I like this deck a lot.

I know this doesn't help against control (most advice I would give has already been given) but how attached are you to Thought Scour ? If the draw is important to you so you have another spell ready to cast (and thus trigger your creatures), then maybe Inaction Injunction could be more useful and you still get the draw? just a thought.

The best way to deal with control decks (in my opinion) is to throw in a little control yourself. Sideboarding in more cheap counters like Dispel and Syncopate protects your combo from removal (a lot of which is instant speed). An AEtherling or 2 is a difficult threat for control decks to deal with, and control decks give you enough time to cast it. You could also consider more high CMC spells because they are less prone to removal than your creatures.

Cyclonic Rift is a good tool to bounce walkers to either reset counters or set up a counterspell on the next play.

This isn't something you can use right now, but in the 2014 Spoilers there is a card called Young Pyromancer. It basically does the same thing Talrand, Sky Summoner does but with 1/1 soldiers, also cheaper CMC. Just a thought for the future.

Have you ever thought about adding white to the mix? This would allow you to add Boros Charm and Azorius Charm . Boros Charm would help against the removal, and the Azorius Charm would help against attacking creatures and help with card draw. I don't know if those two cards are worth splashing another color or not, though. All and all I love the idea behind this deck, definitely a +1 for me!

I know you've already shot down Artful Dodge , but consider...

T3: Nivix Cyclops.

T4: Armed / Dangerous (well, Armed anyway) on Cyclops, Artful Dodge , flashback Artful Dodge .

Nivix Cyclops is now 11/5 unblockable doublestrike. Swing for 22 to the face!

that is great, but you need 4 lands, 1 cyclops, 1 artful dodge and 1 armed.that's 7 cards out of 10 you have at turn 4 (i f you are on the play)

i wont happen so often

Thought Scour is pretty bad in a deck that doesn't run Snapcaster Mage (which you could easily play in this deck) or any real amount of flashback spells. I would honestly rather run 2 mainboard Pillar of Flame if Voice of Resurgence is a big problem for you or some more counters to play against control. AEtherling is also almost unkillable in the control mirror so it would help greatly in that match up. Also Goblin Electromancer is a perfect fit for this deck, unless you have deemed it to fragile in the current Standard.

@Irifhir: Oh, I know that starting with a Cyclops, Artful Dodge and Armed isn't hugely likely, but both spells are really useful to you on their own. Just Armed by itself makes Cyclops a 5/5 double strike, and Artful Dodge guarantees damage, plus you can cast it twice, which is really nice for Guttersnipe and Talrand, Sky Summoner too.

I've got a friend that runs a similar deck. He runs Armed , Teleportal instead of Artful Dodge (but I think Artful Dodge works better because of the cheaper cost) and his win condition is fueling a Cyclops with a huge Epic Experiment .

We are still debating how well it's working but it's technically an idea.

@Darktutor: You have a point. I could pull the Thought Scour s but I enjoy the draw. Only reason I dropped two of them was to make room for Dispel .

@Irifhir: considering I didn't have another Augur of Bolas and Guttersnipe as well as two Thought Scour I've been running the Artful Dodge and Armed / Dangerous combo but that was easily shut down or stopped against certain decks. Like Darktutors comment I will think about fling.

@4649matt: AEtherling is too expensive and I'm more concerned with counter than anything. Board clears I just make sure not to play all my creatures at once.

@CommanderFun: Thought Scour I'm pretty attached to because it's nice draw and it's saved me a few times by milling my opponents bombs or the land they need to keep playing. Inaction Injunction requires your opponent to have a creature out on the field as well which if I'm not facing an aggro deck can be a problem.

@Infinitemana: I added Dispel to the main board for now and AEtherling I feel is too expensive for the deck.

@Alulien: I'd rather not. Cyclonic Rift is nice but I don't find myself needing to clear their field all that often.

@Simplefall: I have seen that card and I'm going to run it when it comes out because damn I'd rather be able to play a low cost that makes 1/1 with not that much risk if I play him compared to Talrand.

@Simplefall: I've thought about adding white now that you mentioned it just for the charms (I love them) but I don't think it'd be a good idea. I might try to work something out.

@coucho_marx: I know the combo well. See the response I gave Irifhir

@Winston_Churchill: I don't have the money to drop of snapcasters and people I trade with like to hold onto theirs.

@TheRedMage: Epic Experiment seems like a gamble considering your opponent could just nuke or bounce or cyclopes unless you're playing with Mizzium Skin in your deck (another card that I'd love to play because it is essentially a counter against targeted creature removal.

I wanted to like Mizzium Skin , but it has failed me one too many times. Dispel or Negate fill roughly the same niche, but only lose out to Supreme Verdict or Abrupt Decay . I'd almost rather have a Mask of Avacyn than Mizzium Skin .

have you thought about putting in 2 Runechanter's Pike for those endgames where all your other creatures are dead and you have 19 instants and sorceries in your graveyardd; your augur of bolas is left and you surprise him for a 20 damage catch (too bad this post is 1 sentence long and you need to ignore it)?

@10vernothin: I used to run Runechanter Pikes and they've been dead weight on the field or in my hand. And by one sentence I usually mean when people reply with "You should run X." Or other one off comments without any reasoning.