I like the response at both ends. It lets me conclude that my list sits right on the middle of the spectrum dividing UW Blade and Solar Flare, and I want to delude myself into thinking believe that I've successfully hybridized the decks. If I pulled out the Swords and some of the Crusader/Splicers for more fatties, it's closer to Yadobo's list, and if I pulled out a Sun Titan, Unburial Rites, and Phantasmal Images for an extra sword, Hero of Bladehold, and more disruption, it's closer to a Blade list. Ultimately, the question boils down to whether or not the combination is a good idea.
Kinda like the splicer and the crusader, but 4 of each seem to be a bit too heavy. Personally would take out 1 of each for a couple of doomblades. I would also likely go 5 plains 4 islands since the deck seems a bit more white-centered. (sun titan, Crusader, DoJ being double white.)
BTW, how does the deck fare without Think Twice? Do you feel like it lacks draw sometimes?
Forbidden Alchemy gets the job done just fine, especially since everything can come back with a Sun Titan, Unburial Rites, or a Snapcaster Mage later on.
I've found Think Twice to be useful in attrition-heavy metas. However, GW aggro and Kessig Ramp has been very prevalent, and I don't want to be spending mana to cycle cards in the early turns when I need to be killing aggro and disrupting ramp.
I would add Doom Blades, but I've felt that Dismember gets the job done against most targets. If I need to kill a Titan, I have enough creatures to use it as a combat trick, and I've seen enough Beast Withins and Acidic Slimes to conclude that it isn't worth the additional risk to the mana base.
Sideboard's a bit iffy right now, but I really, really like how the deck plays.
Mirran Crusader and Blade Splicer form the deck's Plan A. Against aggressive decks, a single Crusader or Splicer is more than capable of holding the line against most aggression until we can stabilize with Day of Judgment or Timely Reinforcements. Against slower decks, they'll come down earlier than our opponent's threats and hopefully provide enough pressure to win the game.
Should the game slow to a stalemate, the Swords and Moorland Haunt provide the deck's Plan B. If the board is clogged, a Sword equipped to a Mirran Crusader or Blade Splicer should be enough to force unfavorable blocks. A Sword attached to a Spirit can fly over the snag entirely, producing timewalks in your favor and possibly winning the game outright.
Sun Titan, Phantasmal Image, and Unburial Rites form the deck's heavy weaponry should we need to go over the top. Sometimes we can get lucky and get a turn 3 Alchemy pitching Sun Titan and Unburial Rites, but for the most part I've found that it's more prudent just to hold onto him and wait until the start of the endgame, when the opponent has spent all of his disruption on the initial Crusader/Splicer pressure.
I haven't had too many problems against regular Solar Flare, UB Control, and other control decks. Against either deck we can apply pressure with turn 5 Crusader/Splicer with Mana Leak backup. Furthermore, UB control has very few turn 3 or 4 plays, allowing us to play threats earlier without fear of reprisal.
Kessig Ramp presents much more of a challenge. I've found that the best strategy seems to be to Leak whatever you can early on and hope that the 3 drops + swords can close the game out quickly. Flashfreeze make the matchup much easier post board, allowing us to play control longer.
The worst matchup seems to be GW decks. I'll have to keep testing the fight, but my guess as to the most effective plan is the good old "Stall until Wrath, then go over the top." I haven't tried Elesh Norn with this list yet, though, but as soon as I do I'll let you guys know.
Got off after a couple rounds against Tempered Steel. That's a rough matchup, to say the least.
Phantasmal Images don't gain any value from their creatures. it can't effectively copy Glint Hawks or Glint Hawk Idols, Tempered Steel and Steel Overseer make combat trades impossible, while putting us on a very short clock, and most of their attackers fly right over everything we have.
The best results from my testing came when I boarded the Images out for Day of Judgment and Timely Reinforcements. Dismembers came out for Divine Offerings.
