Domri Rade is a solid Planeswalker. Domri Naya (played by Brian Kibler some while ago) is a strong contender and uses it very effectively. Other than that, shipitholla (Michael hetrick) played 1 copy in his sideboard of Living End. It's also a good card in Kiki Pod.
What about cutting Jace Beleren, a single Sphinx's Revelation and Consecrated Sphinx and instead using Esper Charm for card advantage? Esper Charm is in my opinion one of the premier reasons to play Esper at all. Besides being an absolutely excellent draw and discard spell, it helps immensely with playing around Blood Moon. You only need to fetch one of each basic to have reasonable insurance against Blood Moon in an Esper deck, while UWR often fetches three Islands to be able to cast Cryptic Command. I see Jace Beleren as a better choice when there are other synergies in your deck, like if you are playing Sun Titan.
Jace Beleren is a ridiculous card when you can protect him. Untapping with him in play has won me pretty much every game against fair decks. Sun Titan is cute, but not good enough. The synergy between the 2 is not needed.
I like Esper Charm, but certainly not in this deck. Minimal effects like it don't pull ahead hard enough, which is what a Control deck like this has to do in order to win. Sphinx's Revelation is exactly what you want when you have resolved a sweeper or when you are behind.
Consecrated Sphinx is kinda on the chopping block, it might be anything. Elspeth KE, a second Jace Beleren, maybe even AEtherling or Meloku. I can't tell whether I need a "real" finisher like the Sphinx.
Sorin has been disappointing and has been replaced. Vault is also unneeded and has made room for the 3rd Tectonic Edge, which is a house. Manlands can be annoying.
Overall, this plays much smoother than the previous version and the IoKs are really pulling their weight. I'm not sure whether Remand is worth it now, Mana Leaks might be better. One of the main appeals for Remand was keeping the board clear for Turn 4 Sorin. I will have to test this.
Matchups against anything that wants to get aggressive are a joke, there's not much they can do between all your cards functioning like a Timewalk, then a sweeper resolving and Hawks + Souls + Equipment pulling ahead.
A card like Steelshaper's Gift is cute, but that's it. There's no need to search for a Sword, drawing into them is just fine.
I'd like to revamp the manabase, but I can't afford the Scalding Tarns to do so (at least, not at the moment). Will have to work with this kinda unwieldy version until it money rolls in again.
I think it's really apples and oranges, since the two decks play so differently. But I admit I've also been asking myself why the 2 Pod decks perform so differently. By my very limited knowledge of Melira, I think it has the following upsides over Kiki:
- better mana base
- better use of Chord
- slightly lower mana curve
- better non-creature spells
- ability to play as a "bad" Junk deck if the combo isn't feasible (comboing off is not as important, in Melira)
Kiki can be faster, but I believe it is also much more prone to mulligan, color screw, and dying to itself in general. I think we should work on lowering the mana curve and improving the aggro plan, if we want Kiki to get better results.
I've been talking to a few Pod players in my area and they all seem to agree that Kiki Pod's problems are the ones you described yourself. It's midrange plan is kinda bad compared to Melira, which can just pump out a stream of decent creatures and has access to Township without too much of a hassle. The addition of another angle via Archangel of Thune + Spike Feeder has improved the deck a lot.
Kiki Pod needs to be revamped. It's Plan B is fairly weak and it has inherent problems with itself.
Chrome Mox
Ancestral Vision
Preordain or Ponder
GGT
Wild Nacatl
Bitterblossom
None of these seem too obscene to unban. Of course, BGx might adapt and play Bitterblossom themselves, but you can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs and Faeries or Tokens would profit a lot more from it than BGx.
Also, I am aware of what Wild Nacatl does to Aggro, but honestly, we aren't seeing a lot of Aggro, anyways, so might as well enable one of the better ones again, right?
The problem is that hardcasting Hallowed Burial against Hatebears is already hard enough, thanks to Thalia and their LD.
Good luck casting a Terminus there.
Do Sphinx's Revs always get countered by Cryptic/Dispel/Counterflux/etc. in the mirror? I can't imagine mirror players not playing around Leak.
No, but I can't imagine someone not bringing in Dispel, negate, Counterflux or similiar spells. It's not just about Mana Leak, even getting your Revelation remanded is horrible.
