Cut some lands. You're CMC is just over 1.5, the most you'll need is around 23, and even that's pushing it.

You can use Spirit Link or Vampiric Link for "life gain" cause it does with the Arena

Have you considered Tasigur, the Golden Fang? He can recur your stuff and is also a cheap beatstick.

Kitchen Finks gains you some life and also comes back after dying. Very useful.

Also you could easily cut some lands. 22-23 lands is sufficient, although you could always add some ramp like Search for Tomorrow if you really want to jump to your 4 drops.

lol: yes there are 25 lands: but Arena is a land that doesn't make mana: I count that as an enchantment/artifact equivalent since it can't produce mana. The advantage is it comes down for nothing.

I would agree, however, I often find myself tapping out nonstop; by single or dual casting stuff. I am considering dropping the birds before lands, I may drop to 23 lands, ... hmmmm

yah I guess so. the 2 could make more removal: probably more creatures with removal abilities.

Tasigur, the Golden Fang, hmmmm he's actually pretty cool. I'll consider it. that delve is easy on the mana curve.

Kitchen Finks is nice but for 3 mana all he is is life and block. which in turn is all life protection. I am looking for life gaining related things but also with other abilities. hmmm

Search for Tomorrow:: OOOO i forgot about that card. I was considering dropping birds cause they just get burned, but this card gets a land which is solid. a little slower but that's fine: improves resilience. I'll have to test it.

Spirit Link and the other are cool. But I would be concerned with the critter being removed. the link would then be a card loss. I would prefer Jorubai Murk Lurker as it is lifelink to my creatures and is usually a 2/4 which can't be burned (easily).

It's important for you to hit your land drops and have plains & forests to sac to the Knight. How's ob nixilis working for you?

You can Spirit Link their creature as a form of pseudo-removal.

addaff: Ob Nixilis, the Fallen is actually working very well. My land base during game is always comprised of forests or plains with the occasional pure swamp or mountain if I so drew or searched for.

How I have the mana base set up, although it costs some life, I rely of fetches to get me any color I need that is coupled with either a forest or plains. In the midgame or end I have ample forests or plains for Knight of the Reliquary to sacrifice. very very very (very times 100) rarely does it happen where I can't sac anything, I have resolved that issue through a long time of adjusting the mana base. This only happens when I am finishing the game by sacing and searching for landfall. if I have filtered my deck of lands, then its still my benifit as I will be drawing more nonlands to cast. blablabla, yah. that's my logic. I been playing this deck a while and it hasn't had that kind of issue.

obby is just great: I can kill in a single turn out of nowhere as most people have less then 20 life midgame and obby can easily dish out at least 6dmg, with avg 9-12 as I plan putting him out with a fetch in hand. pretty nasty, then he's a 15/15 give/or/take beast.

hmmm, never thought of that with Spirit Link. interesting.... yes then it would have a dual purpose. . he he, cool, considerable.

FAMOUSWATERMELON - I believe CMCs are currently bugged as they are counting land as 0 cmc cards. This deck (I'm fairly certain) would have a mean cmc of around 2.5. Just by eyeballing it. Around 24 lands is therefore fine.

Siege Rhino maybe? It's a body that loses to nothing in battle (usually, that is) and gives you a free Lightning Helix to the face.

Yah I thought that my cmc wasn't calculating right. I would eyball about 2.2-2.6 avg cmc. good catch. I wonder if I can get that fixed or if it is forever bugged...

I still think dropping to about 22-23 lands would be fine. I thought I might need the Tectonic Edge but over time with this deck getting better, it has beaten decks that tec-edge would have been needed against. so I can drop that, and possibly one otehr land which is two slots elsewhere. probably a 1-2 cost removal or creature with a great utility ability that might hybrid with removal; like Qasali Pridemage.

Siege Rhino is cool actually. With it being a 4/5 it can't be burned, its dominant like you said so it can kill or protect me very well, and upon entry gains me life which can save me 'and' hurts the enemy which can win the game. I am liking that sucker. It is a Lightning Helix with a very nice body.

I just hand calculated my cmc average: 2.51428

so: 2.5cmc::::

lol, good eyeball ChiefBell :D

notes: dropping Tectonic Edge and a land of a sort. replace with an efficient 2 or 1 cost something. any ideas anyone? i want critters like Qasali Pridemage which are low cost bodies with a helpful ability and removal of a permanent of a sort.

grind teeth: 'consider' dropping a single Ob Nixilis, the Fallen for Siege Rhino. test him. if it works well he could smooth the mana curve a bit as well as ease up the color extremities.

There are very few 2 mana creatures that can remove permanents. Tidehollow Sculler?

Hmm, tidehollow is kinda cool, but.. hmm. that's all he does and he can be removed and give back the removed card to the enemy.

yah i did a deap search, qasali is the best low cost removal creature in general, and he has exalted combined.

