6 to ramp 2 untapped isn't worth it either... he has access to green, there's plenty of better ramp.

He is better off replacing them with things like Gitaxian Probe , Grim Tutor , Street Wraith (since all the cards in the deck are pretty good anyway, 2 life to lower the deck count isn't too bad) instead of trying to replace them with cards that serve the same purpose. There are no cards that do the same thing better that haven't already been included in the deck.

Burnished Hart is much worse. If paying 3 once is bad, paying it twice is awful. Plus it only finds basics and they come in tapped.

I vote replace Chromatic Lantern and Glen Elendra with Gitaxian Probe and Grim Tutor.

I've been playing this list for a while and over time I've noticed I run out of blue mana on many occasions which prevents me from combo-ing off (with blue left for counterspell backup).

Due to this, I've switched Dispel (or whatever card you don't like the most, probably glen elandra or chromatic lantern, for a Thoughtseize. One black mana for a peek at the opponent's hand is a small price to pay for the knowledge of what cards you'll need to play around that turn, PLUS you can remove ANY card. If you're strategy revolves around sticking Damia, and the opponent is out of counters but has a Venser, you won't be able to prevent him from bouncing her.

One important difference here is Thoughtseize is a sorcery, but whenever you are planning on comboing, you (should) have some sort of prevention method in your hand. If that's the case, play Thoughtseize first, then drop your combo pieces. Most of my games with this deck revolve around setting up the combo on my turn, which allows for the sorcery speed Thoughtseize to be played effectively.

@cowcarx: I think I'd sooner take Gitaxian Probe . Having the free cast and the cantrip is more useful than having the discard effect, in my opinion.

@cowcarx, sadly, targeted discard sucks in this format, which is probably one of EDH's greatest detriments. It simply is not disruptive enough when you have three opposing players.

I was literally about to post a comment saying 'why on earth would you need Chromatic Lantern in this? Your mana-base is about as perfect as it possibly could be' then I scrolled up and saw that you were cutting it. I've been thinking about removing it from mine too - it just doesn't help me.

there's actually a few cards that don't do a whole lot (or are very mana-intensive for what they do). Chromatic Lantern is probably the worst card in here, because its mana fixing is really unneeded, and the ramp it provides is slower than a lot of other options. Glen Elendra Archmage is a very expensive counterspell. Unless you have the luxury of dropping her for 4 mana and sitting back and not using her right away, you are better off with something else. Time Stretch is really mana intensive for anything outside of 1v1. If this was a 1v1 build it'd be fine, but you have so many people that would be willing to counter it, it will usually be a waste of 10 mana. If you have that much mana, there are probably better options that won't be such big targets.

I'd personally replace them with Gitaxian Probe Grim Tutor and Restore / Tempt with Discovery / Street Wraith . I probably need to explain why Restore and Tempt with Discovery would be worth it, so I'll do my best. Given the competitive format, and the fact that you can use every fetch other than Arid Mesa , Restore is almost a third copy of Nature's Lore / Three Visits . You can also bring back land destruction if no fetches have been played yet. Keep in mind it is everyone's graveyard, not just yours. Tempt with Discovery is a bit more iffy, depending on the meta, because you have to be careful not to accelerate other control players. Thankfully, you run both Strip Mine and Wasteland , so if two people happen to fetch some troublesome lands, you can always just 1 for 1 their lands (while thinning out your land count at the same time). Street Wraith is just a free cantrip for 2 life, which shouldn't be an issue given the speed of the deck. It's just eliminating a "useless" card for something that has more presence.

Hopefully that all makes sense.

@nbarry223: The cards in the current sideboard are all up for cuts. I mentioned in comment #39 that Glen Elendra Archmage and Chromatic Lantern are both being cut soon. I just need to find worthy replacements.

We discussed Restore and Tempt with Discovery earlier (see comments #9 and #10), and I'm still not sold on either of them. I'd take others' playtesting experience into account, though.

Street Wraith is only viable as a cantrip, which means it's only viable if I have a perfect 98 and don't need the 99th card. I would sooner take something that offers me more utility.

