Below are other choices that I have considered in place of current cards:
Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
+
Aether Hub
is a consideration in the place of Bob, as Constrictor can double up the energy counters and keep the cards flowing. Menace is also nice from the Siphoners, and there is potential synergy with
Oona's Blackguard
, another card of interest. However, I have found Siphoner to be a little too inconsistent, as the times that I have found I need card advantage are often the times that I can't really afford to chump-attack with the rogue.
Birds of Paradise
in place of Cabal Therapist is appealing, as a 1-3-4 ramp pattern, and in particular turn 2 Unicorn are excellent. However, without as aggressive a goldfish with the traditional Hardened Scales package, I feel that the ramp becomes a somewhat less appealing option.
Animation Module
is also a consideration in place of Therapist, and is especially good with Unicorn. I have not tested this card much, but I feel as though the card may not be proactive enough on turn 1 and may end up being too win-more when it's turned on.
Other proactive 1-drops such as
Servant of the Scale
are also appealing. There are a wide variety of choices, some of which may end up being better than the Therapist. I will be continuing to experiment.
Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
may want to be
Ajani, the Greathearted
due to the magnitude of life-loss that this deck ends up inflicting on itself. This would also make what is currently the worst Bob flip marginally less painful. However, my reasoning is that nearly all of the deck's important cards, and most of its removal/answers come in the form of creatures and planeswalkers that can be found by big Ajani, and having a planeswalker that can accrue the advantage of an ultimate threat after several turns on board is something that I am trying out. I know that I have liked the Greathearted when I have tried it in the past.
Corpsejack Menace
has been a card that I have tried in the past. When it's good, it seems busted, but there are extreme diminishing returns on Scales effects such as this one. On the baseline it's just a 4/4, which doesn't feel especially good when dropped naked on turn 4. Its price makes it to difficult to weave in on other turns, which sometimes just means you either have it sit in hand or effectively take a turn off to cast another Snake/Scales. It's a card I always have on my radar and always wish it had just a slightly higher floor than it does.
I was excited about
Nissa, Who Shakes the World
until I realized that the lands do not become creatures until after the counters are placed on them, killing any potential for synergy with the Scales effects.
I have also tested
Driven / Despair
and
Song of Freyalise
; I have liked both as ways to lock the game up when the deck is ahead on board, but ultimately I have found that I have struggled to leverage both in situations where the deck falls behind.
