Syncopate is > Cancel in my mind, especially when you have a playset of Dissolve already - allows you to hit a turn 2 counter or to play a cheap counterspell late in the game when opponent taps out. I really like Syncopate as a 2 or 3 of to support a 3 cost hard counter.

Also, 3 of AEtherling is a bit much given his high cmc - perhaps drop 1 of him for another Thassa or a 4th Demon?

No Thoughtseize or any sort of traditional card advantage??

@alulien My deck is kind of a mess right now. I decided to take out all the green and go U/B instead.

I had considered adding a few Syncopate and removing Cancel .

Taking out an AEtherling sounds like a good idea.

I love Thoughtseize , but I don't have any right now. That's one that I would really like to add in the future when I pull a couple. How many would you recommend?

Also. how do you feel about Bident of Thassa and Master of Waves in this deck? I'm also considering Read the Bones for card draw.

Give Syncopate a shot at 2 of - I think you'll like it. AEtherling is awesome, but he costs so much, and he's a finisher, that you don't want to draw him until you can play him - Thoughtseize is a thing and he's a good target to get hated out. I would look at maybe 2 or 3 Thoughtseize in the main if you can get a hold of them - it gives so much advantage that it's not even funny. I'm not a fan of Bident of Thassa cuz it doesn't do much (what blue decks are connecting with creatures to make the draw worthwhile?) outside of provide devotion: it could help make Master of Waves a bomb, but those tokens are easily countered by killing the Master or Ratchet Bomb . Read the Bones is awesome, the scry + draw allows you to dig up to 4 deep which is just killer. IMO it's the best draw outside of Sphinx's Revelation .

Once I get Thoughtsieze, I definitely add it in. I'll run Read the Bones as well. I'm still on the fence about Master of Waves . Ratchet Bomb would be his biggest weakness, but the protection from red would make it very likely that he would be able to stay of the field. Red is probably my biggest worry.

I'm just looking for a decent blue card to add to the deck, mostly to help with devotion. Thassa, God of the Sea has won me games alone as a creature and I'd like to consistently have the devotion for it. Any suggestions?

Maybe Archaeomancer ?

This is the problem I ran into when I tried to put together Master of Waves and Thassa, God of the Sea for a devotion deck - blue creatures are pretty weak and the cheap ones don't have much value. Nightveil Specter would probably be good cuz it's got a decent ability and counts as 3 towards devotion, plus will be super easy to cast.

I've always love Nightveil Specter . I ran him for a long time, but his ability never got me anywhere. Now that I have Thassa, me may find a place yet again.

Where do you stand on using Archaeomancer ? It's the closest thing we have to Snapcaster Mage in Standard right now.

By the way, I really appreciate the feedback. It's been a huge help for me and this deck.

It's not that good, imo. Archaeomancer is just subpar in every way. It gives you the UU towards devotion, but that's about it.

Happy to give feedback. :)

So, I've been on the fence about this for a while. Prophet of Kruphix is a downright wicked card right now. I've play tested it in this deck before. Once it's on the field, it's an automatic win con. I was able to spend all of my mana on AEtherling and have it all open the next turn for counters and removal. On another occasion, I flashed out a 2 Prognostic Sphinx that foiled my opponents plans to swing with two 6/6 Cryptborn Horror , allowing me to swing in the AEtherling again for 8 damage to win the game.

What you you think about splashing green and running Prophet of Kruphix in this deck?

@alulien I'm contemplaating taking out Jace, Memory Adept and replacing him with Jace, Architect of Thought . What do you think?

I think the Architect, while more expensive cash-wise, is more flexible. His +1 helps with aggro, and his -2 is great card draw, and if you ever manage to hit his ult, you go find Aetherling and the best card in the opponent's deck and end the game in short order. Memory Adept is better if you're trying to have mill as a secondary win condition, but that's about it.

Second, if you're not sold on the Nightveil Specters, I HIGHLY recommend replacing them with a set of Desecration Demon . That card is great on it's own, and does work in my deck (Controlled by Demon Sac)), but coupled with Triton Tactics , gives a new meaning to surprise butt-coitus. +1 from me.

@Twyn I just now realized hat is ult let's me search my deck, as well. Haha. I think I'm pretty sold on him. I think he'll function a lot better. Memory Adept doesn't hold all that much synergy with this strategy, anyway. I mainly had him in for the draw.

I ran Desecration Demon for a bit, but ended up removing him. Thassa, God of the Sea is a win con in this deck and having enough devotion was necessary. Another member suggested Nightveil Specter , because he would add 3 to devotion. I played him in my dimir deck before I broke it down and loved him. In the end, I may end up running Desecration Demon . He is a monster of a card.

And thank you for the +1 :D

Memory Adept can be a great secondary wincon - once resolved he's a 4 turn clock. That said, Architect is much much better all around. I wouldn't expect to ult him much, but his -2 is amazing for card advantage and his +1 slows aggro down and in those matchups he himself acts almost as "bonus life" to help you buy time to stabilize. If you can stomach the price, go for it, he definitely brings more to the table.

@alulien and Twyn. I had an idea the other day. What if I turn this into a BUG deck? The only green card would be Prophet of Kruphix . I think she would work well. I ran her once before, but took her out because I felt the strategy wouldn't be viable in competitive. Now, I'm having second thoughts. Do you guys think she could work?

I don't think that's worth going tri color.There IS cool synergy between the Prophet and Desecration Demon, but that doesn't seem worth it in my opinion. Now if you ever build a deck to abuse Enter the Battlefield triggers by giving them flash from Prophet, coupled with the untap power (makes Bane Alley Broker really interesting, off the top of my head), I could see adding a 3rd color.

Tidebinder Mage?

@Baffled I'm working on getting a play set of those. I'll add them to the list as soon as I get them in.

Grate deck well built and it seems fun to with. Sadly I can't think of any thing else that might work in here. + 1 for me