You could always just Dispel it or Negate it, which is a lot better, since these cards happen to counter Cryptic Command.
I'm all for quirky tech, but Commandeer has a massive cost attached to it and is only situationally good.
Also, generally, in Revelation mirrors, the guy who casts it first loses, as it gets countered and leaves you tapped out.
Im not sure its superior to dispel in combo decks, since the only way to stop a combo is to counter it, which is what instants (counter spells) do.
In uwr is a 2x1 on yourself, so im not sold on it either. Its not a bad card, but im not really sure if its superior to dispel/negate/spellpierce.
Domri Rade is a solid Planeswalker. Domri Naya (played by Brian Kibler some while ago) is a strong contender and uses it very effectively. Other than that, shipitholla (Michael hetrick) played 1 copy in his sideboard of Living End. It's also a good card in Kiki Pod.
Jace Beleren is a ridiculous card when you can protect him. Untapping with him in play has won me pretty much every game against fair decks. Sun Titan is cute, but not good enough. The synergy between the 2 is not needed.
I like Esper Charm, but certainly not in this deck. Minimal effects like it don't pull ahead hard enough, which is what a Control deck like this has to do in order to win. Sphinx's Revelation is exactly what you want when you have resolved a sweeper or when you are behind.
Consecrated Sphinx is kinda on the chopping block, it might be anything. Elspeth KE, a second Jace Beleren, maybe even AEtherling or Meloku. I can't tell whether I need a "real" finisher like the Sphinx.
4 Marsh Flats
2 Watery Grave
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Godless Shrine
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Celestial Colonnade
3 Tectonic Edge
2 Island
1 Plains
1 Swamp
2 Darkslick Shores
3 Seachrome Coast
4 Lingering Souls
3 Snapcaster Mage
1 Consecrated Sphinx
4 Remand
3 Cryptic Command
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Dismember
2 Disfigure
2 Path to Exile
1 Hallowed Burial
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Batterskull
1 Jace Beleren
2 Sphinx Revelation
Sorin has been disappointing and has been replaced. Vault is also unneeded and has made room for the 3rd Tectonic Edge, which is a house. Manlands can be annoying.
Overall, this plays much smoother than the previous version and the IoKs are really pulling their weight. I'm not sure whether Remand is worth it now, Mana Leaks might be better. One of the main appeals for Remand was keeping the board clear for Turn 4 Sorin. I will have to test this.
Matchups against anything that wants to get aggressive are a joke, there's not much they can do between all your cards functioning like a Timewalk, then a sweeper resolving and Hawks + Souls + Equipment pulling ahead.
A card like Steelshaper's Gift is cute, but that's it. There's no need to search for a Sword, drawing into them is just fine.
I'd like to revamp the manabase, but I can't afford the Scalding Tarns to do so (at least, not at the moment). Will have to work with this kinda unwieldy version until it money rolls in again.
I've been talking to a few Pod players in my area and they all seem to agree that Kiki Pod's problems are the ones you described yourself. It's midrange plan is kinda bad compared to Melira, which can just pump out a stream of decent creatures and has access to Township without too much of a hassle. The addition of another angle via Archangel of Thune + Spike Feeder has improved the deck a lot.
Kiki Pod needs to be revamped. It's Plan B is fairly weak and it has inherent problems with itself.
Ancestral Vision
Preordain or Ponder
GGT
Wild Nacatl
Bitterblossom
None of these seem too obscene to unban. Of course, BGx might adapt and play Bitterblossom themselves, but you can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs and Faeries or Tokens would profit a lot more from it than BGx.
Also, I am aware of what Wild Nacatl does to Aggro, but honestly, we aren't seeing a lot of Aggro, anyways, so might as well enable one of the better ones again, right?
Good luck casting a Terminus there.
No, but I can't imagine someone not bringing in Dispel, negate, Counterflux or similiar spells. It's not just about Mana Leak, even getting your Revelation remanded is horrible.
I'm all for quirky tech, but Commandeer has a massive cost attached to it and is only situationally good.
Also, generally, in Revelation mirrors, the guy who casts it first loses, as it gets countered and leaves you tapped out.
It counters discard. Something to keep in mind.
Steam Augury is a value spell.
I fail to see the similiarities. These cards do completely different things.