If I've got full playsets of UB and BR lands. 1 of each UR... good enough? can i cut the lanterns do you think?

Also, I realize it's kind of creature light... :P But Augur of Bolas probably wouldn't have a place as it's filtering YOUR deck, but what about Mindclaw Shaman ? It seems to fit the theme at least. It's a throw-away creature/chump blocker, but you can clean THEIR hand up a little...

I like the idea of messing with their hand, and originally the deck did have Duress -style effects in it, but I cut them because I much preferred kill spells. Mindclaw Shaman is a little expensive for my tastes, but that's not to say it's unplayable. Maybe try it out and see how it works?

I would find room for some Sever the Bloodline . I'd probably switch out Redirect for it, as that seems really situational.

I would put in Illness in the Ranks over card:Curse of Death's Hold, as you already have plenty of removal for non-token creatures. You also might want to find some room for Pillar of Flame .

I think Curse would be better than Illness in the Ranks because it acts as a neutering effect for bigger creatures as well as destroying tokens. You need to protect Bolas, and the Curse does that better.

powerfull +1 by me

@ pumpkinsword - If Pillar of Flame cost 2 and did 3 damage, then I'd basically have to include it, but as is, it's a bit iffy. While I do have plenty of removal for non-token creatures, there are decks that run a LOT of 1 toughness non-tokens as well, so I'm not sure I want to eliminate Death's Hold entirely. What I do agree on is that Redirect probably need to go. I include it sometimes and cast it practically never. But instead of Sever the Bloodline , which I'm not a huge fan of (see above discussion), I'd probably go for Duress -style stuff instead.

Do you not have any Sulfur Falls either? It would help some of your blue-fixing.

Nope, none to spare, anyway. But I agree, some Sulfur Falls and Steam Vents to replace some of the mountains, and to a lesser extent, U/B and B/R shocklands would be nice.

As a loyal minion of the multiverse's lord and master((whether it likes it or not)) this deck makes me happy inside. I have most of the cards too, I almost want to throw it together and see how angry I can make people with it. xD Strong +1 from me.

Maybe consider some Blustersquall or similar to tap down their board for a turn? Just a thought.

Thanks, Sweet! I'm not too enthusiastic about Blustersquall ; at most it buys me one turn; it's not a long-term solution to my problems. It would be a good choice if I had some creature offense; then Blustersquall can be really dangerous. As it is, though, it just keeps me from being attacked for a turn.

I think Desolate Lighthouse is pretty cheap. It should help you get through your deck faster; you can ditch the lands you don't need for Bolas and find the spells you do need. From your playtests, it looked like there were a few turns you didn't have much to do. I'd hesitate to add more than 1 without any R/U lands, but a 2-of shouldn't hurt much at all, especially with 3x Chromatic Lantern s.

@Tiki - I agree. I think the best thing to do would be to wait until I have those dual lands, then throw in a couple of Lighthouses and see how it works. Or maybe one right now. Hm.

You have a lot of black dual lands. Taking away a Swamp for a single Lighthouse shouldn't be too bad, right?

BTW, between Sulfur Falls and Steam Vents , I'd go for Steam Vents first, as they'll let your other duals come in untapped

@ Tiki - I'd probably ditch a Mountain, but yeah, I should be all right with one. I might try it out a bit and see how it plays.

@Sweet - Agreed. Sulfur Falls is at least a little cheaper, but not by much.

Oh, whoops, yeah, you're right. I thought Nicol Bolas was double blue, not double black.

I think someone mentioned Sever the Bloodline for defense against tokens, but for control decks like this, I would think Blood Reckoning is preferable. It scares swarms from attacking, and with card:Curse of Death's Hold, it can almost assure that few creatures are doing damage to you without doing the same damage to themselves.

That's an interesting idea. My only worry is that I so frequently find myself behind on life that if I'm sitting at 14 or whatever and my opponent is at 20 once I get out a Blood Reckoning , they'll just shrug and swing with their dudes anyway. I don't really have a way to punish them for doing that right now.

-nods- You're probably right. Without putting an excessive amount of them in the deck, you probably wouldn't get it out when it mattered. :c

Cyclonic Rift ?

I can get behind Cyclonic Rift . What cards do you suggest removing for it?

In place of the sideboarded Redirect ? Seems to fit.

Hm, that might work. I was thinking it would be good to mainboard and was looking for mainboard cut suggestions, but it would be a nice replacement for redirect, which is definitely on the way out.

1x Barter in Blood could go for one Cyclonic Rift , dunno about a second, then board for if you need more than that?

1x Barter in Blood could go for one Cyclonic Rift , dunno about a second, then board for if you need more than that?