@ scrotality -- What would it replace, though? I've been trying to fit in Boomerang but can't seem to find a place for it.

yea I'm not really sure. every card in the list so far is completely legit. the one thing i am curious about is whether or not Damping Matrix > Stony Silence? its 1 mana more but it shuts down creatures as well. no kiki-jiki for you! lol

@ scrotality -- I've been watching Whelming Wave, I rarely want to use it unless I have 7+ lands, so that I can bounce everything and then replay Eidolon of Rhetoric. It'll probably be cut soon. Maybe replace it with AEtherize?

I'll have to try out Damping Matrix as well, but is Kiki the only big threat that it'll shut down?

@ducttapedeckbox: I don't know for sure, but I think it shuts down Splinter Twin as well, since the enchantment gives the activated ability to the creature. You should probably look into that, it might actually be worth it. Though you already have Torpor Orb which already shuts down all of that anyway - Kiki Jiki included.

@ Fulcrum --That is true, but would it better to have a catch-all for stuff like that to open up SB space? I'm also still having some trouble stabilizing against burn... thoughts? It might just be misplays on my part.

Torpor Orb does far more than Damping Matrix. Where many decks can survive a Damping Matrix, Orb makes it almost impossible to play a Birthing Pod deck, and entirely shuts down Splinter Twin combos. Stony Silence makes a big difference against affinity on turn 2 as opposed to turn 3, where they will likely not have enough time to equip a Cranial Plating or get good value from their Arcbound Ravager as you play it. Stony Silence also shuts down all equipment if you come across that, and Birthing Pod itself. I like having the diversity in the sideboard, as both perform different functions.

I also think that Whelming Wave doesn't work too well in this deck. Why wait until you're at seven mana so you can recast Eidolon of Rhetoric, when you could bounce everything on their board at instant speed using Cyclonic Rift? Not to mention, Cyclonic Rift can be fetched with Muddle the Mixture and can be cast to return a single threat if needed. I would run more Cyclonic Rifts before using Whelming Wave.

If burn gets to be too much of a problem, you'll probably just have to mull until you find a Leyline and hope the hand doesn't suck too much.

@ vishnarg -- I don't think I've ever overloaded Cyclonic Rift due to a lack of mana or the spell itself. I may replace the two Whelming Waves with Boomerang, which can also be fetched and bounce lands. That sounds fun to me. I may also go up to 4 Muddle the Mixture, as it tutors most of my main spells and two-thirds of my sideboard. Not really sure which... If only Transmute could be instant speed.

@ Fulcrum -- Yeah, I had 3 Owls against a burn deck in my opening hand, mulled into 5 lands and Wave, mulled into a hand that was decent minus only being 5 cards. I never get Leyline when I need it, haha.

Slight changes: So I've realized that my approach to playing this deck has been slightly off. I don't need to make sure I draw the Owl, I need to make sure I can get the Owl. With that in mind, I've dropped 2x Whelming Wave for 2x Dig Through Time (it was beginning to be a sin to be playing blue and not run either Dig or T'Cruise). Since I can now grab the Owl easier, I've dropped one in favor of another Cyclonic Rift. Thanks to Name12345 (something like that?) on untap.in for the help.

If you're going to run Dig Through Time, you're going to need 4 Flooded Strand and probably a couple Polluted Delta and Windswept Heath.

If you do that, screw the budget entirely and get the shocks, Cryptic Commands and the full playset of Colonnade. And Vendilion Clique. And Snapcaster. I can't tell if I'm being serious or not.

vishnarg and vault, you guys suck.

Just kidding... Sort of. Love the new name too, vault. Anyways. I guess you're right. Budget and a semi-competitive meta-breaking deck don't happen together. I'll adjust the land base and certainly remove the "budget" tag.

As for other stuff, I originally thought Cryptic Command would be a beautiful addition but after playing the deck, it would just be too mana intensive. I'll up the Colonnades to three, but I really don't think Clique' and Snappy are all too necessary. Maybe Snappy, but maybe I'll hold off on him in hopes of actually buying this deck some day.

Thoughts on removing a Cyclonic Rift, Remand, and one other for 3 Spell Snare?

Spell Snare may work as a one of. It could be decent in the sideboard. It would probably make more sense than the third Rift.

I like Spell Snare, but I don't think it deserves 3 in any 75.

@ vishnarg & vault -- I was thinking 3 of a general cheap counter and let it slip that Spell Snare is not one to have 3 of... Maybe Spell Pierce? Or 2 Spell Snare? or 2 Spell Pierce?

Spell Pierce Definitely... Spell Snare is ony good against weenie decks in my opinion consideirng that there has to be a CMC of 2 when most decks have only a few cards of that value.

@ Vedar666 -- Bob, Goyf, Ravager, Cranial Plating, Stony Silence, Remand if I'm desparate. Almost every deck runs a threat at 2 CMC, so its not terrible. Those early things are what hurt me the most, too.

The 2 CMC is actually the most prevalent in the format. Against other control decks even. Mana leak, Snaps, etc.

Hmm.guess you're right guess I was thinking more along the lines of Green/Black/White decks with more monster focus than control.

Your Deck needs ways of hurting your opponent. Your deck can delay the opponent, but if you don't get the owls out fast, your opponent will eventually win. A big flaw in your strategy is if the opponent is using a deck this is mostly creatures, because you'll have to kill their creatures to survive, but it will make it hard to make them have a big hand.

@ Mattman384 -- Batterskull and Celestial Colonnade are damage outputs. Creature-based decks (except for Affinity) are my best matchups, as I can remove, counter, or bounce every threat they throw at me. Eidolon of Rhetoric and Silence prevent them from overwhelming me, and make it much easier for me to keep up.

Once you play a couple matches with the deck, you realize that dropping the Owl early on is not practical. Unless you Owl on T1 somehow (which this deck cannot do) with a T2 Scepter+Silence softlock, dropping the Owl early on is a poor choice. It's much better late game when your opponent's hand is built up and you can control every spell they cast.

I must have overlooked Celestial Colonnade, I'll have to replaytest it.