In my experience, tap-lands are the downfall of a creature-heavy deck

I would add either Aqueous Form or 2x Rogue's Passage one unblock able assassin is game over.

I went for Zameck Guildmage . I also noticed the only type of decks that have been beating this one were Esper control and mono-blue devotion decks, so I sideboarded some serious hate into it.

The Scry lands are worth it. Aside from that, you'd still have enough basics and shocks to hit your untapped land-drops at the most crucial points in your curve - four and five.

Without reliable card-draw, the Scry will really help you hit your land-drops or keep you from getting too flooded. And you don't really have much to do in your first three turns, so you may as well use 'em.

There's a reason every top-8-ing deck out there that can use them does.

Meh. It's a glorified guildgate. I did change the composition up though to add for lower drops

I felt the same way about the Scry lands, but then I started using them. I wouldn't ever go back.

I want to invite any of you who are playing in upcoming tournaments to playtest against this so I can see what I need to improve upon. I am taking this to a qualifying event for the Albuquerque Grand Prix this Saturday and want to get as much feedback as possible before then.

I would really look into adding the Scry lands. Even with just 6 of them, you're adding more dual-lands (always a good thing) and giving yourself a bit of extra value on the turns when you don't need an untapped land for your land-drop. And you'd still have 9 basics (and 8 shocks), meaning you'd still have a great chance of playing an untapped land the turn you need it.

I don't like Ordeal of Nylea , or any of the Ordeals really. They're too slow, have a low impact on the game, and are easy to stop. I get that you're trying to combo it with all the +1/+1 counter interactions, but you'd be much better off using that space in your deck for removal, which you desperately need. After play-testing, this decks dies hard to likes of Big Gruul and Black Devotion because it simply couldn't keep up with the amount of threats they sent out.

Also, I can't believe you aren't playing a Prime Speaker Zegana or two in this. At the top of the curve, she comes out as your hand gets more and more depleted, and she refills it. She's a non-White Sphinx's Revelation .

I would play Prime Speaker Zegana if I had her lol.I am using the Ordeal of Nylea to help fix my mana. I have some Temple of Silence . I'll try adding them in and see how that affects the playtesting. Do you have any recommendations of decks of the kinds you mentioned for me to playtest against?If I had Sylvan Caryatid I would add her in place of the ordeals, for sure.

Would you recommend replacing the ordeals with early creatures such as Elusive Krasis , Renegade Krasis or removal spells? If so, what do you think of Cyclonic Rift ?

I meant Temple of Mystery

Cyclonic Rift isn't removal; it's disruption. Eventually, your opponent will get back to where they were.

I'm talking about kill-spells. Ultimate Price is likely going to be your best bet. The strongest creatures in the format will die to it, and those that don't die to Far / Away .

Okay. As a temporary fix I added in Elvish Mystic in place of the Ordeal of Nylea . I will have to check to see if I have a playset of Ultimate Price . If I don't, what would be my best second bet? Doom Blade ? Putrefy ?

Killing Glare , Gaze of Granite , Grisly Spectacle

Rapid Hybridization might be good for me... my creatures would certainly be able to handle a measly 3/3

Rapid Hybridization requires other resources to take care of the token. And in Black, you have better options. Gaze of Granite is very powerful (game-breaking, even) in the right scenario. Beyond that, Doom Blade is okay and Putrefy would certainly get the job done.

alright give that a check test mate

zandl I have made a few changes and done a bunch of playtests. This current setup seems to work about 95% of the time, including against control setups. I was hoping you could take a look and see if there are any suggestions you might make.

I removed Corpsejack Menace as his effect doesn't work when creatures are entering the battlefield with counters (which is mostly what happens with this deck). In his stead, I added in more control elements.

In addition, I am actually starting to lean towards moving Kalonian Hydra to sideboard, and I'm not sure what to replace him with. Any suggestions?

Corpsejack Menace adds doubles the counters for Prime Speaker Zegana . I'm too lazy to find the exact ruling, but if something enters the battlefield with counters, they count as being "placed" on it. 100% sure. So Corpsejack boosts Kalonian Hydra , too.

Here it is, straight from the Gatherer:

"10/1/2012 If a creature you control would enter the battlefield with a number of +1/+1 counters on it, it enters with twice that many instead."

Corpsejack Menace seems to be amazing with this deck. It doubles Master Biomancer counters, doubles Zegana's counters, doubles the counter the Hydras enter with and the ones Kalonian Hydra gives, etc.

I read in rule 614d that it specifically doesn't apply... can you show me the ruling? If indeed it does work he is back in immediately!

Nevermind, I found it. Corpsejack Menace will be back in here in a jiffy!

I can't decide whether I want the Mistcutter Hydra in or 3 more control spells

I need help trying to decide what creature to remove to add in more control spells. I'm leaning towards the Mistcutter Hydra and thinking of replacing him with either Spell Rupture or Doom Blade .

I don't have any Hero's Downfall or Abrupt Decay or Dreadbore