Spell Pierce is still effective in this matchup, as it counters Shrine of Loyal Legions, Glint Hawk Idol, Dispatch, and Tempered Steel, among others, and they won't be running on much more than 4 land anyway. Considering that it's prudent to start trading spells early and often, however, it may be a good idea to cut one or two for more removal.
Oddly enough, I don't have problems with UB control, but maybe that's because my build takes a more aggressive stance. UB control is way too good at playing the card attrition war, so don't try to fight them there. You need to kill them fast, without relying on Sun Titan to win the game for you.
Blade Splicer and Mirran Crusader are the keys to winning the matchup. They come down much earlier than UB control's threats, they're very resistant to point removal, they're easier to protect with your own counterspells, and they put your opponent on a short clock which only shortens further once you resolve a Phantasmal Image copying one or the other (or, even better, one of their own threats). The deck also runs better on less mana than UB control, so don't be afraid to Tectonic Edge their lands early and often.
Why aren't you playing Spell Pierces? Between planeswalkers, removal spells, dangerous enchantments, countermagic, and hand disruption, I've found that Spell Pierce hits enough spells (or delays them long enough) to still be relevant in the current meta.
If the matchup still proves to be difficult, you can board in Luminarch Ascension to tilt the matchup even more heavily in your favor.
He's amazing. Sadly, he doesn't eat bolts for profit like Blade Splicer would. However, he's still 4 power for 3 mana, and he beats most things on the ground like her golem-splicing sister. Adding him has also given me more targets for Image to copy, too, and against black and green decks he still gets a Splicer's worth of value. He's a bit more of a liability against Red, though, so it's not quite the same.
I pulled out a Stoic Rebuttal, a Jace, and an Oblivion Ring to add the Crusaders, and I haven't looked back since.
I feel odd saying this, but Jace doesn't feel useful in this deck. The Sun Titan and Phantasmal Image interactions with my other creatures produce enough card advantage to close the game out quickly, and Preordain seems to be enough filtering to dig for answers should I need them. I find myself returning Blade Splicer, Mirran Crusader, or Tectonic Edge with Sun Titan - I've never reached for Jace. I'll try some other cards in their place and see how it turns out.
Solemn Simulacrum is awesome, but it's not how I want to commit to the board. At 4 mana I'm facing down threats like Tempered Steel, planeswalkers, and manabarbs - I'd much rather tap out for Day of Judgment, or cast Image with countermagic mana, than tap out for Solemn Simulacrum.
I wish I could play more Blade Splicers, though. I become more impressed with the card as I continue to test - it stops aggro right in its tracks, it's a very efficient threat to control, and it's a very effective Sun Titan and Image target. I haven't lost a game where Phantasmal Image has copied a Blade Splicer - it feels as if this deck is just one more 3-mana threat to being effective... oh! Time to test Mirran Crusader!
The UB control matchup is better than I expected. Blade Splicer is pretty amazing, as most of their removal is spot removal and GftT doesn't hit Golems. We lack Black's amazing early game disruption, but we also happen to play more and cheaper threats. Blade Splicer comes down on turn 3 on the play to apply some early pressure, and she can also come down on turn 5, with countermagic mana open to hold down the fort against Titans, planeswalkes, or other fatties. Phantasmal Image isn't the best response to a Grave Titan, Wurmcoil Engine, or Consecrated Sphinx, but it also allows for the possiblity of copying the Titan, then following up with O-Ring. Post board the matchup gets better with Luminarch Ascension and Celestial Purges.
Valakut is about 50/50, a bit worse than I was expecting. Countering the initial ramp is obviously very important. Oblivion Ring's a bit of a liability because Acidic Slime and Naturalize can pop it to free Primeval Titan. Phantasmal Image copying Primeval Titan fetching Tectonic Edge is exactly as powerful as I thought it would be, and Dismember's a surprisingly effective combat trick against Titans. That said, I made some play mistakes during testing, so I'll have to revisit the matchup soon.
