No problem. You've already been a big help. :)

So far..

Trinket Mage -> Fabricate

Bribery -> ??

Scroll Rack -> Crucible of Worlds

Vesuva -> Cephalid Coliseum

Island -> Strip Mine

Hmmm, after a bit of a think I'm almost inclined to recommend Ghostly Flicker. I actually really like this card. it resets an ETB, saves a creature, bounces Venser and more importantly, Ghostly Flicker + Palinchron / Peregrine Drake + Archaeomancer gives infinite mana and both that and Gilded Lotus + Ghostly Flicker + Archaeomancer gives infinite storm ending with an untapped Lotus for Tendrils of Agony. Kira, Great Glass-Spinner turns it off but other than that, I think its really powerful. I run it in my Damia, Sage of Stone deck and I hardly feel like its a dead draw. Every now and again it can feel sub-par but then again, thats true for all cards.

i <3 enpc

That suggestion totally made my day. Thanks man!

I'm just about ready to mark this deck as "finished" and start focusing on the Lazav Duel Commander deck I am working on.

Except for the possible addition of an Underground Sea in the future, and maybe replacing Dimir Aqueduct and Temple of Deceit with better non-utility lands, I believe this deck is as streamlined and as perfect (in the context of how I play) as it can get.

Thanks to everyone who helped me with this deck. The upvotes were nice as well. If you guys would be kind enough to help me again, the deck I will be working on next is Lazav Oldschool Tactics. I'm planning on making it as competetive as my budget will allow me to so feel free to leave your comments and suggestions there.

The deck has been running beautifully as of late. Been getting the combos out a lot earlier and a lot more consistently.

Still not satisfied with my mana base though. Thinking of taking out Thespian's Stage and/or Riptide Laboratory and replace it with Marsh Flats and/or Ancient Tomb. Your thoughts will be much appreciated.

I think keeping Riptide Laboratory would be better than keeping Thespian's Stage if you want to remove one of the two, especially since you aren't running the Dark Depths combo.

Betweem Marsh Flats and Ancient Tomb, I'd rather have the latter. I am personally of the opinion that the more Sol Rings one can slam into a deck, the better.

I might end up removing both cards to make room for both the fetch and Ancient Tomb.

Heartless Summoning - yay or nay?

Funny...I was just discussing this card with a friend about another deck.

I didn't like it there, and I'm still not a fan here. It just doesn't do much.

If it allowed infinite mana with Palinchron, then definitely, but as it is? Do you really need the acceleration it would provide?

youd be better off just putting Cloud Key in the deck, that or Nightscape Familiar. You only have 19 creatures, and Sapphire Medallion already reduces the cost. Plus you're shooting yourself in the foot by removing the ability to produce blockers with Oona.

enpc, TheHroth thanks for the comments. They make a lot of sense but considering how it will allow me to play creatures like Arcanis the Omnipotent, Rune-Scarred Demon, Palinchron, Deadeye Navigator and Peregrine Drake 2 turns earlier than usual, that it leaves me 2 mana open to cast counterspells and that Oona hardly sees play unless it's winning time, it just might be worth trying.

I like Cloudkey's versatility but the cost vs the cost reduction it provides just seems to lack the "explosiveness" Heartless Summoning provides.

This is true, however another benefit of Cloud Key over Heartless Summoning is that it can replace Helm of Awakening's job in your deck draw combo. At least none of your creatures auto-kill themselves from Heartless Summoning (short of persisting Glen Elendra Archmage). It all depends on how creature aggro your meta is. I personally wouldn't run cards like that, but that only because 1) a chunk of my creatures would die from it and 2) with generals like Captain Sisay tutoring things like Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite or Mayael the Anima playing an army of 5+/5+s (both of these generals are in my meta) I need my creatures to be big. But if you're confident that people won't swing into you it should be fine. Then it just comes down to justifying if you have enough creatures to make it worthwhile.

Funny. I was actually thinking of replacing Glen Elendra Archmage with it. As far as attacks on me are concerned, I never block anyways. I take a lot of hits and concentrate on getting the combos out as fast as possible.

Luckily, none of the generals you mentioned are in my meta. Either ways, my playgroup uses too much sweepers and removal to allow those to stay on the board long enough to be used. This is also the reason why I need to play all the combo pieces at once and that is where Heartless Summoning comes in quite handy. Will playtest it for a few weeks. If it works as well as I imagine it to, the Archmage goes out. If not, i'd be very interested to try Cloud Key.

Now i'm trying to find a slot for Necropotence. Removed it from the deck ages ago but now that the deck is a lot more streamlined, i'm willing to give it another try.

Kira, the Great Glass-Spinner and Clever Impersonator are currently on the chopping block.

On the whole, I think you get more value from Kira, Great Glass-Spinner. She protects your stuff and has a nice extra bit of synergy with Spellskite. Don't get me wrong, I love Clever Impersonator, but you/an opponent actaully have to have something good in play to make it work.

I agree. I'm running Clever Impersonator and find that it's just a fancy Clone that doesn't actually add to my deck.

Agreed. Got a game with some friends later. Will try how well necro works in the deck.

Played several games against a pod that included Jhoira of the Ghitu, Brago, King Eternal and Mogis, God of Slaughter. Won close to all the games!

Necropotence really worked for me. Won every game I was able to get it in play.

Haven't tried Heartless Summoning yet but based on how fast the games ended with my spell cost reductions in play, I think it's going to be awesome as well.

Only game that I really got screwed was when someone managed to play Blood Moon on turn 2.

Yeah, unfortunately Blood Moon wrecks a lot of decks. Ironically its the cheaper mana bases that're usually fine with it. Thats the problem you'll always come across when not playing green or white - your after-the-fact non creature removal isn't great. Part of the reason both my competitive decks run green. That and ramp :P

True. I am almost on the verge of converting the deck to Damia myself. Lol. But the deck does have some "answers" like Chromatic Lantern and All Is Dust.

Getting hit by cards like Ruination and a cycled Decree of Annihilation are generally the biggest threats to the deck.

Sidenote:I like how Future Sight minimizes Necropotence's drawback of skipping my draw phase. I enjoy how much unplanned synergies pop up in the deck whenever I play.

The only problem with Damia is that she has the ability to feel a little bit generic. But ever since I first saw her as a general, I had to build one.

Oh yeah, Have a look into Mystical Teachings, lets you fetch into counterspells at instat speed. Twice. Its super value.

I used to run Mystical Teachings when I had cards like Tunnel Vision and Spin into Myth in the deck. Now that it isn't able to tutor any of my combo pieces (except for Ghostly Flicker), it feels a bit underwhelming. i'll think about it. Any suggestions on what card to replace though?

Probably Ponder. Its a good card but unless you're a dedicated, and i mean Maelstrom Wanderer dedicated it jusy feels a bit underwhelming. Mystical Teachings will also shuffle your library for you, sot its got you covered there and there's always fetch lands too if you need.

I like Ponder a lot but that does make sense. My only concern is that Mystical Teachings telegraphs my play (which I hate doing) and does not generate card advantage until I play its flashback cost. Still might be worth trying though.