Here's a Timmy deck for Amonkhet Standard. Ramp in UG is very budget friendly now. I love Altered Ego and want to see it do great things. Add the fact that people seem excited about slow, controlly counterspell decks, and why don't we try getting out big hard-to-kill monsters on turns 3-5?
As always, the goal is to build a deck for about $20. Lets see how we can make this work...
Check out my $20 Budget Magic Blog at 20magic.blogspot.com!
Attune with Aether - no explanation needed, but yes you should usually get an island.
We have 3 ramp creatures as 4-of in the deck, and with a good draw you can have 7 mana on turn 4 before your land drop. I tried Pyramid of the Pantheon (thinking about adding counters with Skyship Plunderer), but it actually was just too much ramp.
Druid of the Cowl - I tried Naga Vitalist first, but the ability to make blue mana rarely mattered because you have to have a blue land to turn it on, and once you have a blue land, that's usually enough. So I have Druid instead for extra toughness. You might do differently.
Beastcaller Savant - when I first saw this guy, the haste seemed weird. What, so you can cast him and a 1-drop on turn 2? Or attack for 1? But it's actually useful when you're in the middle turns. He's basically a 1-mana add-on to any creature. For example, the best ramp play this deck does is Turn 2 Druid or Savant, Turn 3 Savant *and* Weaver of Currents. Just remember he only casts creatures. If you're not sure what order to play him and Druid and you don't need the blue, put the Druid down on Turn 2 for a maybe better Turn 3.
Weaver of Currents - nothing fancy here, just a ton of mana.
Rogue Refiner and Skyship Plunderer - these are our bridge creatures. Use them to fill any gaps on the way to bigger creatures. The Refiner gives us much-wanted resources, and the Plunderer can block fliers or give us a little damage and extra energy or +1/+1 counters.
Bristling Hydra - our lowest level payoff, it can land Turn 3 and protect itself while growing. Nice.
Arborback Stomper - this guy helps us stabilize when we're getting pummeled.
Aetherwind Basker - on my best practice draw, this came down Turn 4, made 4 energy, then was followed by a 10/10 Altered Ego copy next turn, 5 energy, then another 5 energy on attack, for potentially a 21/21 trampling Turn 5 attacker. Timmy likes.
Sphinx of the Final Word - this guy is also sweet on Turn 4, and great to make bigger copies of.
Altered Ego - here is where you get all kinds of fun options, all without fear of a counterspell. Aside from Druid and Weaver, everything in the deck makes an interesting target (Savant even gives you a haste creature of whatever size you can afford). And that's not even considering what your opponent might have.
Note that Altered Ego also copies the casting cost -- this may be relevant in an environment with Fatal Push!
Heroic Intervention - sort of a jack-of-all-trades hedge against removal, sweepers, and combat.
Lumbering Falls - you don't want to be playing too many tapped lands, but Falls is good enough to spend a couple dollars and slots on. I didn't include any other nonbasic lands because Attune and Savant do a good enough job, but if you have any Botanical Sanctums you should toss them in.
Sideboard - Timmy fights aggro by adding more Stompers. Void Grafter is a counterspell that Savant can cast if you're facing targeted removal. Wildest Dreams gives you some late game draw in attrition battles. Ceremonious Rejection is good for bomb artifacts like Aetherworks Marvel and other horrible things like Ulamog. Dissenter's Deliverance gets stuff like Heart of Kiran. And Negate is just really good in a number of instances.