I played a couple games against Vengevine Elves. Except for the Vengevines themselves, they had nothing worth copying. The elf ramp ensured that they had mana for Leak, and and Ezuri/Overrun frequently sealed the game before I could stabilize. Matchup became slighly better when I boarded Flashfreezes, Condemns, and extra Day of Judgments, but Ezuri still proved to be a pain to deal with. This was the only matchup where I felt that Phantasmal Image was a dead card.
Blade Splicer is the absolute star of the my aggro matchups. The Golem alone beats nearly everything that RDW and Vampires can throw at me, and they stall the game long enough against Tempered Steel for me to draw Day of Judgment.
Changes:
I tossed a Jace into the sideboard. He'll come back in against other control decks.
Pulled an Oblivion Ring to add Wurmcoil Engine. I've found that countermagic keeps most large threats off the table, that Dismember will kill engine creatures if they do hit the table, and that Blade Splicer (or a clone of her) frequently kills planeswalkers without my help. Oblivion Ring is extra insurance, and in about half my winning games I won with an O-Ring in hand because everything else was able to deal with whatever threat came along. I might choose Consecrated Sphinx over Wurmcoil Engine if I'm expecting a control-heavy meta, though.
I could never quite get the hang of Ratchet Bomb. It always seemed awkward, especially when the opponent's swinging at me with a Memnite, Signal Pest, Vault Skirge, and a Porcelain Legionnaire. I pulled them out for Timely Reinforcements at the suggestion of another thread.
Luminarch Ascension was amazing in the control matchups, but awful anywhere else. My deck does well enough against control mirrors without them, so I ditched them to add an extra DoJ and Condemn.
Why only 2? Why not 4? At the risk of sounding like an idiot, what could I be playing at 2 CMC that gives as many options or gets as much value as Phantasmal Image? The only card I can think of is Into the Roil, and that's only because it can buy me time against the few planeswalkers that slip through counterspells and survive combat.
I don't like milling my Phantasmal Images. I want them in hand because I can get value out of them before they hit the graveyard. Milling them just for Sun Titan to get them back seems like a waste.
Moruk, I did say the synergy with Sun Titan is obvious.
ILoveHK, you've probably heard this elsewhere, but do you think that having any less than 26 land and 4 Preordain is dangerous? 4 Preordain will help us dig to our Sun Titans faster, and 26 land will definitely help the deck's consistency.
I'm having a hard time justifying his inclusion. Don't get me wrong, I love Venser, but he doesn't seem like he has a place in the deck. He doesn't work well with Phantasmal Image at all, except maybe to reset him for Sun Titan. He does work well with Blade Splicer, but just having the Phantasmal Image gets me the extra Golem earlier a turn earlier, while still keeping mana for Mana Leak.
I've never had problems with finding Tectonic Edges - I clone his Primeval Titan to fetch them myself. Many of those times I've also been able to follow up with an Oblivion Ring to exile the opposing Titan away. The issues I have with the matchup revolve around dealing with the initial ramp - cloning Primeval Titan is very much a last-ditch plan.
Sure, the combo's easy to bust, but Phantasmal Image is such a good card on its own. It's never sat dead in hand - the worst I've done is copied a Goblin Guide for it to get killed by a Teetering Peaks, but even then I've saved myself 2 damage. On the other hand, I've also lived the dream on Cockatrice at least once by resolving Sun Titan while having 4 Phantasmal Images and a baby Jace in the graveyard. Between those two extremes, the card has proven to be incredibly useful in a variety of situations.
You can still target a Frost Titan, meaning that a Phantasmal Frost Titan will be sacrificed when it becomes the target of something. That's why I'm asking whether I should be using Mirran Crusader over Blade Splicer.