Both restore and tempt are very meta dependent. Tempt is better in a less competitive environment, while restore thrives more in a competitive environment. Playtest them yourself a bit, you'll quickly see what I mean. I understand that Street Wraith is simply a cantrip, but if you are consistently thinking to yourself "wish I drew something else" that might be exactly what you need if you can't commit to something else. Gitaxian Probe is a strictly better cantrip, unless of course people are playing things like Trinisphere and Nether Void , which isn't seen too often (although I run both in my prison deck).

Do you feel Time Stretch and Leyline of Anticipation are 100% necessary?

What are your thoughts on Beast Within and Maelstrom Pulse I am running both in a similar deck. Would you recommend just Beast Within or neither?

I do not have dual-lands, so I am not running Necropotence but instead Phyrexian Arena - thoughts on that? Should I still run Necropotence ?

Why do you not run Interdict or Trickbind in a hyper-competitive environment? I feel these are some of the best counter-magic available especially against other combo decks. Do you prefer cards like Dispel over those?

Finally, Llanowar Elves or Urborg Elf ? I do not have dual-lands so I feel Arbor Elf is a 'dead-card'.

Thank you!

My deck is here: Damia - Competitive

Prophet of Kruphix could be helpful

@Arcanum: Prophet of Kruphix isn't good in this deck. It doesn't offer enough advantage to justify the 5 CMC.

@voidking: Leyline of Anticipation is extremely helpful. I've never lost a game during which I've cast Time Stretch , but the CMC is a bit high.

Beast Within and Maelstrom Pulse are both too expensive to cast. Maelstrom Pulse is also a sorcery, so it's less advantageous.

Necropotence is always worth running if your mana base can support it.

Interdict and Trickbind are good cards, but I don't know if I would play them. I run Stifle , but Stifle has a low cost.

Arbor Elf is less significant if you don't run all the duals and shocks. I'm not a fan of Llanowar Elves or Urborg Elf in EDH.

Do you run Time Stretch for the extra 2 draws and just so you get more opportunities to make the plays you want to (more mana etc)? Or are there other reasons?

Time Stretch allows me to do a lot because I can normally dump hand and refill it twice with Damia, or I can cast Damia and refill my hand on the second turn. It also allows me to set up for a combo in the late game.

Ah Damia! Of course. Obviously allows you to quickly cycle through a lot of cards.

Just a quick question. I don;t see any protection for Damia, how do you keep her alive in a competitive environment. Is is primarily just countering their removal?

@TrostAft: Counterspells are a general answer to removal (and many other threats). There's no point in running preservative equipment or enchantments when I could use more flexible and useful counterspells to handle the problem.

I have a random question here, because I'm really on the fence about a certain card and needed a second opinion (definitely wouldn't fit this deck by the way)...

Do you think a deck that's pretty heavily invested into a control shell (with a touch of prison cards) can function without it's hand during opponents turns? You still get to cast off you instant speed draw spells and ramp/bounce/remove and all that, but you are making all of your counterspells into dead cards (it currently runs 11 counterspells if that helps).

Is that worth a cumulative upkeep of "draw a card"? It's just so much potential draw power that giving up your counter power is so tempting.

@nbarry223: No. If you mean something like Bottled Cloister or Psychic Vortex , it won't work how you want it to. You pitch your hand, someone destroys your permanent, and you lose the game. Plus, you don't want to marginalize your control suite for the long-term allure of drawing a few cards. Especially if you severely limit your ability to protect the card on which you're relying.

Just curious but how do you usually cast Necropotence?

if Primeval Titan was still legal in edh, would you run it? Would it be useful enough and easy enough getting to attack with it to get more lands.

Droxium the answer to that is obvious. He is banned for a reason and plays amazingly with Deadeye Navigator.

@vishnarg: I play 6 duals and 9 fetches. Getting the triple black is never a problem for me.

@Droxium: I'm not completely sure. I would need to test it again. I used to run Primeval Titan , but the deck has evolved greatly since the ban, and I can't say whether Primeval Titan would make the cut.

Changing two of the snow-covered basics into regular basics would allow you to run Tainted Pact at maximum efficiency, which could then function as a "second Demonic Tutor " of a sort. Also, what's the reasoning behind the lack of Spell Crumple ? I've been testing a similar list, and the ability to tuck the commander has been relevant every time the opportunity's presented itself.