-eternal Kefnet
Pioneer: WURFaerie fires BRGDragons
ModernBGElves WRBurn UR Fires Turns URGift Storm UG Twiddle Storm