Puschkin

"if it is good enough to put in a 60 card deck, then it is good enough to run 3 or 4 copies."
Which isn't a bad advise and most of the time true if your plan is to win a tournament. But when you build casual decks, you have different goals, which may include "be creative" and "use more cards of your collection, not just the same 5% over and over".

Glaring Spotlight doesn't work :P Alpha Authority is a nice card but probably not suitable here (not reusable - all eggs into one basket syndrome). But the Boots would :) Will have to trade for them, though.

I am about to suggest a ton of cards, but that mostly means that there are a lot of ways how to play this, not that the current built is bad. The only problem I see with the deck as it is: While I love Molder Slug, I usually only play it in decks where I don't run any artifacts myself (at least not ones that are key to my deck) since the Slug will affect you as well.

Anyway, cards to consider:

Thran Forge:
A possible alternative for the Landshaper (you can still turn lands with Coating and Mutation). Reasoning: While Thran Forge needs mana to operate, you can use it more than once per turn and it affects creatures, which is usually more useful than lands. (unless you hit a basicland and have a Splinter - but as I said, for that you still have Coatings and Mutations). Also, it is more durable than a 1/1 artifact creature.

Magus of the Unseen:
Steals artifacts until end of turn - which would require you to have a sacrifice outlet like Sage of Lat-Nam.

Scarwood Bandits, Memnarch:
Or you just steal stuff without giving it back^^ Memnarch is mana intensive, though.

Natural End (Molder, Artisan's Sorrow ...):
I think you can afford artifact removal a bit more expensive than Oxidize and Crumble. Gives you also answers to enchantments and a bonus.

Til-Jilad Archers, Yavimaya Scion:
Protection from Artifacts might be handy :)

Viridian Corrupter:
Maybe instead of Uktabi Orangutan. Infect would help dealing with nasty attackers that slip through.

Academy Ruins/Buried Ruin:
Definately worth and addition.

Tolarian Academy:
I don't know if this is too expensive budget wise and if it matters that this would turn the deck Type I, but if you are going to add Memnarch, this would be very welcome.

Viridian Revel:
Card Draw. You might need it (probably only in multiplayer games, though)

And my personal favourite:
Gaea's Avenger :)

Oh, I have several theories myself. Yes, some might be intimidated to suggest anything or might not be able to come up with worthwhile suggestions (I dxplain in detail what I need but the fact that I am stuck usually means there aren't many viable options), however, that doesn't explain why they don't click the "like" button or, at least, leave a comments like "cool deck, bro", which so many other decks get for less.

So, my theory is more along the line that too elaborate (=lengthy!) explanations have the opposite effect of what I try to accomplish: People all go tl;dr and move on. Same is most likely true for the decklist. I include many 1-ofs. So, the average reader will either a) think it is a bad deck without actually checking all cards, b) be overwhelmed by so many different cards and incapable of evaluating the deck as a whole or c) flat out refuse to look all cards up (I build unsual decks and use cards of all eras, including unknown ones). A lot of that could be summed up with laziness.

Now add to that other factors: It's not only that not-so-well thought out decks open up more opportunities to comment on, it's also that controversial or flat out bad suggestions will generate more replies and those replies yet more replies. Unfortunately, most users don't browse decks by tags or actual content, they go by "hot", "most popular" and "active" decks - which, of course, keeps the same decks "hot", "popular" and "active while others are left to rot. And once you posted in a deck, you automatically subscribed to it - each new reply pings everybody else that has already left a comment. Even if that comment was "oh, yet another goblin deck, how boring) ...

... which is actually a lot how the pop industry works, no matter if movies, music or whatever.

Anyway, to your suggestions:
Manamorphose is indead nice and I like to use it a lot since it is basically air in your deck (completely sustains itself), I have just all of them up in other decks and am reluctant to get more because they are continueally rising in price. Well, maybe that's a reason to get more NOW ...
Hull Breach, yes, I used to play those, however, for spot removal I prefer instant speed and the main problem is that card slots are valuable. That Hull Breach could have been another creature ... which lets me think I'd probably be better off with a creature that has the same effect. Indrik Stomphowler? Would be a Beast and therefore supports Rhox but ... hm, Qasali Pridemage is a cat wizard :P too bad, he would be marvellous in this.

Lightning Greaves would be good in theory if it wasn't for the fact that if my creature has shroud, I can't cast Alpha Status on it anymore :P But thx for making me think this through to the end, I'll update the deck description that I actually need hexproof, not shroud. Shielding Plax maybe. Or Privileged Position? Asceticism! Bought!

Jessie, I made a new deck. Actually two, but the newest one is probably the one you'll love. I made a tribal deck - sortof ;) And topped myself regarding the 2-creature-types-challenge :) Check out this:
http://www.mtgvault.com/puschkin/decks/alpha-strike-males/

Some odd choices here.

