To help you out with the infinite mana, maybe add Composite Golem and Nim Deathmantle It is always good to have one more out to get a combo going, and it doesn't hurt that they are both artifacts!

That is a pretty sweet combo! What would you suggest I take out for it, izzetlabrat?

@izzetlabrat: unfortunately Composite Golem is against the rules to play in a mono blue deck :(

Oh shoot, im sorry. I'm a little new to edh and forgot that mana for abilities count. Really sorry

You need more protection for your commander or other creatures Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots are staples.

High Tide is one way to get a lot of mana. It's not infinite but it can be a game winner.

Elite Arcanist or Isochron Scepter can be devastating depending on what you imprint. You could imprint a counter spell for some heavy control.

Good luck man!

@ MoGoose831: I actually have more ways than most decks to protect my commander... Ashnod's Transmogrant, Silverskin Armor, Phyrexian Metamorph (replaces), Liquimetal Coating, Synod Sanctum, Mycosynth Lattice

I think Isochron Scepter might be good in here, but I would need to run more 2cmc instants. I will try to squeeze it in. Thanks!

Didn't take into consideration that as an artifact Padeem would have hexproof...

I Do think you could use a few more counters. Hexproof can't save you from any overloaded Vandalblast.

It might be helpful to indicate what combos you are running in the deck description.

If you are planning on using Isochron Scepter, you might wanna try Dramatic Reversal with it.

In my old deck, I used Future Sight, Helm of Awakening and Sensei's Divining Top to draw out my entire deck and win from there. The same might be viable here, I think.

And since you said you were playing control, maybe try Torpor Orb and also Stasis?

@Megalomania: Thanks for the advice!

The combo to win is up for debate. I have Blue Sun's Zenith/Temple Bell with Paradox Engine or Mindslaver + Academy Ruins/Trading Post/Planar Bridge/Elixir of Immortality.

I really like Portcullis & Duplicant in this deck so I don't think I would want Torpor Orb in here. Stasis might be really good! I would need more bounce to make it work and it wouldn't have hexproof without Liquimetal Coating, but it is another Winter Orb to make it more consistent.

Helm of Awakening is really good and I would definitely think about including it, Sensei's Divining Top also, but I'm really not sure about Future Sight. This deck really can't be giving away too much info about itself to the enemy before it locks up the board or it becomes a target when a prison piece shows up.

Since youre using Paradox Engine, I would definitely try to find ways to use and abuse Isochron Scepter. Maybe use Brain Freeze as your win con?

Future Sight can be so OP especially with Paradox Engine and a lot of rocks in play, but I get why you have second thoughts about using it. The Engine can substitute for the Helm in the Future Sight combo though. Also throwing out Mind Over Matter and Gilded Lotus (if its not yet there) for your consideration.

Lastly, not a big fan of the Mindslaver combo. IMO, its too clunky and unreliable considering the direction the deck seems to be taking.

Brain Freeze is a good idea.

The major issue I have with Future Sight is I cant reliably protect it with Padeem, which is important to me if I am spending that much mana on it I need to be sure Im going to win the turn it comes down.

I like Mindslaver because its a puzzle. How do I make the worst possible move for my opponent?

Neat deck, seems pretty good.

If you want more control elements you could always do Propaganda and Frozen AEther. Plus there is always Blue Sun's Zenith; with this you could either get awesome card adantage or just kill someone by making them draw their library.

Omen Machine could be a fun way to force your opponents into the chaos. I'd also like to see an Ancestral Vision in here, as another thing to find with Tolaria West and a sweet thing to hit off the pool.

I'd throw a Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir to instantly win with the Pool. I made a deck based entirely on their game-ending combo. Basically, the Pool will force the opponent to play any spell at instant speed, while Teferi won't allow it. So, the opponent can't play anything with both of the cards on the field! If you wanna check the deck: "Dad, Teach Me How To Be Bad!" (Combo Teachings)

@Javaz:

Thank you for the feedback! That's a really brutal combo that I was actually aware of when I set out to make this deck and if that was the goal, then I would make Teferi my commander in a heartbeat.

The thing is I wanted this deck to have a split personality between good guy/bad guy, but I think Teferi would just warp the deck into a pure lock down/stax deck. I can't think of a situation where a group hug deck would play Teferi. It's the same reason I don't want to play Winter Orb.

Cards to consider:

Rhystic Study. Why run something like Mind's Eye when you're in blue and have access to Rhystic Study or Mystic Remora? Study can significantly slow opponents down if they're smart, or they'll give you tons of cards if they're not. Either way is a massive win for you.

Back to Basics. I know you're not big on stax, but this particular card would slow down combo and hate bears decks (you know, the one running cards that heavily impact your general strategy that, conveniently, also come down before you may have counter spell mana ready like Gaddock Teeg, Hokori, Dust Drinker, Phyrexian Revoker, Kataki, War's Wage, either copy of Thalia, Thorn of Amethyst, etc.). Just a brief thought, anyway. It's an all-star in my Arcum deck, in any event.

Reshape: Cheapest artifact tutor I can recommend for you since you just run a variety of combo pieces. Consistency is important. On that note;

Tezzeret the Seeker : Finds any artifact cmc 4 or less the turn he comes in, can mana ramp the turn after, and his ultimate is fairly reasonable to close out a game and can be used the following turn. All of his modes are good for your deck.