Phantasmal Image
I've never been unimpressed with Phantasmal Image in this list. The most obvious synergies are with Sun Titan (nearly Vengevine-class graveyard recursion) and Blade Splicer, but it's great at cloning my opponent's creatures as well. Some applications:
Copy aggressive creatures to force trades or use of removal
Copy Solemn Simulacrum while still having extra countermagic open
Copy Primeval Titan fetching Tectonic Edges
Copy a creature with (troll)shroud
Legend-rule opposing legendary creatures
Copy other creatures, possibly with powerful ETB effects, while still keeping countermagic open
While there are some rather obvious weaknesses (Inferno Titan, Frost Titan, Tumble Magnet, Grim Lavamancer, etc.), I have yet to suffer from them. Phantasmal Image is so cheap, and returns so easily, that the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.
Blade Splicer or Mirran Crusader?
I went with Blade Splicer over Mirran Crusader because of the Phantasmal Images, and because Blade Splicer is a bit more resilient to spot removal. I'm anticipating a format leaning toward red, and at least Blade Splicer leaves a 1/1 body for Phantasmal Image to copy after the golem gets bolted. However, Mirran Crusader shuts down black removal, and UB control seems to be popular. I guess it's a meta call, although I think there may be room for both.
Removal and Disruption 4 Oblivion Ring seems to be the correct choice. I've never had them sit dead in hand, and I've also lost many games because I was hesitant to use them. Can anyone argue for a smaller amount?
While Dismember is certainly a very effective card, I've found that a lot of the stuff I dismember could be O-Ring'd away with negligible loss in tempo. That said, dismembering manlands and Koth-animated mountains has come in quite handy, and I've used it as a Sphinx-killing combat trick at least once. Seems to be minor, but is 2 or 3 the right number?
I haven't really had any issues with my countermagic suite. I've gone down from 4 to 2 Spell Pierces because Oblivion Ring takes care of many noncreature permanents, but it's still useful enough to snipe the occasional planeswalker or early ramp. Once again, would 2 or 3 the right number?
Sideboard:
Purge and Flashfreeze make the Twin and Red matchups, among others, and Luminarch Ascension's there for the control mirror. Condemn's more removal against aggressive creatures, as well. Is there anything I'm missing?
Some final issues:
How heavily is Surgical Extraction played? It saw play at Chinese Nationals ripping lands in the control mirror. Should I be worried about this?
Should I be playing Spreading Seas? I haven't been concerned about my Valakut matchup because Phantasmal Image fetching Tectonic Edge deals with it pretty well.
delude myself into thinkingbelieve that I'vesuccessfullyhybridized the decks. If I pulled out the Swords and some of the Crusader/Splicers for more fatties, it's closer to Yadobo's list, and if I pulled out a Sun Titan, Unburial Rites, and Phantasmal Images for an extra sword, Hero of Bladehold, and more disruption, it's closer to a Blade list. Ultimately, the question boils down to whether or not the combination is a good idea.Forbidden Alchemy gets the job done just fine, especially since everything can come back with a Sun Titan, Unburial Rites, or a Snapcaster Mage later on.
I've found Think Twice to be useful in attrition-heavy metas. However, GW aggro and Kessig Ramp has been very prevalent, and I don't want to be spending mana to cycle cards in the early turns when I need to be killing aggro and disrupting ramp.
I would add Doom Blades, but I've felt that Dismember gets the job done against most targets. If I need to kill a Titan, I have enough creatures to use it as a combat trick, and I've seen enough Beast Withins and Acidic Slimes to conclude that it isn't worth the additional risk to the mana base.
3 Phantasmal Image
3 Snapcaster Mage
4 Blade Splicer
4 Mirran Crusader
2 Sun Titan
Spells
2 Dissipate
4 Mana Leak
4 Forbidden Alchemy
2 Unburial Rites
2 Dismember
2 Day of Judgment
1 Timely Reinforcements
2 Sword of Feast and Famine
Lands
4 Isolated Chapel
2 Swamp
2 Moorland Haunt
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Plains
5 Island
1 Day of Judgment
2 Timely Reinforcements
4 Flashfreeze
2 Divine Offering
2 Negate
2 Dissipate
2 Oblivion Ring
Sideboard's a bit iffy right now, but I really, really like how the deck plays.
