DrShagnasty

it's honestly there because it's a 1 drop and can be tacked on when not hitting your combo. none of the decks i played against had anything to deal with a Pithing Needle outside of Detention Sphere, which is not an optimal target for it. So i feel like they are a great answer, and a budget oriented one at that.

*UPDATE*
So after playing this deck in a Standard tourney last night, the conclusion was that i'm going to need answers to Esper Control. In a small wednesday pool of about 12 players there were 6 variations of the same Esper Control deck. In comes Pithing Needle and a few counterspells. Pithing Needle Ashiok, Jace and Aetherling as soon as they play one or even before if you have an open turn and aren't afraid of the counter.

The Electromancer has been taken out in favor of mainboarding 2 more Izzet Charms and 2 Voyage's End. The sideboard has been changed to reflect the need for Pithing Needle.

and i have 4 cyclops and 4 chimeras. can't doomblade them all. this is cyclical conversation and a waste of time. you found a card that removes a creature, there are dozens of them, killing the creature beats the combo in this deck, it doesnt handle the sideboarded burn or counterspells. if you can hit every answer you need, then you win, just make sure to do it before 30 damage unblockable hexproof smacks you in the face.

Artful Dodge isn't standard legal anymore. Hidden Strings is interesting but it takes up useful space in the deck that could be used for many other things.
I keep the Blistercoil Weirds because they're a 1 drop that can be used in a combo. If the game makes it to late game they make useful chump blockers also.

definitely a possibility. my local store does a standard tourney on wednesdays. i'll try and play this out with a playset of counterspells of some kind instead of the electromancers.

well there are 4 chimeras mainboard. whats your opinion on taking out the electromancers and 1 chimera then adding 3 pyromancers? that gives 2 open slots for counter type things (although i think i'd prefer to just mainboard 2 more izzet charms because of the utility).

I'm more inclined to use Spell Rupture in the current state of the deck because it would sometimes cost only 1 blue mana, and cause them to pay 4 or more if a cyclops is out. The issue I have with adding too much control is it takes away the burn aspect of the sideboard. The electromancers are definitely expendable but I believe they'd need to be replaced with a creature of some form (Guttersnipe or Young Pyromancer).

I think the bounce you're talking about is Voyage's End, which is definitely an option if I were to add more control.

2 for 2. is a win every time on a 1/4 defender. especially with a growing threat in spellheart chimera. when the chimera has 5 damage every turn wouldn't you wish you still had your doomblade you spent on the cyclops?

i'm considering spell ruptures for more counter control. what else do you suggest. name some specific cards for me.

love the spell rupture idea!. making them pay 4 from a cyclops is awesome.

mizzium skin or izzet charm. what are you gonna do when i hit you for game win and counter your removal?
laugh as my 4 spellheart chimeras get a little stronger from the doomblade you casted on a 1/4 defender?

read descriptions, read cards, read other posts. you'll get your answer before looking stupid.

I love playing control, I just feel like the format forces aggression unless you go full control (which most iterations of this deck are not). The counterspell is taking up much needed space when you're really only using it to prevent board wipes or if you don't have a Mizzium Skin in hand.

supreme verdict is a sorcery making it useless if they actually proc the combo. when will someone ever waste a board wipe round one on a 1/4 defender without knowing what deck you're playing first? round 2? ok that makes a little more sense because they've seen your combo. there is also a built in answer in Memnite's sideboard in Aetherling, the perfect counter for a control deck.
supreme verdict is one card, its amazing because it can't be countered, it counters any deck that uses creatures to win. you can go through any deck posted anywhere and name cards that win against it.

i've been using the Izzet Charms as counterpsells occasionally, i do agree that the deck could use counterspells to help mitigate the removal, but if they are using a direct removal on a cyclops you can counter with a mizzium skin at instant speed making it hexproof and causing their removal to fizzle. the only removal i'm scared of in this situation would be board modifiers (celestial flair type stuff, with the worst being supreme verdict which can't be countered anyway). but after they do it to you once in game one, you'll know what to expect from them in game two and can always tailor your play accordingly (if they've main boarded too much removal and don't have much counterspell, swap in your sideboard and play a completely different, far more aggressive deck). i personally felt like the counterspell is turning your combo in to a counter punch combo, which isn't nearly as effective as all out aggression.
on to young pyromancer, i'm curious as to what you would want to take out in favor of them. the free chump blockers are nice along with more targets for your overloaded teleportal but i just don't see where they fit in.

so what deck do you know of that main decks 4 boardwipes first round? second, if they board in wipes, you board in counter spells to deal with them, you don't play your combo till you can win on it. this deck also doesn't have to win on only the combo, you can proc half the combo 3 times and still do massive damage. i don't agree with many of the cards this guy uses, nor do i think that this deck should be played with any control as you should be playing far more aggressive trying to end the match before people have answers. as stated previously, this deck is never gonna be played on a pro circuit, but you can steal 3 wins at an FNM tourney and walk away with a prize.

people are constantly complaining about how something beats this deck, when the idea would be to just proc your combo for as much damage as many times as possible. it doesnt have to be a turn 4 win, it just has to win. so 3 turns of an average for 7 damage still nets you 21 damage. if youre forced to have to do another 5, it's entirely possible with this deck.

when you know they are playing these things, you don't play your cyclops till you can protect him from said removal spells. yes it CAN do 22 damage on turn 4, it won't most of the time, that doesn't make it an unplayable deck.

Deck has been revamped to fit my playstyle more and add a bit more aggressiveness. Also got tired of the flopping around waiting for draws on a 4 card combo.

This deck screams for a Skullcrack in the sideboard.

This deck may be getting a full revamp, did a lot of play testing and trying of new ideas. It may turn in to an aggressive blitz deck removing the control elements entirely.