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[// Colour-Lands: 33]

Hey there,
i'd be gratefull for some opinions to the deck and some suggestions for the questions / considerations afterwards.
First the Decklist:

// Colour-Lands: 33           Tundra           Tropical Island           Underground Sea           Savannah           Scrubland           Bayou           Volcanic Island           Plateau           Badlands           ---           Hallowed Fountain           Breeding Pool           Watery Grave           Temple Garden           Godless Shrine           Overgrown Tomb           ---           Snow-Covered Island           Island           Plains           Forest           Swamp           ---           Flooded Strand           Polluted Delta           Windswept Heath           Wooded Foothills           Bloodstained Mire           ---           Flood Plain           Bad River           Grasslands           ---           Reflecting Pool           Flagstones of Trokair           Karakas           Lonely Sandbar           Secluded Steppe

// Utility-Lands: 6           Tolaria West           Academy Ruins           Volrath's Stronghold           Nantuko Monastery           Wasteland           Maze of Ith                     // Mana-Artefacts: 5           Coalition Relic           Azorius Signet           Dimir Signet           Selesnya Signet           Simic Signet           // Creatures & Planeswalker: 19           Qasali Pridemage           Trinket Mage           Kitchen Finks           Court Hussar           Shadowmage Infiltrator           Eternal Witness           Rhox War Monk           Glen Elendra Archmage           Venser, Shaper Savant           Academy Rector           Loxodon Hierarch           Stoic Angel           Etched Oracle           Meloku the Clouded Mirror           Mulldrifter           Shriekmaw           Eternal Dragon           Exalted Angel           ---           Garruk Wildspeaker

// Draw & Dig & Tutor: 16           Ancestral Vision           Skeletal Scrying           Fact or Fiction           ---           Sensei's Divining Top           Brainstorm           Impulse           Worldly Counsel           ---           Life from the Loam           Crop Rotation           Personal Tutor           Tainted Pact           Demonic Tutor           Eladamri's Call           Intuition           Gifts Ungiven           Mystical Teachings           // Permission: 8           Pact of Negation           Force of Will           Misdirection           Counterspell           Mana Drain           Forbid           Dromar's Charm           Cryptic Command

// Removal & Anti-Aggro & Stuff: 13           Pithing Needle           Swords to Plowshares           Path to Exile           Vindicate           Bant Charm           Krosan Grip           Engineered Explosives           Pernicious Deed           Wrath of God           ---           Vedalken Shackles           Collective Restraint           Treachery           ---           Phyrexian Furnace

Ok, let's start discussing that stuff.

1.) Auto-Includes that just aren't in here, 'cause too expensive

• Library of Alexandria
• Moat

2.) General performance of the deck as it is
I'm halfway contempt with its performance.
The main problems are very good starts of red-based Aggro with burn or U(w) Stax or Mana-Denial builds.
Moon-Effects and BtB can be handled most of the times by expecting it and playing accordingly.
Creature-based Aggro without too much burn can normally be handled and
vs. other control decks i feel it has a very good matchup.

3.) The colour red and the mana base
At the moment there are only three red duals in here to power domain and sunburst (having EE and Restrains available at 5 often helps me loads) and help with fetching for double colour requirements or after some landdestruction.
(Badlands will become a Taiga as soon as i aquire one.)

I've tested the deck for some time with red splashes like Fire/Ice and the likes but what i found is, while it helps vs. aggro it really worsens the matchup vs. Moon / BtB and Mana-Denial.
So the red cards had to go.

What i dislike about the mana base is, that in the worst case i've got 6 CiPt-Lands, especially the Mirage-Fetchlands. Fact is, i know no alternatives as other lands would again worsen the matchup vs. LD, moon, etc..
Any ideas here? (maybe a moot point if the new edition really has new fetchlands)

4.) Cards on my personal "watchlist"
There are some cards i'm not 100% sure about in this deck. I'd be delighted if some of you would share their experiences with those in similiar decks:

• Flagstones of Trokair

Rocks with Crop Rotation and vs. LD - sucks vs. Moon & BtB

• Karakas & Venser, Shaper Savant

The combo really owns when you get it in the right moment. Then again sometimes it just feels like "win even more" or it's an very expensive Boomerang or the land that should have been a snow-covered plains.

• Rhox War Monk

It buys a lot of time vs. Aggro if you meet the colour requirements in turn 3 / 4 ...

