This article is nothing near 'Scientific'. Next time, please call it random observations or even random musings please.
A few observations of my own:
1. The reason most decks run 8-of-a-kind is indeed redundancy. Splintertwin is not one of them though!
http://www.mtgtop8.com/archetype?a=190&meta=51&f=MO . Out of all the mentioned decks there, most of them run only 1 Kiki. The reasoning behind it is that you don't want or need a Twin card in your opening hand.
2. Goblin Electromancer in UR Storm is actually not equivalent to to Pyro Ascension. Pyro Asc serves to draw more cards on your cantrips. The Goblin Pyromancer is more equivalent to the 8 Rituals that are already being played.
3. Food Chain/Griffin plays 7 Brainstorm effects. It controls the game until it can go off, and has a very good chance to find one before turn 5. Redundancy is not required. It is a strong deck, because the best removal spell doesn't actually kill your combocard (you want to cast it from exile anyway, so PTE is no problem!)
4. I believe Nightveil Specter isn't played because it dies in the mirror due to Bile Blight.
5. Stoneblade in Legacy has the option to play Quest for the Holy Relic. It doesn't. If modern allowed for Stoneforge Mystic, QftHR probably wouldn't see play either.
Regarding Architect: I prefer Delver as the one drop. It gives me information on the top card of my deck, I never hit Metalcraft anyway, and I do play some Vapor Snags, Leaks and a Probe, so sometimes I get the flyer as a bonus.
Back on topic, Scorny ramps a random 1 or 2 mana, so it's tough to build around in that respect as well. It's not like those 5-drop less Sad Robot decks.
Black cat. Crypt creeper. Walking corpse. Highborne ghoul.
If you want to be aggressive, all of the 2-power ones are better.
If you have problems vs aggro, maybe. Offensive, it's the worst.
There's only a few types of decks (aggro, control, combo and mix of those).
If you don't know what you like yet, just proxy up a few decks.
Best you don't, because that would be Fraud.
Mental Misstep a Doomed Traveller; worth it?
The manabase for 3 colours is not better at all; you just play less colour intensive cards. And still, you will get colourscrewed more often than with 2 colours.
Think of this next time you need B and all you have is UR on the board.
So by playing more colours, you manabase gets better? Why don't you go 5CC, that'll allow you to play 24 duals...
There's no powercards in UB/R that demand the third colour...
You'd lose BSZ, Doomblade and GftT. What else?
Anyhow, 10 is just fine, and makes Skittles and The cards worth playing.
During opponents turn, loot into lifesaveing miracle.
Not saying it will happen a lot, but it decreases the Random Factor a lot.
Definately trolling, but the point stands. If zombies doesn't make the top 32 of an event, it is either not being played, or it gets stomped on by proper decks.