RisenDeep

Not really in vintage

I designed a pretty neat Vampire deck many years ago, so one could call it "old-school" because it contains mostly cards from Inistrad block

https://www.mtgvault.com/risendeep/decks/vampires-2/

The main engine is built from the Bloodghast, Kalastira Highborn and Viscera Seer combo paired with a lot of fetch lands to trigger Bloodghast every time the engine runs. Sacrificing Bloodghast leads to trigger of Blade of the Bloodchief on the one side but also Kalastria's ability that lets ya drain 2 life for every black mana spend and Kalastria you have in game

Depends on the heaviness of your area of playing but Force of Will is never a wrong card in a blue deck

If we had cards like Fluctuator in Modern, there would be more power in cycling cards but otherwise the mana cost seems as the biggest problem here. Finding a card that has a low cycle cost but also a high value for the deck is difficult but yes, the value is in cycle the cards at end of opponents turn or when you need to dig for certain card like a counter but play the card again in your turn or whenever it is needed. Some kind of Flashback with an additional card advantage.

Teferis ultimate ability also values well from the cycle theme

I think it needs some improvements but as from my last tests, it seems to play well

I liked to play Ritual of Soot also in my version as a mass removal if neccesarry and Unmoored Ego is the show stopper against Teferi Control

I'm just guessing arround a bit so no blame!

I picked Elderscale Wurm from your deck and thought about a ramp deck to get it out early and play with it's mechanic.
Another problem is to protect it against burn/death spells so I think of either Privileged Position or Asceticism to stay Mono Green.

Then you need the mana to get all those out early. There you have some good options like Azusa, Lost but Seeking, Beastcaller Savant, or Joraga Treespeaker to name some options. Other spells like Rampant Growth or Awakening Zone are also valid options.

Don't play Summoning Trap unless you plan to play in a counter based meta. Instead you have Choord of Calling or Tooth and Nail as alternatives.

Now to keep you immortal, we need some life gain and I also would suggest Ageless Entity as it will become stronger whenever you get life. Chalice of Life is a valid option because you could well limit the ammount of life you get to stay at exactly 7

Thank you for telling, I didn't know/recognize that Amonketh was rotated out meanwhile. I started designing this when it was still legal

In general using Forerunner of the Legion to fetch Etrata is a good idea but is playing 4 copies of Lazav really usefull? In fact, if you haven't something in your graveyard, it won't have any benefit but instead is just a 1/3 card.

What showed to be very usefull is The Eldest Reborn in any case if or if not an opponent used to banish Etrata to the graveyard so it can come back very quickly. But what against decks that make heavy use of Vraska's Contempt or Seal Away/Ixalan's Binding. A few counter or hand control cards could be usefull.

Thought Erasure seems to be a good card to me after several hours of playing it. Let an opponent discard cards that might get dangerous to you and also fetch for Etrata. Unmoored Ego seemed also as a good option especially against decks that focus on a single card like Teferi and don't have any other chance to win the game. I often ended getting a cup of coffee while my opoonent tried to get a chance to win the game after I removed his 4 copies of Teferi from the deck and anything else he could do was to play Nexus of Fate again and again and again and again ... you see ;)

I could also suggest Enhanced Surveillance when you reach the situaion to run out of possibilities to get Etrata back, simply shuffle it into your deck.

-- Oh just forgott: +1 for using Etrata, the most interesting Legend in standard I think

First question: what color(s) do you prefer to play because you have options using a white splash too. If so, consider of Steelshaper's Gift as an additional tutor.

Instead of taking your thoughts arround Myr Servitor, consider wrapping it arround the combo itself. You need tutor cards to get anything out of your lib and so first and foremost take a 4 drop Whir of Invention. It is the best tutor you have in this deck.

Then if you aren't willing to play Ensnaring Bridge, consider to become faster. Simian Spirit Guide, Mox Opal and Pentad Prism are usefull to boost your mana base and could lead to a guaranteed turn 3 drop of the combo pieces or any other artifact you need to protect yourself. I personally don't care about taking damage to early because with foundry you'll get life back each time so don't wrap your mind arround that, instead keep an eye on not dying and anything else is done by your main engine.

Some cards I play in my deck are:

Crank-Clan Ironworks, a perfect trade of one thoper or artifact for 2 new thopter on the board.

Storage Matrix, for some kind of control. Stops heavy spelling decks from playing too much and you could tap it as part of the cost for Whir of Invention for example to untap as normal.

Damping Sphere again against decks playing too much spells a turn.

Academy Ruins and Expedition Map to fetch for the Ruins.

Inventors' Fair as an additional tutor card.

