doctorhydrogen

Baseball began as cricket (or rounders depending on who you believe. It's no longer that. It's evolved. EDH certainly began as a casual format, but just because some people don't play it that way doesn't necessarily make them wrong.

I personally probably play the way you play, and tend to dislike the decks/players you dislike. I also tend to agree that combo-out-on-turn-two/cast-an-Obliterate-with-a-suspended-Blightsteel type decks tend to be piloted by a particular type of person in the same way Insane Clown Posse's music/culture tends to attract a particular type of person.

There's an easy fix though; don't play with those people. Whether their play style is right or wrong is by and large irrelevant. You're both playing different games, and trying to force that square peg into a round hole is never going to work. So don't try. Find people who do play baseball, and play baseball. Leave cricket to the cricket players.

Deathreap Ritual is stupidly good in EDH. I'd run that all day over Jayemdae Tome.

I ran this deck for awhile.

Greater Good was an absolute beast. I'd probably run it over Fruit of the First tree.

Bower Passage was a nice way to make my fliers near-unblockable, too, but that's probably a meta call.

Dromoka is an uncounterable 5/7 flier that you've give trample to. If there isn't someone hittable you've got problems a Harmonize won't fix. But hey, to each his own. You've also running Avacyn in a deck with no Homeward Path which is way to bold for my blood.

Nice to see Soul's Majesty in here; it's a beast in Dromoka. I'd consider Hunder's Prowess and Hunter's Insight, too. Since people can't counter your stuff and you mostly know exactly what the board state is they'll both almost always draw you more cards than Harmonize.

Murder doesn't have the attacking/blocking restriction like Divine Verdict, costs one less to cast, and is like twenty cents.

Glare of Subdual is pretty great in token decks, tap some dudes down before your turn, then untap and swing away at a guy with no blockers.

At the same CMC as Oblivion Ring, Detention Sphere can sometimes hit a creature and it's clone, or a swarm of tokens, etc.

IMO the one extra mana on Spirit Loop over Lifelink is worth it since it comes back if/when the creature dies.

Dismiss costs exactly the same as Bone to Ash, and also draw a card, but can also hit non-creature spells. I'd also much rather run old-school Counterspell over Mana Leak and know what you're countering can't be saved by paying three mana. Dissipate and Dissolve are strictly better than Cancel, though in B/U I'd probably run Render Silent at the same CMC since it can also wreck someone's turn.

Polymorphist's Jest cost one more than Turn to Frog, but it hits all creatures the person has, and can get around hexproof/shroud.

For one more mana than Jace's Ingenuity, Recurring Insight will probably draw you six more cards.

Oops, my bad on Guise, forgot it was four, I was thinking of Ancestral Mask which is three.

Yeah, makes sense on Duskmantle, but I'm not sure how often that comes up. You have to simultaneously have out Duskmantle when someone uses a topdeck tutor. In a hundred card deck seems like the odds of those two things happening simultaneously isn't great, where as Kor Haven is never not useful.

When you play Zur the highest price you pay is friendship. That said:

In a three color deck Fellwar Stone is probably faster and more versatile than Coldsteel Heart. I'd be tempted to run Chromatic Lantern over both though just for the fixing.

Detention Sphere costs the same as Oblivion Ring but can sometimes take down two dudes, or be used on a swarm of tokens, etc.

I'd find a slot for Urborg, the fixing in nice and there isn't much downside.

Auramancer's Guise would do stupid damage here.

Duskmantle doesn't seem to do very much here, vs. something like Kor Haven.

I ran Isperia flying-matters for awhile before switching to Isperia sphinx tribal, because all sphinxes is hilarious, so know I am speaking from some experience. That said, each meta is different, and what works in one place might not work elsewhere. That ALSO said, just because something works today in a meta doesn't mean everyone won't go home, retool, and change their decks so what worked last week no longer works.

Creatures. Cut creatures. You're running like 20 more than you need. Even aggro Edric or Krenko decks don't run that many bodies. My Karador is trying to run as many abilities tied to creatures for sacc/recast effects, and that is only running 28 dudes. With that many creatures you won't be able to answer anything, and you'll lose the most during each inevitable boardwipe at which point the black player will just reanimate all your crap and slap you with it. As it stands now one enchantment deck running Sphere of Safety literally shuts off your ability to deal damage AND draw cards. Same with the Rafiq guy running Silent Arbiter or Dueling Grounds, the Edric guy with Meekstone, etc. You've got too much tied up in bodies and not enough answers.