You'll never have metalcraft for Galvanic blast, so why bother with it? Could be a Seal of Fire instead or another quality creature or or or. I am particularily missing Rechless Charge in this. And you could drop the Citadel that is only there for the Galvanic Blast?
I also don't see Valakut ever becoming active, however, coming into play tapped is horrible for a deck that has only one-drops.

Since it looks like 2 separate ideas, maybe make 2 decks out of it (both with Tamiyo). Both will be a lot more consistent. Just use the "Draw sample hand" functionality here and look what you'll get in your starting hand and the next couple of turns, it'll never work in a reasonable amount of turns, even if the opponent does nothing.

Now think how much a Glacial Chasm would have made that an easy win for Elf-Deck :)
Not only that, if the Squall Lin would have been a Hurricane, they would have lost.

Hm.

You need an awful lot of cards in play and your handd to pull that off. And that with no defense whatsoever. The second combo is okay because parts of it are useful on their own but your first combo is horrible: If you draw Temporal Mastery by accident or start with it, you are stuck. Pull from Eternity can't stand on it's own, Noxious Revival isn't much better. And if you happen to manage to get all 3 together, what does it do? Three cards to get two extra turns (and in one of those extra turn you draw no fresh card). So, if you don't have Tamiyo out, you do all of that just for show.
The redeeming factor is the Isochron Scepter where you can store one part of the combo and do other nasty things, however, I fear, when trying to optimize this deck, it'll become a Isochron deck.

Anyway, my suggestions would be:
Replace the Gitaxian Probe with Brainstorm. At least, that way, you can place Temporal Mastery back on your library if you drew it too early or if you drew it as a second or subsequent card of your turn.

And that's basically it, because there is no room for any improvement. I'd like to see Mirri's Guile/Sylvan Library, Scroll Rack or Orim's Chant in this, but Gitaxian Probe, Clockspinning and Isochron Scepter are the only cards in this deck that don't belong to one of your two combos. The Probe has already been removed, the Scepter is too powerful and the Clockspinning ... well, yeah, maybe Orim's Chant instead of Clockspinning so that you have at least a chance to survive.

Maybe change the mana base a bit: You can do without any green mana because you can always pay life to cast Noxious Revival, however, without white mana you'll need a Scepter to cast Pull from Eternity. Having only 4 white mana sources might turn out to be a showstopper. Consider adding a Basic Plains and fetchies.


All in all a very shaky deck that relies heavily on the luck of draw and inactivity of your opponent. If this was my deck I would ditch the Time Walk combo altogether and focus on the remaining combo. This would free up a lot of slots I could dedicate to additional draw, library manipulation and defense, most of which in the form of 1-2 mana instants so I can put them on a stick.

Actually I posted this specific deck just for the lols of Nostalgia. If you want to help, please check out one of my other decks, especially "Down with the Sickness", "Continous Meditation", "Can't touch this" and "Phantom Menace". The description tells you what I need.

If you had the decency to comment or make some suggestions to this deck, I would have considered checking your deck. But this way I voted you down.

Maybe use http://www.octgn.net/ to simulate games.

The reuseablility is key to getting more life, though, via Soul Warden and Auriok Champion. It also gives +1 power and vigiliance. As the deck is, with Test of Endurance and all, games WILL last longer and he will have the mana to operate. The Traveler would be better if this was just a weenie deck.

Well, make another deck then^^

You still run Rest for the Weary ... if you insist on pure life gain spells, you should at least upgrade Rest for the Weary with Survival Cache.

Isn't there any other way to play those? I know that Cockatrice went offline but I guess there are more alternatives to that?

Not really, I mean, I appreciate it very much that you try to mix other concepts into this series of decks, because otherwise, all we've got would be mindless weenie rushes. But of course it gets complicated if you mix two concepts. And I am in the lucky position that you did already all the hard work to slap this together, so I can lean back in my comfy chair and point out the wek points.
It's like someone building a complex, huge ass castle and after 10 years of building someone is asked to poke it and look for weak spots. Of course he'll find some but that doesn't mean the castle was useless.

Again, what is High Tide doing in this? You *could* produce lots of mana on turn 3+ if combined with Cloud of Faeries and Turnabouts, but I don't see a single card where to dump that mana on. You are talking about Jace and Bitterblossom in the description but I can't see those anywhere, so I guess High Tide was part of an earlier built.

Fearie Imposter would combo well with half of your other creatures. So are Glen Elendra Pranksters, but they are quite pricy.

Arcane Denial is a bad counterspell, it's actually card disadvanatge. Use either Mana Leak or Dissolve instead.

Personally I would use Brainstorm or Portent/Ponder over Index. (since you have lots of instants and flash creatures, it doesn't matter much that you get the Portent card during your opponent's turn. But in opposite to Ponder, you can use Porten on your opponent, so I really think Portent is better in this than Ponder)

Isn't it a bit unfair to throw a combodeck into a tournament that is otherwise creature-mania? Not only do you put creatures vs combo, you put creature decks that re restricted in their core selection of spells, creatures, to just a handful of cards. BTW, Sword of the Meek was banned in Modern because of this deck, this should be a hint that maybe it isn't fair to put it against ordinary creature decks.

