Not going to bore anyone with the long details. I played vintage exclusively between 2002 and 2006 when I was active duty in the USMC. Once I separated from the USMC I left the scene. Through an odd chain of events I found myself back into it now.
I always liked the "Fish" style decks and decided to try one out at a local event after some prodding from the community. So my initial concept was this:
Land (16)
Artifact (4)
Instant (17)
Creature (15)
Sorcery (6)
Enchantment (2)
Sideboard (15)
I play Death and Taxes in Legacy and figured Thalia would be decent against storm and such. I played five of six possible rounds in the event going 2-3 . I lost to Mentor Gush three times and won versus Mentor Gush as well as against a really cool Enchantress deck (which oddly enough splashed for Mentor as well). Minus a few play errors on my behalf (mostly forgetting to Mental Misstep stuff and some Hydra triggers) I feel I did alright despite my showing. Gush Mentor really stifled me for the day. Occasionally I could pull out a game if I stick a Sword to Plowshares or race with a protected Hydra, but for the most part I just felt behind the 8-ball the whole day. After talking to a few people, namely my opponents, I started forming an idea for revisions to my deck almost instantly. Initially I was turned off with the idea of running my own Mentors in the deck, but as son as round 3-4 hit I realized just how good the card is so I folded and started working on a deck the used it but still maintained the fidelity of what I started with. My initial revision looks like this:
Land (16)
Artifact (4)
Instant (17)
Creature (15)
Sorcery (6)
Enchantment (2)
Sideboard (15)
I understand that it is still a bit creature heavy to truly "abuse" monk triggers but from what I have seen even a creature heavy deck has some stuff that can get a few triggers rolling. I really poured over the SB and despite seeing ZERO shops at the event I went to I am pressed to not drop any Serenity (yet). So I am passing this deck to a few people who play on Magic Online for some additional information. The mana base is pretty decent. The third Tropical Island should probably be a Tundra but I don't have the spare cash right now for one so it will have to do. Any insights in the deck would be appreciated. I really want to keep Hydra in the deck, it has become on of my favorites rather quickly.