I'd start with at least three pieces of enchantment/artifact removal (Return to Dust and Oblation would be good starts, and Council's Judgement, Act of Authority, Revoke Existence, and Fate Forgotten are great as well). Exile is preferred for Theros gods, Darksteel stuff, etc.

Same as above, at least three targeted creature removals. Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile tend to be my two preferred options, but Crib Swap and Reality Shift do good work, as does Curse of the Swine. Again, exile if possible to prevent graveyard recursion and to hit indestructibles. Nothing sucks worse than facing Avacyn without something that exiles.

Again with magic number three; get thee at least three board wipes. My favorites in w/u would be Supreme Verdict so it can't be countered and Austere Command because it's so versatile. Cyclonic Rift is also amazing. There's nothing wrong with Wrath of God or Day of Judgement, but I myself prefer Final Judgement or Terminus-type spells that get around indestructible. Also, get good at using them. It's amazing how many games I draw a Supreme Verdict in my opening hand, then proceed to play no creatures for five or six turns while I build my support board state and everyone shits out their hand only to have me blow it up and drop three creatures next turn. People worry too much about what's on the board and not why stuff isn't on the board.

Most of your card advantage is tied to a dude. Which is fine in a lot of cases, but with limited ramp you're only going to be able to get so many bodies on the board each turn, and you need to successfully attack with those bodies to draw. I'd suggest diversifying a bit. Rhystic Study and Mystic Remora can draw a lot as enchantments, and Recurring Insight almost always draws 10+ cards.

You're gonna be mulling a lot with just 33 lands, many of which enter tapped. I wouldn't run under 36. Adakar Waste, Glacial Fortress, Seachrome Coast, and Skycloud Expanse are all relatively cheap. IMO Terramorphic Expanse and the Panoramas are just too slow to run in a two color deck. http://manabasecrafter.com/ is a great place to see your available options.

Gravitational Shift wins games in flying-matters decks, both as an alpha strike card, and as a way to utterly shut down some swarm strategies.

I'd run True Conviction over Noble Purpose. IMO you could use more land, removal and draw too.

Caltrops is a pretty amazing animate/deathtouch target in Sydri.

And since you're running white, trade Damnation for a Wrath of God and a Blightsteel, an Argivian Archeologist, etc :) Damnation is a fine card in a lot of formats, but in an EDH deck running white it's a waste of money. Hell, in an EDH deck not running white it's a waste of money most of the time as I still wouldn't run it over Toxic Deluge, Black Sun's Zenith, and Decree of Pain.

Proteus Staff does great work in Sydri. Turning a chump blocking Obelisk of Grixis into a Wurmcoil Engine or whatever is a good use of three mana.

Speaking of Obelisk, Darksteel Ingot costs the same to cast and makes the same mana, but it's indestructible when you make it a dude.

In this deck 95% of the time Dispatch is going to be a Swords to Plowshares that doesn't give the person life.

It's probably not a huge deal either way, but for me the one extra mana on Diabolic Tutor over Fabricate is well worth being able to get any kind of card and not having to reveal it. One mana isn't really a big deal, but keeping it a secret and not being restricted to what you can tutor can be huge. Vamp Tutor would probably be better than either but it's 25 bucks vs 25 cents.

Sculpting Steel is a great card, but if it was my only artifact in a deck with blue I'd be really, really tempted to run Energy Flux or Disruption Aura. Steel is useful, but those two can absolutely destroy some decks, and will at the very least make Sol Rings useless.

I ran Atarka for about two weeks until all the other dragon tribal decks made me take it apart. Some observations:

You aren't running much recursion. Myself, I'd rather run Skyshrould Claim and spend four mana all at once to get my lands into play rather than spend 3 to cast it and three to get the lands with Burnished Hart. Granted you can use it as a chump blocker, but with big-ass scary dragons I just don't know how often you'll need to do that. I'd just ramp faster myself.

For one more mana than Basalt Monolith, Thran Dynamo doesn't have an untap cost. Well worth it imo especially since I'm not seeing some infinite combo with it.

Bower Passage makes your guys mostly unblockable. Just having flying may be enough, but in my meta I see Talrand, a few angel tribals, demon tribal, sphinx tribal, and a handful of other dragon decks. There's just so many fliers that Bower Passage did great work.

Greater Good makes board wipes, etc a lot less painful when you're gaining 3-4 card advantage per dragon dying.

Gratuitous Violence stacks nicely with double strike.

Steely Resolve set to dragons can keep your guys nice and safe.