• Garruk Wildspeaker

Similiar here. Sometimes wins the game sometimes it'S an expensive Fog in sorcery-speed...

• Skeletal Scrying

Wins the late-game vs. control but is often dead vs. aggro as at the time you can afford to spend some mana for it instead of removal or playing your own critters you often don't want to get yourself in burn-range.

• Cryptic Command

Another highlight vs. control and sometimes vs. aggro in special situations.
At other times you want it to be that Mana Leak.
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5.) "Unusual" choices in my build that i'm -so far- very sure of.
I've been told a lot of times that this card should't be included or that the other card is an auto-include and i should use it.
Here are the Highlights i'd really like some more opinions about:

• Mirage-Fetchlands

Yeah, i also dislike the CiPt. Alternatives would be Filterlands or Ravinica-Commons. But in my opinion they have all the synergies: LftL, Fetching Basics vs. Moon / BtB, Skeletal Scrying, Nantuko Monastry, domain, sunburst.
What do i miss here?

• Nantuko Monastery

Some say you can't afford it cause of the colorless mana and yeah, i kinda hate within my first 10 cards.
But what i see is the recurring 4/4 1st-Striker that can't be handled with Sorceries.

• Darksteel-Ingot / More Signets / Talismans

One could play more Artefact-Mana.
As it stands in 1/10 games i already get mana flooded sometime in the mid-game.

• Bant Charm

This argument i don't understand. What's not to like about the versality of Bant Charm?

• Vedalken Shackles

This card has won me many a game.
Sure it's target for the opponents artefact removal, but on the other hand unhandled it win's vs. creature based aggro and in the late-game vs. control really makes him dig for his Krosan Grip.

• Mana Leak / Condescend & all that 3CC-Counters

I'm really low on Counter-Spells in this version.
Reason being, that in turns 3 or 4 i usually want to tap out for some creature, Shackles, etc.
So in my view, i'm better of with some removal for the 3/4 CC Thread i could'nt counter in the first place.
But maybe i'm missing something here too?
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6.) Cards i might want to include but am not sure about them / don't know what to cut
Ok, finally (yeah, you almost made it through the whole hell of a post! ) here's a bunch of cards i'd like to play or even have played for a while but sorted out.
Maybe you can share some experiences of your own concerning these?

• Future Sight

This would be the prime target for the rector vs. control builds.
A pitty that vs. any fast aggro it would be only win more if finally i could play it.
But as it stands, i have no viable rector target vs. control right now.
Sure, sometimes Treachery does the job or a Deed may protect me from some large Decree but more often than not Rector is a chump-blocker vs. some fattie here.
Any idea for some enchantment that is good vs. aggro and vs. control?

• Solemn Simulacrum

Possible 2-1 tradeoff but then again so slow...

• Voidslime / Stifle

Stifle... Instant Strip Mine, Savior vs. some nasty triggered effect or... the other dead card...
Is it worth it?
To circumwent this, i tried Voidslime for some time but the colour requirement really sucks as for some reason almost always you have your only green mana on the Tropical in the early game.

• Deep Analysis

Sorcery Speed Draw 2 for 4? 3 Life and 2 Mana blocked vs. Aggro?
I see that card in Aggro-Control Builds sure, but in here?

• Raven's Crime

Oh, i like it with an up and running LftL-Enginge!
But hey, when i got that engine going, didn't i win already anyways?

• Krosan Verge

2 Lands for One! Suck empty your library of surplus lands in control late-game!
But so unbelievable slow...

• Trygon Predator

This guy left alone for 2-3 Turns early wins the Matchup vs. Stax and similiar Artefact-based decks.
And most of the time he does nothing vs. that nasty Crucible or Scroll Rack of the other Control-Guy.
Would i be Survival, i would play it. But here?

• Knight of the Reliquary

Well, he would just fit into the concept of the deck and find me that Utility lands i need right now.
But wait, didn't Intuition and Gifts already do that and more at instant speed and without dying to some terror?

• Pulse of the Fields / Story Circle

This would seem some possible solutions to my problem with very fast aggro-burn.
But then again i'll prefer Deed or Restraint most of the time instead of Circle and the Circle will also die to Deed or EE at 3, which often is a must in this Matchups.
And Pulse?
Most RDWs play some form of lifegain-denial or that many painlands, that you can't get much out of it anyways.
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Ok, first of all:
Thank you very much if you really read all these of my thoughts.
I'd really appreciate your opinion to some of my questions and considerations!