I have also toyed arround a lot with these combo so feel free to take a look at my 4 decks

I then could suggest well to look at older Merfolk cards from Lorwyn that utilize the Tap-Mechanic. There are a lot of cards that could control the board like
Surgespanner that optionally could return a permanent back to one's hand.
Grimoire Thief that each time removes the top cards of opponents library.
Fallowsage to draw an additional card.
Lullmage Mentor as replacement for Patron Wizard.
Sigil Tracer to copy spells you play.
And last but not least Wake Thrasher as it gets a bonus every time you untap something.
Pendelhaven maybe, I just saw it growed in price

If not playing for budget, consider of the following cards:

Kira, Great Glass Spinner to protect your fishies from everything that could cause them to leave the game.
Empress Galina that is a 4 mana CMC Merfolk Legend that can take control of other legends (the effect dosen't end even if she leaves the game).
Thada Adel, Aquisitor because a lot of commander decks play a lot of Artifacts you could also benefit from when tehy are on your side.
Patron Wizard when lots of your Merfolk have the Wizard subtype you could tap each of them to counter spells your opponents play.
Jace, the Mind Sculptor just because it is Jace.
Nissa, Steward of Elements can bring anything from your deck to the game if she is powered enougth.
Gaea's Craddle because you could never have enougth mana in reservoir

Don't think Stonybrook Banneret has the value you expect it has. Have played it in fun decks and it was quite funny to place my whole hand with it and Merrow Reejerey in a single turn but in modern it has too much removals to expect real value. Any low-cost Merfolk card has either a static ability that powers other cards or a one-shot ability that will be triggered regardless of if it feeds a removal spell. Stonybrook Banneret hasn't any either because it's value only appears by playing other cards and this means it has to see early gameplay and then the chance of removals is much higher

Hinder + Tunnel Vision combo is worth more because Kaho is just a big red target with "hit me" printed on it :D

I've played dredge for a long time in modern starting with the earliest builds arround "just" the dreadge mechanic and later using Lion's Eye Diamond in the way you described to one-shot the hand having 4 blue mana left to either play Carefull Study and Flashback into Deep Analysis or sacrificing Cephalid Coliseum for another draw on the same turn. The good old legacy dredge was getting enougth flesh on the board to cast into Dread Return and getting lots of tokens via Bridge from Below and Flame-Kin Zealot to finally hit the opponent. There is also the manaless variant discarding cards from your hand and cast Street Wrath's cycle ability to dredge for life.

A (more or less) budget replacement for Lion's Eye Diamond is maybe Anvil of Bogardan because it's ability lets you draw additional cards and on the same turn discard a card with dreadge in your end step or you try Dangerous Wager or Whele of Fortune to discard your whole hand and start dredging.

Drowned Rusalka is a good choice to get rid of useless Narcomoeba. I played this in Modern for a while in order with Magus of the Bazaar to mimic Vintage Bazar of Bagdad dredge deck.

I don't think you can easily port a modern dredge to legacy format because legacy has way more spells to build a defense against your deck, you should add such spells that have an alternate casting cost like Cabal Therapy to get rid of nasty cards that could block your win con and even get another wincon in budget play is far more important

Other potential maybe cards:

- Mausoleum Secrets (http://mythicspoiler.com/grn/cards/mausoleumsecrets.jpg)
- Ritual of Soot (http://mythicspoiler.com/grn/cards/ritualofsoot.jpg)

- Creeping Chill (http://mythicspoiler.com/grn/cards/creepingchill1.jpg)
- Thought Erasure (http://mythicspoiler.com/grn/cards/thoughterasure2.jpg)
- Chemister's Insight (http://mythicspoiler.com/grn/cards/chemistersinsight1.jpg)

- Wand of Vertebrae (http://mythicspoiler.com/grn/cards/wandofvertebrae.jpg)
- Guildmage's Forum (http://mythicspoiler.com/grn/cards/guildmagesforum1.jpg)


SB - Plaguecrafter (http://mythicspoiler.com/grn/cards/plaguecrafter.jpg)
SB - Unmoored Ego (http://mythicspoiler.com/grn/cards/unmooredego.jpg)
SB - Price of Fame (http://mythicspoiler.com/grn/cards/priceoffame.jpg)

I already planned to go for Enhanced Surveillance but primary for its second ability rather. I planned to play Lazav, the Multifarious along with Rona, Disciple of Gix to benefit from Eratra in the graveyard and also to have a plan to cast her back.

I would like to have something like Aether Vial but Raff seems to be the only way to instant hit her on the board in an opponents turn to attack on my next or mana ramp for an early Etrata and continously play her again when attacked in the same turn but also keep the control on.

Any idea how to benefit from the Historic mechanic in Dominaria?

Except this is not commander

Cards in Sideboard are maybe cards for the deck

Why playing Herald of Secret Streams without anything that gives counters?
I've played something similar (in a more fun game related style) but with

4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Stonybrook Banneret
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Merrow Reejerey
3 Tidal Courier
3 Ponder
3 Sage's Dousing
2 Chrome Mox