I initially decided Leyline of Anticipation was a bit slow. It's a 4-drop, and I never really wanted to cast it; if it didn't start in play, it didn't get into play. However, my friend still runs Leyline of Anticipation in his variation of this list, and he praises it. I suppose it's another card I can potentially exile to Force of Will .

Capsize is a win condition, but it isn't a good enough win condition. It's like Exsanguinate used to be - strong with infinite mana, but limited in noninfinite situations. It's expensive to cast with buyback, and it's still kind of expensive to cast even without buyback.

I know this might be insignificant, but have you ever considered Cavern of Souls ?

I have, actually. I'm debating Cavern with a few members of MTGS. On the one hand, it's a strong way to protect Damia and some of the other cards (name Wizard for the ability). On the other, it only taps for colorless if I'm not casting a specific set of spells, and my land base is already pretty taxed by colorless-producing lands. What are your thoughts?

Personally, I think Cavern of Souls would be a great option. I feel like it would be a really good way to protect Damia without using Mana.

What to drop for it, though?

I'm not totally sure. I am maybe thinking Forbidden Orchard or Tolaria West ? Also I am thinking Sower of Temptation and Green Sun's Zenith could help. Thoughts?

You could probably drop Alchemist's Refuge for Cavern of Souls . The refuge essentially adds three mana to the cost of a spell to give it flash, which is probably more expensive than you are aiming for with this deck. Cavern of Souls offers better protection to the key creature spells that you want to get past counterspells and you already have Leyline of Anticipation and Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir in the deck.

Hmmm hard to say,

Homeward Path is often a dead draw in my experience. Don't get me wrong, it's a very good card! But usually I don't mind/ have multiple solutions when shit hits the fan or I won't have to deal with it in the first place.

Alchemist's Refuge on the other hand, has been good for me..

I can't cut Forbidden Orchard because it's essentially another Command Tower . The 1/1s are never relevant, and it's a very small price to pay for access to every color I need.

Tolaria West is useful because it can tutor Pact of Negation and Boseiju, Who Shelters All . It's another way to get support for my combo, and, if necessary, I can play it as an extra land using the explore effects.

Sower of Temptation is a bit slow, and it isn't relevant in enough situations for me to include it.

Green Sun's Zenith is currently being tested along with Dryad Arbor . It seems strong - the tutor effect can find the important ramp creatures.

Alchemist's Refuge is something I'm considering. It is a bit slow, and I don't often find myself activating the ability.

Homeward Path is an important card because it protects Damia and key combo creatures from cards like Ray of Revelation , Gilded Drake , etc. Though I don't use it every game, it is valuable to have as a utility.

At this point, I'm leaning toward dropping Alchemist's Refuge .

which cards would you search for with Green Sun's Zenith ? Azusa, Lost but Seeking ? also, with Dryad Arbor it might be too slow since you can't tap it for mana the turn it comes out.

That's initially how I felt about Dryad Arbor , but in testing it actually works very well. It's not as fast as a basic Forest, but it does have some advantages. Green Sun's Zenith is now a viable turn-1 play because I can use it with X=0 to find another land. In later turns, it finds other accelerators, often Lotus Cobra .

So here's what I'm thinking right now:

Cut:
Brainstorm
Abrupt Decay
Beast Within
Rhystic Study
Phyrexian Metamorph
Snow-Covered Forest

Add:
Utopia Sprawl
Carpet of Flowers
Dark Ritual
Green Sun's Zenith
Misdirection
Dryad Arbor

Then potentially cut Alchemist's Refuge for Cavern of Souls .

hmm, why Dark Ritual , what turn would you expect you expect yourself playing it? and since the mana leaves at the end of turn... i don't think that it would be as good in this deck as say Abrupt Decay but on the other hand, it would be cool to have a turn 1 Chromatic Lantern ... why the Dryad Arbor , would a regular Forest be better since you can tap it for mana the first turn it comes out?

Cutting Abrupt Decay , Beast Within , and Phyrexian Metamorph significantly lessens your possible responses to threats that manage to make it on to the battlefield. I can see Abrupt Decay as being somewhat limited in its range of targets and thus replaced for that reason, but the versatility that Beast Within has to deal with threats and Phyrexian Metamorph 's ability to kill generals, mimic threats, and copy an opponent's mana artifacts in a pinch are valuable. Removing a fair portion of your responsive spells for yet more linear (and in the case of Dark Ritual , short term) mana acceleration seems counter-intuitive for a control deck.

There is logic behind the choices, though. All of those spells are relatively expensive or color-saturated. Ramp gives me the ability to cast turn 2 or turn 3 Damias, which refill my hand and enable a combo shortly thereafter. Counterspells are good enough for the majority of threats, and the game shouldn't be going on long enough for me to have to deal with something that has already resolved.

I find Phyrexian Metamorph to be particularly irrelevant; I virtually never cast it, and the few times I do cast it usually result in me copying a mana rock.

I like the upcomming changes except for Carpet of Flowers .

I'm curious how it worked out for you :)

Well, Carpet of Flowers can work one of two ways:

1) I'm playing against at least one blue player. Carpet of Flowers provides ramp to help counteract any possible control coming from that player.

2) I'm not playing against any blue players. I win because nobody else is playing blue.

Hi,Did you consider to add Temporal Mastery i believe it could be very useful for you because you have cards like Mystical Tutor , Brainstorm , Imperial Seal , Vampiric Tutor and other cards. i believe this card could make your deck faster.

I'm not convinced that Temporal Mastery is good enough. It's just an expensive Temporal Manipulation in some cases, even though it does interact well with some of the tutor and return-to-top effects. I might test it, but I remain skeptical about its applications.

Also, PTQ Philly was a bust. There weren't any EDH side events; the main tournament had only around 250 players. I did acquire the cards to make a few changes to this list, so an update will be coming in the next week.

Reset discussion and edited deck. With the recent boost to the ramp package, this deck now allows me to play Damia on turn three almost every game.

I playtested this after the update and the ramp is solid. But I found myself ramping too much and not finding enough of the combo pieces. There were plenty of opportunities to use the mana I had, but nothing really to play it on, even if Damia was refilling my hand each upkeep.

Maybe some more black tutors to speed up finding the combos?

Worldly Tutor perhaps to find Palinchron ?

Worldly Tutor isn't really necessary because I don't go out of my way to find Palinchron . I don't even play Palinchron without Tooth and Nail ing into it.

As for tutor power, it's difficult to say what else to add (and even what else to cut). There are several tutor cards, and I only really need to find Tooth and Nail . With 10 lands open (or even less, depending on mana rocks), you can entwine Tooth and Nail to find Palinchron and Rune-Scarred Demon , then use Rune-Scarred Demon 's ability to find Deadeye Navigator . The untap ability from Palinchron will allow you to play Deadeye Navigator and blink Palinchron with your remaining lands. That gives you the infinite mana combo and lets you tutor the whole deck into your hand.

In other situations, I often find myself with tutors in the yard (because they were used to find ramp on turn one or two) that I cast through Snapcaster Mage , Eternal Witness , or Yawgmoth's Will .

What are your recommendations?

Personally I found Search for Tomorrow somewhat underwhelming. Ya, it's a viable turn 1 play, but it only fetches basics and you have to wait 2 turns if you suspend it to get your land. Paid for the full cost its effect is weak compared to other ramp spells in the deck, and it probably won't be viable late game.

Maybe Grim Tutor in this spot?