I'd start at 40 and playtest from there. Depending on how much fetch or ramp or draw you have 38 is totally doable. I ran 36 in Rafiq, but I had a lot more ramp, etc. I'm assuming you're not running shocks or fetches to keep things cheap. Down the road I'd add the three shocks first if you decide you like the deck and want to upgrade, and then add the two Khans fetches after, and maybe the Zendikar fetch if it gets reprinted this fall and falls to ten bucks.

I think the number of enter-the-battlefield-tapped lands you run is gonna slow you down a lot. If it were me and I was being budget conscious I'd start by replacing the three guild gates with Skycloud Expanse and Sungrass Prairie, both of which don't come in tapped and are under two bucks. The third I'd replace with either City of Brass if you don't mind spending 4 bucks, or Exotic Orchard. Orchard almost always provides at least two colors you need, and more often than not provides all three in a multi-player game.

Cathedral of War is probably worth finding a slot for, too.

I also don't think the Keyrunes are worth it in a deck that is going to have you attacking with one guy pretty often. You're just not gonna make them dudes often enough. Running the three Signets would be faster, and you'd very rarely notice not having a creature. Plus land-->Sol Ring-->Signet is a pretty great opening play.

Since Sphere of the Sun comes into play tapped that means most of the time it essentially is the equivalent of three mana to cast (since you can't use it that turn). I'd rather run Darksteel Ingot in that slot so I can use it and it's indestructible and you don't have to worry about charges, or Fellwar Stone if you want something at 2 CMC since you can tap it right away.

Alexi's Cloak gets you two-for-one'ed the first boardwipe. I'd rather use that slot for Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots, or Whispersilk Cloak so they stick around to be reused.

Knight Exempla gives Rafiq +1/+1 and indestructible, and Angelic Overseer is hexproof and indestructible if Rafiq is out. Both were horses in my deck.

Flickering Ward does exactly what God's Willing does at the same cost (minus the scry 1) but it sticks around after you cast it, and it can be recast to change the color.

Stuff like Dueling Ground and Silent Arbiter are useful since you won't be often attacking with your other guys anyway.

Glare of Subdual is a nice way to utilize the guys you have that aren't currently attacking.

Divination and Think Twice are okay enough cards, but pretty often I drew a dozen cards at a time with Hunter's Insight and Hunter's Prowess. Soul's Majesty can do good work after an attack when he's got 4 exalted triggers making him a 7/7 or whatever, too.

That's way to many lands for a deck with so little draw. You're gonna be topdecking lands 4-5 turns in a row pretty often.

Lurking Predators is going to put a lot of dudes into play.

Primal Surge is going to probably put 20+ permanents into play pretty often.

Since this is for a friend I'll limit myself to budget-conscious suggestions:

I once heard a guy say he didn't need to run Reliquary Tower since he never needed it, and another player responded that if you never need it then you're not drawing enough cards. It's true, too. Your friend is gonna need more draw or he'll be out of gas and in top-deck mode by turn 6. Outpost Siege is amazing. Dragon mode is totally useable if there's stuff you want to kill in desperation, but Khan mode is more or less a Phyrexian Arena. More than 1/3 of your deck is land, so 1/3 of the time the extra draw will be your land drop for turn, and the rest of the time the card is probably playable. It's a really good card in colors that have few draw options. Wheel of Fortune is a good hand refiller, but it's expensive so Reforge the Soul is a good budget alternative. Mind's Eye is also a solid option but it's like seven bucks, so Staff of Nin might be a bargain alternative. Do not underestimate how valuable draw is; it wins games.

You're running 28 artifacts and enchantments, so you know how strong they are, but you've got no way to remove someone else's strong artifacts or enchantments. Return to Dust is a good start since it can hit two of either, plus it's an exile effect so it prevents graveyard shenanigans and hits gods and Darksteel stuff. After that I'd look at Wear//Tear since it can also hit two of either, and Vandalblast since you can overload it and probably take out 7-9 artifacts in most games without hurting your own stuff.

You've got no board wipes, and no targeted creature removal. Swords to Plowshares would be a good start for creature removal, as would Path to Exile (five bucks but it will be the free promo for Friday Night Magic next month). Alternatively there is Oblivion Ring and Banishing Light, which hit creatures, artifacts, enchantments and Planeswalkers. I'd for sure run either of those two over Chained to the Rocks; the versatility of hitting any target is worth two extra mana.

For board wipes I'm a fan of Austere Command, but it's like seven dollars, so budget alternatives would be Day of Judgement.

He's really old and hard to find, but Márton Stromgald is cheap and would do good work here since his ability would stack for each extra combat phase.

Veteran's Armaments would also stack for each combat phase. It probably has more upside than Hero's Blade.

Wheel of Sun and Moon lets you put anything that dies back into your graveyard to get it again.