Mirran Crusader and Blade Splicer form the deck's Plan A. Against aggressive decks, a single Crusader or Splicer is more than capable of holding the line against most aggression until we can stabilize with Day of Judgment or Timely Reinforcements. Against slower decks, they'll come down earlier than our opponent's threats and hopefully provide enough pressure to win the game.
Should the game slow to a stalemate, the Swords and Moorland Haunt provide the deck's Plan B. If the board is clogged, a Sword equipped to a Mirran Crusader or Blade Splicer should be enough to force unfavorable blocks. A Sword attached to a Spirit can fly over the snag entirely, producing timewalks in your favor and possibly winning the game outright.
Sun Titan, Phantasmal Image, and Unburial Rites form the deck's heavy weaponry should we need to go over the top. Sometimes we can get lucky and get a turn 3 Alchemy pitching Sun Titan and Unburial Rites, but for the most part I've found that it's more prudent just to hold onto him and wait until the start of the endgame, when the opponent has spent all of his disruption on the initial Crusader/Splicer pressure.
I haven't had too many problems against regular Solar Flare, UB Control, and other control decks. Against either deck we can apply pressure with turn 5 Crusader/Splicer with Mana Leak backup. Furthermore, UB control has very few turn 3 or 4 plays, allowing us to play threats earlier without fear of reprisal.
Kessig Ramp presents much more of a challenge. I've found that the best strategy seems to be to Leak whatever you can early on and hope that the 3 drops + swords can close the game out quickly. Flashfreeze make the matchup much easier post board, allowing us to play control longer.
The worst matchup seems to be GW decks. I'll have to keep testing the fight, but my guess as to the most effective plan is the good old "Stall until Wrath, then go over the top." I haven't tried Elesh Norn with this list yet, though, but as soon as I do I'll let you guys know.
Phantasmal Images don't gain any value from their creatures. it can't effectively copy Glint Hawks or Glint Hawk Idols, Tempered Steel and Steel Overseer make combat trades impossible, while putting us on a very short clock, and most of their attackers fly right over everything we have.
The best results from my testing came when I boarded the Images out for Day of Judgment and Timely Reinforcements. Dismembers came out for Divine Offerings.
Spell Pierce is still effective in this matchup, as it counters Shrine of Loyal Legions, Glint Hawk Idol, Dispatch, and Tempered Steel, among others, and they won't be running on much more than 4 land anyway. Considering that it's prudent to start trading spells early and often, however, it may be a good idea to cut one or two for more removal.
Blade Splicer and Mirran Crusader are the keys to winning the matchup. They come down much earlier than UB control's threats, they're very resistant to point removal, they're easier to protect with your own counterspells, and they put your opponent on a short clock which only shortens further once you resolve a Phantasmal Image copying one or the other (or, even better, one of their own threats). The deck also runs better on less mana than UB control, so don't be afraid to Tectonic Edge their lands early and often.
Why aren't you playing Spell Pierces? Between planeswalkers, removal spells, dangerous enchantments, countermagic, and hand disruption, I've found that Spell Pierce hits enough spells (or delays them long enough) to still be relevant in the current meta.
If the matchup still proves to be difficult, you can board in Luminarch Ascension to tilt the matchup even more heavily in your favor.
He's amazing. Sadly, he doesn't eat bolts for profit like Blade Splicer would. However, he's still 4 power for 3 mana, and he beats most things on the ground like her golem-splicing sister. Adding him has also given me more targets for Image to copy, too, and against black and green decks he still gets a Splicer's worth of value. He's a bit more of a liability against Red, though, so it's not quite the same.