A running theme/theory with this deck is that 'every' card, of course as many as possible, are independently threatening. Each card is a combination of economics and hardcore military fire power. Mul Daya Channelers is a prime example. Qasali Pridemage type of stuff is what I want for 2 or less cmc. it can kill or empower anotehr critter, removal, and meat shield/sac block removal. I am heavily considering Scavenging Ooze as that is graveyard control, lifegain, and it gets large which can kill.

Tidehollow Sculler: following my rational, all he does is remove a single card and is a meat shield, and it would probably be a removal spell that I choose for him to take (as the opponent would cast removal to kill sculler to get their card back.) this in turn burns up a removal of theirs, but I might rather run Thoughtseize. now, if it had lifelink... lols

I am currently looking for anything that can help this deck counter control decks. I am also looking for cards that hybridize with life gain of a sort. Scavenging Ooze fits the bill so far: low cost to slip in quick before the counters come and he can feed off of the countered creatures and gain me flakings of life and become a beast. Another theory is I could have Spell Snare in my sideboard. I can cast a Knight of the Reliquary and then use an extra mana to counter a Remand or Mana Leak or possibly a burn like Lightning Helix. Just a theory. But I am wanting creature density so I may just use Scavenging Ooze.

Oh, you're not runnign scavenging ooze? Yeh you should be.

Vs control? get a Thrun, the Last Troll or two in your sideboard and never look back.

Hmmmm:

ok:

Loxodon Smiter, Thrun, the Last Troll, and Scavenging Ooze.

Think these critters should handle control? they would be sideboarded, scooze 'may' be mainboarded if I drop a land or two more which I might.

ooo, did a search, there is also Troll Ascetic. He can be countered but if survives he ain't leaving. Thrun is better though.

Vexing Shusher was mentioned before... dat would be nice xD

One guy suggested Dark Confidant to me on another page. After some serious thought and addressing the slight weakness in this deck's tempo I did a search for 2 cost life gain and/or card draw. Confidant, or Bob as he is called, fits the bill in a more then obvious way:

So teh obvious: he's 2 cost solid card draw that nips at ur side a bit as his cost if you draw a nonland with a cmc. Straight up a good card: thus he's 80 dollars right?

now for the deck synergy which I am absolutely jazzed about:

this deck is a midranged deck and its mana curve is heavy on the 3 costs which occasionally gives it this awkward growth when I don't get mana ramp. The removal suite of burns and such are 2-1 cost which helps in surviving the slowness 'very' well. however, bob would be like another turn 2 tempo improvement. still obvious? yes, now here's the synergy in depth:

Bob costs life if you draw a cmc'd card: my deck has top deck control elements with Mul Daya Channelers. if the top card is Ob Nixilis, the Fallen then I could fetch and shuffle em away and get a lower cmc card or a land to minimize bob's drawing life tax which improves his card advantage per cost ratio. He also can absorb my exaltation from noble and qasali and become a 3/2 or 4/3 regularly which is like a derivative of Tarmogoyf in power. this makes him a target, as well as his base value, so the enemy will want to burn up removal to kill him and if they choose not so I take damage, which is unlikely but I fear this scenario, bob could kill me by drawing a large cmc. the synergy is to make him a threatening beast swinging carelessly, but not wastefully, to deal damage while he gives me card advantage until he perishes.

also synergistic with crap like Domri Rade to force combat and trade creatures if I need to lose bob same goes for Arena. exaltation.... loosing my thoughts there was more...

he's another creature, I want this deck to be as creature heavy as possible for aggro purposes...

What I would replace for him: a land, knight, and domri which = 3 bobs and a good drop in my mana curve/avg cmc and eases up on off colors as he is a singular black rather than GW/GR::::: Now to test!

Basically, he will help my deck's power curve boom faster and greater.

I still need lifelink/lifegain of a sort.... I really do, I want life gain. Lightning Helix doesn't count.

I am considering Jorubai Murk Lurker....

What do you guys think?

cmc calculator got fixed: had the boss of tappedout look into it a while back.

I am trying out Dark Confidant. Its comical: using him it's like he is too efficient (hard to explain that abstract concept in my head). I will probably drop him and keep him at 2x. He definitely is am impressive boost to the deck. he also fulfills what I theorized: he acts as if he were a Birds of Paradise or Noble Hierarch in a starting hand. turn two spit him out and turn three he just helps my deck from then on boom like NUTZ!!. I end up killing people with 7 cards in hand which is beautiful: gives me options, i can dual cast, and then I can remove him when my life gets a bit low which doesn't happen if I have mul daya down cause of my top deck control. which then I keep him so I can absorb my deck twice as fast which is twice the power.

Misty Rainforest is stricly worse than Wooded Foothills in this deck. If you claim to be a manabase expert, you should at least be playing the right fetchlands.

Also, this deck is actually terrible against Burn. I playtested 10 games, 6 with sideboards, and burn won every. single. time. You are trying to play Phyrexian Obliterator in a 4 color deck, which is going to hurt a lot. If you really want to beat burn, play Leyline of Sanctity.