I won't comment on this except for the obvious: Up the key cards to 4 copies each.

I may be missing something but the current deck doesn't have Consume Spirit nor any other X-spell for that matter! So, what are you going to spend your Coffers/Ritual/Culling-mana on? Blood Tribute I guess?

Again, it seems like two different ideas have been mixed without paying too much attention to each other. Guul Draz Vampire, Nighthawk and the Blood Ghast seem aim at a fast attacking game but then, half way through the deck you concentrate on mana generating and draining combos.
There are, however, many syngergies, like Blood Ghast and Culling the Weak, but it's very hard to say how well this will actually perform. And it makes it very difficult to make suggestions. But I know one thing for sure: This deck desperately needs a big vampire! Anowon the Ruin-Sage and Ascendant Evincar would provide excellent anti-creature measures. But there is one vampire that is a must for this deck: Nirkana Revenant!
Also, Urge to Feed is way too good to not be used.

To make room, ditch the Gitaxian Probes. "Gitaxian Probe for drawing power. Pay 2 life to draw a card, sure, why not?" Because you just payed 2 life to draw the card you would have gotten if you didn't draw the Probe instead! Yes, you peeked at the opponent's hand, but you don't have any reactionary cards in the deck that could make use of that knowledge, you don't have blue mana to circumvent that life loss, you don't have any cards that allow you to play from the graveyard, you have no cards with storm etc. ... so why bother with it? If you really want drawpower, Skulltap would be the card of choice in this deck (sac the Blood Ghast to pay for it).

Either up the Test of Endurance to 4 or drop them altogether. Since many other cards focus on lifegain, it's probably better to boost them to 4, otherwise I would have to change the deck too much.

But even then ... the problem is that you are mixing two components that don't mix that well out of the box: A weenie horde of mostly one-drops wants to attack and hit fast but Test of Endurance calls for a longer game. Since your weenies have lifegaining abilities instead of combat tricks, you will most likely not win the creature battle and then start racing lifegain vs the opponent's ability to deal damage. And if that's what'll happen anyway, you'd rather have 4 Test of Endurance and could make use of some creature a bit up the mana curve. So, my suggestions are:

* Jasmine Seer instead if Martyr of Sands. The Martyr doesn't make much sense anway in a deck that empties it's hand that fast.
* Fiendslayer Paladin would be excellent in this. Lifelink will increase your LPT (life-per-turn) ratio but he also has first strike to help out in creature battles. It can replace the Grand Abolishers that don't do much in this deck since aren't weenie-rushing anymore that much.
* Solemn Offering instead of Rest for the Weary. Pure lifegain is rarely good because it doesn't effect board situation. If there are no targets you can always use it on excess Test of Endurances or on:
* I'd like to see Avacyn's Collar in this. It will always generate tokens in this deck. And those tokens will grant extra life (because of Soul Warden) and give you much needed flyers you can block with. What to remove? Thalia, Guardian of Thraben. It doesn't mix well with your key cards anyway and will be even more troublesome for you if you have the Collars. (this is one of the few modern symmetrical cards with a negative effect that hits you, too!)
* Non-basic lands to consider:
- Daru Encampment (the Mentors and Champions are soldiers)
- Kabira Crossroads (lifegain)
- Kjeldoran Outpost (tokens and therefore life via Soul Warden)

P.S.: Just realized that for some reason Jasmine Seer is just a Wizard and no Human.

I am not sure about the mix of components here.

You chose to accelerate via the red Dark Rituals and a few Incubators (instead of permanent mana ramp in the form of artifact mana).
You also chose to have mostly quicker dragons and added pump spells, going for the quick kill.

While both choices are viable individually, it's very risky when you combine them. See, your mana acceleration is mostly one-shot, your pumpers are obviously one-shot and useless when you have no creature. But since you have spent many slots on acceleration and pumpers, you run only 15 dragons.
All in all this means you are putting all your eggs into a single basket, which makes you VERY vulnerable to spot removal. Personally I don't think you really need any pump spells in a dragon deck because your dragons should be able to take out anything your opponent may throw at you. Instead I would make the deck more stable by adding more dragons and maybe some permanent mana ramping in order to smooth out the mana curve, elimininate the risk of running out of creatures and adding some utility. Here some suggestions:

I would play Hellkite Tyrant instead Shattering Spree.
Stormbreath Dragon is very powerful for it's mana cost but of course expensive budget wise. But you run Thundermaw, so I thought I'd suggest it anyway.
I would add Fire Diamonds, Sol Ring if that is allowed and maybe Mana Vault and/or Grim Monolith.
And with that artifact mana added, Covetous Dragon would be an worthwhile addition, although he might have been surpassed in power by now.
All of that assumes you got rid of the pumpers. And if you add all those artifact mana, you can probably go down to 20 or so mountains.

But take all of this with a grain of salt, this is not the type of deck I would play myself.