@13nova
All your points are spot on, I know many landstill players that have differing opinions with the same background as you. Sorry if I came as snappy
With that said, I highly suggest NOT playing Sol Ring or Lotus Petal. The bumps they give you are not worth the tempo loss or fighting over Misstep with Sol Ring.
(I feel having the ability to have turn one drain/standstill is too important.)
You want bare Minimum 3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor. (Fair)
I would highly suggest trying to borrow/buy a Moat. (Their is one in the Sideboard)
Cut remand immediately. I would suggest adding in a 2nd Flusterstorm, or actually in the current Meta, Spell Snare may not be awful.
(No, remand is to powerful as a hard counterspell with (X)(U) open, your pretty much a three color deck and having a counterspell for anything for 1U is very important, will try spell snare good idea)Echoing Truth should be cut as well. There isn't anything your opponent plays against you that you actively need to Echo, that you can't otherwise remove with Swords. I'd make that either Disenchant or a 3rd Swords to Plowshares. (Gives a desperate answer to resolved threats like Plainswalkers/enchantments and deals with tokens)
Gush is Anti-Synergy with what your deck is trying to accomplish. I actually also feel like Brainstorm could be cut, as well. It's a great card, but it's never felt great to me in Landstill. (It's restricted gata play it right :p)
You want the 3rd Mishra's Factory over the 3rd Island. Mishra's Factory is how you will grind out a lot of your games. (No, you need blue, alot of it)
3 Snapcasters is 1 too many in Landstill. Ben Carp had a lot of success running Vendilion Clique years ago, and it's a card that I happen to really like. Another option could be Secure the Wastes. (I tried clique, it's fine but I can never figure out how to play it correctly)
@13nova my goal like every other vintage player is to go to vintage Champs, I wasn't able to get to this year however I went to the NYSE V (Sorry Calvin that their isn't another one) and recently I'm getting ready for the SCG Con power 9 thing.
I'm new to vintage however I've been grinding landstill as the first deck I ever piloted and im getting better at learning the meta game. I've been excited to finally able to create my first deck with the cards I own. It's really nice to be able to create a deck without proxies.
I know the deck is hot garbage and skewed towards the control matchup. I posted the working list any praise and all criticism is welcome!
Powerless landstill:
-Counters
4 force of will
4 mentel mistep
2 mana drain
1 remand
1 flusterstorm
1 spell perce
2 mind break trap
-Removal
1 echoing truth
2 swords to plowshares
1 balance
-Engine
4 standstill
1 brainstorm
1 gush
1 dig through time
1 treasure Cruse
1 ancestral recall
2 jace the mind sculptor
1 journey to askanta
-Disruption
1 stony silence
1 crucible of worlds
-Mana sources
1 mox pearl
1 sol ring
1 lotus peta
1 library of Alexandria
3 wastelands
1 strip mine
2 Mishras factory
3 tundra
3 islands
1 Plains
4 flooded strand
2 polluted delta
-Creatures
3 snapcaster Mage
1 monistary mentor
UPDATE:
I've been playing landstill for the past year learning the ins and out of the deck. (Landstill is not in a good place rite now not only being an extremely difficult deck to play)
I wanted to change decks for a while and I finally ripped that band-aid and for the first time took apart my deck and made a mentor list from scratch.
I always loved the feeling of building a deck from crappy beginnings, learning to build the deck and evolve it overtime, taking suggestions and acquiring new tools to try.
I am excited and not disappointed changing into a new type of deck and learn a new type of playstyle. I am not frustrated anymore but it will deffinitly help me grow as a player.
I'm a relatively new player when it comes to vintage. My experience has led me to mistakes obviously but overtime I have grown as any new/veterin player does. I started around a year ago, I have seen the meta shift and evolve fast, at a rate I didn't expect.
The problem is I hate this meta rite now, and I expressed this to a few long time vintage players I know and they agreed this current meta is not "terriable", but it's not the best they had played. I have faith the game will evolve and get better.
Has anyone been in this situation, it's getting frustrating, what got you through it? or am I wrong that currently vintage is fine and I should play 4 mentors or spheres like everyone else?
Thanks,
Christian