I pulled out a Stoic Rebuttal, a Jace, and an Oblivion Ring to add the Crusaders, and I haven't looked back since.
4 Phantasmal Image
4 Blade Splicer
3 Mirran Crusader
1 Deprive
2 Spell Pierce
2 Into the Roil
4 Mana Leak
2 Jace Beleren
4 Preordain
2 Day of Judgment
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Tectonic Edge
4 Plains
6 Island
2 Condemn
4 Celestial Purge
4 Flashfreeze
1 Day of Judgment
2 Timely Reinforcements
2 Dispel
I feel odd saying this, but Jace doesn't feel useful in this deck. The Sun Titan and Phantasmal Image interactions with my other creatures produce enough card advantage to close the game out quickly, and Preordain seems to be enough filtering to dig for answers should I need them. I find myself returning Blade Splicer, Mirran Crusader, or Tectonic Edge with Sun Titan - I've never reached for Jace. I'll try some other cards in their place and see how it turns out.
I wish I could play more Blade Splicers, though. I become more impressed with the card as I continue to test - it stops aggro right in its tracks, it's a very efficient threat to control, and it's a very effective Sun Titan and Image target. I haven't lost a game where Phantasmal Image has copied a Blade Splicer - it feels as if this deck is just one more 3-mana threat to being effective... oh! Time to test Mirran Crusader!
The UB control matchup is better than I expected. Blade Splicer is pretty amazing, as most of their removal is spot removal and GftT doesn't hit Golems. We lack Black's amazing early game disruption, but we also happen to play more and cheaper threats. Blade Splicer comes down on turn 3 on the play to apply some early pressure, and she can also come down on turn 5, with countermagic mana open to hold down the fort against Titans, planeswalkes, or other fatties. Phantasmal Image isn't the best response to a Grave Titan, Wurmcoil Engine, or Consecrated Sphinx, but it also allows for the possiblity of copying the Titan, then following up with O-Ring. Post board the matchup gets better with Luminarch Ascension and Celestial Purges.
Valakut is about 50/50, a bit worse than I was expecting. Countering the initial ramp is obviously very important. Oblivion Ring's a bit of a liability because Acidic Slime and Naturalize can pop it to free Primeval Titan. Phantasmal Image copying Primeval Titan fetching Tectonic Edge is exactly as powerful as I thought it would be, and Dismember's a surprisingly effective combat trick against Titans. That said, I made some play mistakes during testing, so I'll have to revisit the matchup soon.
I played a couple games against Vengevine Elves. Except for the Vengevines themselves, they had nothing worth copying. The elf ramp ensured that they had mana for Leak, and and Ezuri/Overrun frequently sealed the game before I could stabilize. Matchup became slighly better when I boarded Flashfreezes, Condemns, and extra Day of Judgments, but Ezuri still proved to be a pain to deal with. This was the only matchup where I felt that Phantasmal Image was a dead card.
Blade Splicer is the absolute star of the my aggro matchups. The Golem alone beats nearly everything that RDW and Vampires can throw at me, and they stall the game long enough against Tempered Steel for me to draw Day of Judgment.
4 Blade Splicer
3 Sun Titan
1 Wurmcoil Engine
3 Oblivion Ring
1 Deprive
2 Dismember
4 Mana Leak
2 Spell Pierce
1 Stoic Rebuttal
4 Preordain
2 Jace Beleren
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Glacial Fortress
6 Island
4 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Tectonic Edge
1 Jace Beleren
4 Celestial Purge
3 Condemn
4 Flashfreeze
2 Day of Judgment
2 Timely Reinforcements
Changes:
I tossed a Jace into the sideboard. He'll come back in against other control decks.
Pulled an Oblivion Ring to add Wurmcoil Engine. I've found that countermagic keeps most large threats off the table, that Dismember will kill engine creatures if they do hit the table, and that Blade Splicer (or a clone of her) frequently kills planeswalkers without my help. Oblivion Ring is extra insurance, and in about half my winning games I won with an O-Ring in hand because everything else was able to deal with whatever threat came along. I might choose Consecrated Sphinx over Wurmcoil Engine if I'm expecting a control-heavy meta, though.