As for your maybes:

Unstable Obelisk is good. Actually, I'd strongly recommend it since you're already light on removal and might need a way to eliminate a Gaddock Teeg or some other troublesome creature.

Clever Impersonator is okay. If an opponent grabs it off of Knowledge Pool it shouldn't affect you any more than if they grabbed Phyrexian Metamorph, honestly. Most of your creatures and artifacts won't really aid an opposing deck's strategy all that well so I wouldn't worry too much about it if you want to slot it in, just be aware that it may happen if someone grabs it off of your KNowledge Pool.

Reshape: lol, see above. It being useless off of Knowledge Pool is irrelevant; tutors are almost always good and, "It's bad with one card that this tutor finds in my 99 card deck" isn't exactly reason to not run it. You won't always have Knowledge Pool every game, firstly, you won't hit this card every time you play Knowledge Pool (you have a little over 3% chance to hit the card with 87 cards left in your library), your opponents won't benefit from it if it is exiled via Knowledge Pool, etc.. If you like it, put a ring on it and run it.

Pulse of the Grid/Thopter Spy Network: No. Not when Rhystic Study and Mystic Remora exist. I'd place Reshape and Tezz over these too.

Hope this helps.

@PookandPie: Thank you for the feedback! Very informative!

• Rhystic Study: I was unsure about this card because it wasn't an artifact and it draws a lot of hate, but on the plus side it triggers twice off of Knowledge Pool. I'll give it a shot in place of Mind's Eye.

• Back to Basics: It wouldn't work with how much I rely on my utility lands. Academy Ruins is too good in here to play this card. In regards to the hatebears, I'm thinking of trying out Basilisk Collar with Walking Ballista to up my removal.

• Reshape: Lol, I think it's actually a good thing that it's useless out of Knowledge Pool. It would be another spell that opponents don't want to choose. I'll try it out.

• Tezzeret the Seeker : I was testing Kuldotha Forgemaster in here in place of him, but maybe I can find a spot.

Thanks for the feedback. Your deck looks great and it's cheaper than mine.

You are right about Mirrorworks, it's a bit clunky to get it to work and then it only works with 1 or 2 other cards.

The only real feedback I could give now is possibly changing Temple Bell for Quicksmith Spy because you don't give your opponents card every turn, but it will be destroyed eventually.

Maybe it's personal preference, but I like cutting Darksteel Citadel for an Island to make sure I can get double blue quickly. But doesn't seem to be too much of a problem in your deck. But I don't see why Darksteel Citadel is necessary.

@Ziggy101: Thanks!

Actually I'm starting to come around to liking Mirrorworks. I got it out on turn 2 yesterday and won me the game when I was able to pick up & copy Sol Ring and pop out a bunch of Platinum Angels then proceeded to win the game with -13 life! I moved Paradox Engine to the side for it because people generally frown at that card and it was the source of all the infinite combos.

Yeah, without Paradox Engine, Temple Bell is really only in there for Mind's Eye. Quicksmith Spy seems like a more fragile Scepter of Insight, but it makes drawing way easier. I'll give it a shot.

I've found some uses for Darksteel Citadel as discard fodder for Artificer's Intuition and as a mana source I can untap with Clock of Omens, but you're right. It's really just in there because it's an artifact and I can afford extra colorless sources.

Hi! Fun deck! Brought some friends to the pool party?

Surprised not to see Buried Ruin as a way to recur artifacts if the ever hit the 'yard. Cleans out the gutters of the pool.

I feel like Aura Shards(leak in the pool) and more so Vandalblast(the pool is on F I R E ) are your worst nightmares here, so Swan Song would be a nice cheap counter to add.

Treasure Mage can grab the pool. He's friends with Trinket Mage so it's chill.

And have you considered Metalwork Colossus as a basically free hexproof 10/10? Cannonbaaaaallllllll splash

Hope some of this helps!

@Suns_Champion:

Oh yeah! I forgot to put that back in when I was playing with the land base. Thanks!

Actually the neat thing about Knowledge Pool is alternative costs cant be paid for spells cast from it so Im fairly safe from Vandalblast as long as Padeem is out. Aura Shards its the same deal. Just get Padeem out first before putting down anything important.

Sadly I had to cross Treasure Mage off the guest list a long while back. He kept broadcasting big plays to the table, so Kuldotha Forgemaster took his invite instead.

That Metalwork Colossus is pretty sweet but too easy to block, so maybe...

Muzzio, Visionary Architect

I would throw in Memnarch because if you're running Mycosynth Lattice you can go crazy with stealing other people's cards in play.

I like Muzzio, Visionary Architect as an alternate commander for this deck to mix things up and I might try him out in place Esperzoa if that doesn't work out. I've actually been looking at a lot of Muzzio EDH decks to get ideas because there isn't a lot of information out there for Padeem EDH decks. Another way to cheat stuff out from under Knowledge Pool is always great though.

Memnarch is a different story... I don't like him. Yes, he's powerful, but he screams combo and draws so so much hate from the table the moment he plops his big fat head on the board. Maybe in a more competitive setting, but for this deck I'm purposefully avoiding including him. I'm testing Avarice Totem in here as a fair & cheaper version of him ( vs ), so we'll see how that goes.