Topics

I'm sure most of you noticed that Banned and Restricted list on modo's highlander variant - 100-card singleton changed recently. Some bannings are unsurprising as they come from the release of Master's Edition IV, other cards that got the axe are Mind Twist and Surival - both of which are banned in highlander too. I would like to hear your opinion on ban of Regrowth and Sensei's Divining Top. In my opinion - Regrowth ban is just very harsh and irrational and I will skip it. What interests me though is banning of the Top. Have you considered banning it too? Although I don't think the Top is banworthy, truth is, that it can prolong games in real life (which is quite irrelevant on online, where we have chess clock, but whatever...) and provides substantial advantage and in-depth look to a library for player with Top (combined with fetchlands and other shuffling effects of course). Other pro-ban reasonings can be in its low manacost, the fact it is very difficult to get rid of it and also the fact that it is almost autoinclude in vast majority of the decks (maybe except in some pure aggro builds like goblins etc.), therefore making it virtually 99-cards singleton. Almost forgot to append original annoucement, it is here.

[Lands(39)]

I have been trying to put together playable (if not tourney-viable, then at least casual/kitchen table-viable) Crosis/Grixis control deck. Problem is I am missing many key (read expensive) cards and my budget is tight. First I have to describe our meta, which is unfortunately quite different from "standard highlander". We have home rules such as players start at 30 life and almost all LD and mana denial cards are forbidden. These facts discourage playing aggro decks (still I managed to get to 6th place in our last tourney with WW-deck :]). This time I decided to play control instead, since 30 life cushion is just too high (and no-LD on top of it...). 
The list I present here is what I am playing with on Magic Online and in fact it is absolutely terrible. Obviously I have very hard time against fast aggro decks, but what bothers me more is that against control/midrange decks I manage to win quite small percentage of games too... I am wondering if the whole concept of the deck is just wrong or if it is possible to tune this up (perhaps abandon discard theme and substitute it with some combo?). What I see here as the biggest problem is manabase (no fancy duals/fetches in paper cards), therefore I tried to revamp the manabase online (where I have almost all duals and other expensive land cards), yet it didn't help that much and the deck just doesn't work. It is slow, clunky, just bad :]

Anyway, onto the list itself...

Lands(39): (too much ETB-tapped lands, but as will mostly face another control deck I don't think it is a big problem)
11x Island
7x Swamp
3x Mountain
Bojuka Bog
Creeping Tar Pit
Crumbling Necropolis
Dimir Aqueduct
Evolving Wilds
Graven Cairns
Halimar Depths
Izzet Boilerworks
Lavaclaw Reaches
Rakdos Carnarium
Reflecting Pool
Shivan Reef
Tectonic Edge
Terramorphic Expanse
Tolaria West
Vivid Crag
Vivid Creek
Vivid Marsh

Artifacts(7):
Coalition Relic
Dimir Signet
Expedition Map (Trinket Mage package, mostly tutoring for Bojuka, sometimes for manland)
Izzet Signet
Rakdos Signet
Relic of Progenitus (Trinket Mage package)
Sensei's Divining Top (Trinket Mage package)

Creatures(14):
Dimir Guildmage   (too slow?)
Flametongue Kavu
Ingot Chewer      (considering Manic Vandal instead, not sure though)
Man-o'-War        (should I remove this guy?)
Mulldrifter
Murderous Redcap
Nekrataal         (there used to be Gatekeeper Malakir, but BBB was just too taxing)
Psychatog         (I am considering Frost Titan instead of this, but I am afraid the mana curve is crazy enough even without Titan)
Sea Gate Oracle   (there was Raven Familiar on this spot, but it was too expensive to keep it alive, not sure if this is good substitute though)
Shadowmage Infiltrator
Shriekmaw
Solemn Simulacrum
Trinket Mage
Venser, Shaper Savant

Planeswalkers(3):
Liliana Vess
Sarkhan, the Mad  (I should exchange this for Nicol Bolas once I get him)
Sorin Markov      (manacost is ugly but he won many games for me)

Enchantments(2):
Control Magic     (Treachery would be better but...)
Vapor Snare       (Bojuka Bog + Halimar Depths tech :])

Instants(23):
Bituminous Blast  (probably can be removed as it cascaded many times into counter, not sure yet)
Brainstorm        (not that good without fetches?)           
Condescend
Counterspell
Crosis's Charm
Delay             (Miscalculation instead?)
Deprive           (Bojuka Bog + Halimar Depths tech :])
Dismiss           (budget Cryptic Command?)
Doom Blade        (need cheap removal)
Electrolyze
Fact or Fiction
Into the Roil
Lightning Bolt
Magma Jet
Mana Leak
Memory Lapse
Mystical Teachings
Prophetic Bolt    (too expensive?)
Recoil
Remand
Repulse
Smother
Terminate

Sorceries(12):
Blightning
Compulsive Research
Consult the Necrosages
Cruel Ultimatum
Damnation
Duress
Firebolt
Hymn to Tourach
Inquisition of Kozilek
Probe
Rise // Fall
Stupor

==
Average converted manacost of the deck: 2.95 (uh oh..)

The concept, I had in mind when I built this, was, that I would disrupt opponent's hand in early turns, then ideally exile his/her graveyard and beat him with some finisher (Cruel Ultimatum, Psychatog or any of the PW). Unfortunately this happens in one of 10 games :]

Cards that would be good in my opinion, but didn't make it as I don't own them:
- better lands (Rev duals, Rav duals, Shm filter lands, fetches...)
- Nicol Bolas the PW
- Demonic Tutor
- Thoughtseize
- Treachery
- Cryptic Command
- Force of Will
- Mana Drain
- Jace the Cashsculptor
- Misdirection
- Bribery
etc. the list would be probably too long...

Other notable cards that I own but got removed somewhere in the process:
- Duplicant  (slow)
- Nucklavee  (not enough targets, at least for Red part...)
- Void (was actually quite good with all those Duresses and the like)
- Consuming Vapors (tried some lifegain, but this is not the right way)
- Future Sight (UUU too taxing for my budget lands)
- Phyrexian Arena + Graveborn Muse (life loss proved fatal in many games)
- Decree of Pain (too slow)
- Exclude/Negate/Countersquall/Spell Pierce/Spell Snare/ (I hate conditional counters)
- Opportunity/Jace's Ingenuity
- Draining Whelk (too slow)

I would be very obliged to recieve any comment on this abomination of a deck or suggestion how to make it little more competitive.
Thanks in advance!