dknight27

I'd suggest checking out:

[[Drana, Liberator of Malakir]], [[Vampire Nocturnus]], [[Defile]], assuming the deck is on a budget.

I had the beautiful dream of slapping Lashwrithe on him and swinging for a bunch of unblockable damage, but it was not to be

That's fair. I was super attracted to the affinity for swamps idea to be able to play him turn 3 and still have 1 open, but Nighthawk comes with so many benefits it probably outweighs that idea. Good call

I feel like Boggart Trawler is 1 mana high of being worth like a hundred bucks

You're definitely going to want to look into running some oldschool [[Bonesplitter]]s in here. I'd also consider [[Collateral Damage]] over Infernal Plunge. Mana is nice, but all you're going to do with it is potentially equip something (rest of the deck is so low curve you don't need it), and 3 damage to the face or to remove a threat fits a lot better and is basically never a dead draw in here (at least compared to the Plunge).

The idea is to use it with Olivia to steal vamps and ping stuff on the cheap. With the reduction, 1 red pings a critter, makes it a vamp, and puts a +1/+1 on Olivia (who is now a legit threat for commander damage death). And for 5 mana, you get to steal a critter and juice Olivia.

Maybe replace it with [[Heartstone]], which will save you a ton of mana, and is relatively cheap.

Seems like [[Chromatic Star]] would be a perfect fit here. Too bad it's not a food. This whole thing looks promising though, just the sort of build that ignites my imagination. I'm not super jazzed about the 3-drop nature of Heaped Harvest, but the back end of getting 2 lands out of it with the Cat trigger is probably worth it.

Since you're going with vintage, you can take advantage of some of the OP vintage cards, like [[Sol Ring]] and [[Skullclamp]]

The problem with Peregrine Mask is it also comes with Defender, so you can't do much but block with the critter.

I'm thinking Cloak and Dagger for the theme over the functionality. Peregrine Mask doesn't do much functionally, and you've already got a mask, so you can probably go without it.

I am the biggest fan in the world of running the full eight 1-drop discard cards to basically guarantee a turn 1 slow down.

[[Mask of Griselbrand]]
[[Mask of Memory]]
[[Cloak and Dagger]]
[[Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose]]
[[Smallpox]]
[[Plague Engineer]]

Just some more ideas

Sure seems like a joke doesn't it. I find it to be super intriguing, as it combos well with lots of fun mechanics

I had Sagas in and said, 'you know what, screw em. I'm gunna save some cash'. But you're right, of course, they deserve to be in there. I'm too outside the meta to have a good idea on what to run to deal with all the bullshit that's hip nowadays. But you're right, Murktide would be a bitch to deal with as is. That's just a 2-3 turn clock.

Maybe [[Thermo-Alchemist]] over the Mystic because of the 18 lands (5 of which hit tapped)? Obviously both are balanced completely differently, but 4-drop scares me a bit in this build, even with the fun draw stuff/island cycling.

Only real problem I see here is the high curve giving opponent the jump and plenty of time to deal with threats as you field them.

No problem, let me know how it goes

Consider cuts down the curve, filters through things you don't need, and gets you to your bosses and removal. Simic is TERRIBLE at dealing with certain types of threats, cause you can't just Lightning Bolt away a problem, so being able to dig through the deck a little faster helps when your answers are either limited in number or are big critters that out-big what's happening. Realistically, most decks want to run them (or the better versions like [[Ponder]]) if they can.

The main one would be to cut down the curve, up the lands, and fill out some staple spots to help things along. I'd cut:

2x Beetleform Mage
Colossus of Akros
Nimbus Swimmer
2x Selkie Hedge-Mage
Gelatinous Genesis
2x Urban Evolution
3x Plasma Capture
Favor of the Over Being
Temple of the False God

All of which are either underpowered, overpriced, or don't fit the theme as well as other options that are cheap and readily available. That gives you 14 spots to fill. I'd go with

2x [[Evolving Wilds]] (specifically)
4x [[Consider]] (specifically)

[[Nadu, Winged Wisdom]]
[[Prophet of Kruphix]]
[[Decisive Denial]]
[[Hydroid Krasis]]

And more of your two-drop flyers and three-drop flyers.