not sure if Index can stand up to Taigam's Scheming since it just throws the cards all back on top of the library, but it saves precious mana. Dig Through Time could actually function similar, with the number of low cost cards this deck plays it could be relatively cheap to play. I think Inquisition of Kozilek can pretty much replace Thoughtseize due to the turn 4 rule, only cards it doesn't deal with are Cryptic Command, Scapeshift, and Splinter Twin, all of which are very relevant, but are meta dependent as well.

I like it, it's almost exactly like my Mill and Torture deck...You need better lands though (Polluted Delta?), and tutors for getting your materials to make it go well even when you don't get an ideal hand (Disciple of Deceit, or any 2-drop transmute?). Check out Mill and Torture and I'm sure you'll find some good stuff there.

@Nexliser: Wow, great minds think alike, much?

I considered Disciple of Deceit, but ultimately determined it to be too slow and too difficult to safely trigger inspired (at least in my meta). I opted for Muddle the Mixture, a simple 2 drop transmute with utility as a counterspell. I'm considering fetches, as well as Spellskite, they're just outside of my budget at the moment (I don't even run Thoughtseize in my deck, to be honest, Inquisition of Kozilek works just as well)

@Storm525 Yea, I see the Inquisition point.

Muddle is alright, but Shred Memory works well too, and is my personal preference, but you do have a bit more of a blue land base... Disciple of Deceit can actually just attack early game and not worry about death, but if not, Hidden Strings works wonders. I've found Disciple to be really useful, myself, but yea, it all comes down to preference. This is a great build, though, no doubt :)

Things that the deck absolutely runs on, are Duskmantle Guildmage and Mindcrank if anything else in the deck does not either fetch for them, or draw for them, it's not going to be playable.

If you are playing the deck correctly Apostle's Blessing is useless, if you ever get a Mage out properly, you should be able to win on upkeeps, end of turns, and whenever your opponent may try to interact with you. Spellskite can be useful as a shock absorber for Skullcrank but I still don't like it, especially mainboard, but it is a really good side in. I personally don't like Cavern of Souls for the deck, only because AEther Vial which is one of the biggest pieces that should be in the deck as you keep mana up and ready, AND prevent it from being countered. Then you are also missing pieces like Ghost Quarter and Gut Shot which can start the combo, as well as act as control cards in a pinch.

In a competitive scene this deck goes off between turns 3 and 5, and has bad match ups to Trickbind and discard decks. Trickbind is niche card and is not to be worried about, but can ruin your game, and discard is a problem so that's why this deck also runs discard, not only as something to start the combo but to get information and stop discard decks from really going off.

I also have some reservations about Codex Shredder and Dimir Infiltrator where Shred Memory is amazing in every single way, especially right now in the Treasure Cruise era.

@Dorotheus: AEther Vial does indeed speed it up by one turn, in it goes! Thank you! :D

As for Shred Memory, I opt for Dimir Infiltrator since it is also a trigger. And I have Spellskite and Apostle's Blessing mainboard due to constant hate in my meta (everyone I play with knows what this combo is and that they need to kill the pieces as soon as they drop). may drop the blessings and a skite though for the AEther Vial

What about Disciple of Deceit?

@luizguedes I thought about it, but it's too slow, and the effectiveness is contingent on being able to swing safely with it. While more flexible, it's simply not as fast (the fastest possible tutor with it being on turn 4) as other methods of digging.

Storm525, I really dig what Dorotheus is saying, and I had a friend suggest the same kind of thing. If you want to have another look at Mill and Torture, it's been modded and has a nice functioning sideboard now... it's really sick.

Storm525 I STRONGLY recommend throwing out the Codex Shredders for Gut Shot. The other thing is, I see a lot of basic land, so I'd take out 2 of each Island and Swamp for 4x Ghost Quarter. It can trigger the loop even if you don't have a card in your hand to do so. Otherwise cutting back on swamps in favor of a few copies of Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and some all your Islands is a great way to fix mana.

Other than those, this build is amazing. It's been a pleasure working with ya as we struggled through getting a good Duskmantle Guildmage + Mindcrank combo build!

Best of luck, bro!

...Also, even without altering your playstyle, Preordain is potentially a better alternative to Serum Visions. Gives you more control over what it is you actually put into your hand.

Preordain is not modern legal.

Damn, Dorotheus is right! Woah, I don't know how long that's been so, but I hope not long. Thanks for letting me know.

I actually recommend against filter lands at all... They become dead draws more often than not, and can really, really screw you over. I'm 100% against them ever. Of all the games I've seen, they always make players have difficult choices, or screw them. They do work better in two color decks, as apposed to mono or 3 color, and this archetype does run a lot of artifacts.

If you playtest at all, and EVER have them dead draw you just remember this, and immediately take them out hahaha.

I run an admittedly more budget version (Inquisition of Kozilek for Thoughtseize, no AEther Vial, couple other minor differences) of this list, and am considering running a couple Serum Powder to help the opening hand out. I am interested to see how you feel about these. A VERY bad draw late in the game, I know, but they could help the actual turn 3 go off more consistently. Just a thought, I haven't tested this at all, wondering what you might think.

This might sound silly, but have you considered Disrupting Shoal?

This card is literally a poor man's Force of Will. Since most counterspellsand disruption spells in Modern are between 1 and 3, it might be worthit to you to throw in a couple on the off chance that you need the free counterspell.

I've used it in EDH and to a lesser degree in Modern. It's decent.

@simondiamond2012: That's interesting, but I think Pact of Negation would work better as a counter in this deck, given it's combo oriented and I would usually be dealing with removal/counters at the "combo-out" stage of the game. Also, I have no 3 drops in this deck, so that would cut the range of Disrupting Shoal. But I do agree that I need some kind of counterspell in here.

i would drop the AEther Vials given that the deck isn't particularly mana hungry and you only run 10 creatures. I'd add some more tools to reduce variance, such as Index or card draw like Night's Whisper that'll help you dig for the combo. If that's not up your alley, some tools to help you survive aggro and midrange decks, like Doom Blade or Repulse would be effective.

@kingofcramers: AEther Vial is necessary for the combo to go off in 3 turns, otherwise it's a minimum of 4 turns. Also it keeps my creatures from being countered, which is a huge advantage for a combo deck. I have Dismember in the sideboard, it's much better than Doom Blade in modern. Remember, in 3 turns I can only spend 6 mana, removal and draw need to be as efficient as possible to keep from losing too much speed. Using even a single spell on anything other than the combo will cost a turn at the very least.