I could never quite get the hang of Ratchet Bomb. It always seemed awkward, especially when the opponent's swinging at me with a Memnite, Signal Pest, Vault Skirge, and a Porcelain Legionnaire. I pulled them out for Timely Reinforcements at the suggestion of another thread.
Luminarch Ascension was amazing in the control matchups, but awful anywhere else. My deck does well enough against control mirrors without them, so I ditched them to add an extra DoJ and Condemn.
ILoveHK, you've probably heard this elsewhere, but do you think that having any less than 26 land and 4 Preordain is dangerous? 4 Preordain will help us dig to our Sun Titans faster, and 26 land will definitely help the deck's consistency.
Sure, the combo's easy to bust, but Phantasmal Image is such a good card on its own. It's never sat dead in hand - the worst I've done is copied a Goblin Guide for it to get killed by a Teetering Peaks, but even then I've saved myself 2 damage. On the other hand, I've also lived the dream on Cockatrice at least once by resolving Sun Titan while having 4 Phantasmal Images and a baby Jace in the graveyard. Between those two extremes, the card has proven to be incredibly useful in a variety of situations.
4 Phantasmal Image
4 Blade Splicer
3 Sun Titan
Enchantments
4 Oblivion Ring
Instants
1 Deprive
2 Dismember
4 Mana Leak
2 Spell Pierce
1 Stoic Rebuttal
2 Day of Judgment
4 Preordain
Planeswalkers
3 Jace Beleren
Land
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Glacial Fortress
6 Island
4 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Tectonic Edge
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Luminarch Ascension
4 Celestial Purge
3 Condemn
4 Flashfreeze
Phantasmal Image
I've never been unimpressed with Phantasmal Image in this list. The most obvious synergies are with Sun Titan (nearly Vengevine-class graveyard recursion) and Blade Splicer, but it's great at cloning my opponent's creatures as well. Some applications:
Blade Splicer or Mirran Crusader?
I went with Blade Splicer over Mirran Crusader because of the Phantasmal Images, and because Blade Splicer is a bit more resilient to spot removal. I'm anticipating a format leaning toward red, and at least Blade Splicer leaves a 1/1 body for Phantasmal Image to copy after the golem gets bolted. However, Mirran Crusader shuts down black removal, and UB control seems to be popular. I guess it's a meta call, although I think there may be room for both.
Removal and Disruption
4 Oblivion Ring seems to be the correct choice. I've never had them sit dead in hand, and I've also lost many games because I was hesitant to use them. Can anyone argue for a smaller amount?
While Dismember is certainly a very effective card, I've found that a lot of the stuff I dismember could be O-Ring'd away with negligible loss in tempo. That said, dismembering manlands and Koth-animated mountains has come in quite handy, and I've used it as a Sphinx-killing combat trick at least once. Seems to be minor, but is 2 or 3 the right number?
I haven't really had any issues with my countermagic suite. I've gone down from 4 to 2 Spell Pierces because Oblivion Ring takes care of many noncreature permanents, but it's still useful enough to snipe the occasional planeswalker or early ramp. Once again, would 2 or 3 the right number?
Sideboard:
Purge and Flashfreeze make the Twin and Red matchups, among others, and Luminarch Ascension's there for the control mirror. Condemn's more removal against aggressive creatures, as well. Is there anything I'm missing?
Some final issues:
How heavily is Surgical Extraction played? It saw play at Chinese Nationals ripping lands in the control mirror. Should I be worried about this?
Should I be playing Spreading Seas? I haven't been concerned about my Valakut matchup because Phantasmal Image fetching Tectonic Edge deals with it pretty well.
Is there anything else I need to address?