I think it might be worth going a different direction. Playing just Mono Blue Slivers makes Force better and you get to play with 5 Wastelands. You're also able to play more 2 CMC creatures and can try AEther Vial to make countermagic better and lets you steal games against bad players by vial'ing in creatures. The mono blue pumping creatures should be adequate too, there are 2 lords that give +1/+1 and islandwalk which is a lot better than shadow in my opinion
I think a better question may have been how do I interact with Inkmoth Nexus better? The only interaction I have for Blinkmoth and Inkmoth Nexus mainboard is Path, though I have switched to Ghost Quarter instead of Tectonic Edge because of a lack of Control and 3 color+ decks. I think the Affinity matchup is in my favor, yes, but I find the matchup to have some variance. I just find decks in my meta game are either hyper aggressive decks that literally lose to an Elesh Norn, or tier 2+ decks that I typically 2-0, that's why I have an extensive board for aggro. Against these hyper aggressive decks, I see my win percentage go down a lot when I don't win the die roll, so I suppose 7+ mana answers are not where I want to be anyway.
I have encountered loads of aggressive decks in a local meta game. Infect and Affinity have been giving me a little trouble and I'd like to secure up the matchup. Wrath effects don't really work against Inkmoth and Blinkmoth Nexus so I've had thoughts of running another Elesh Norn type of hoser. The two options I see that'd work best are either Blazing Archon or a second copy of Elesh Norn, any thoughts?
EDIT: Here's my list currently. I've actually had great success and usually place within the Top 3 each week. I know there are some unconventional and controversial choices like a Merchant Scroll main and Bojuka Bog in the board, but they work. Merchant Scroll is a great 5th Gifts and also has lots of utility in my mainboard right now. Theres's a lack of interaction in most decks I play against and a resolved Gifts means I usually win. Bojuka Bog is there because I haven't encountered any graveyard decks in my metagame but want at least 1 hoser; "5" copies of gravehate with 1 sideboard slot is great. I prefer Mindslaver to Emrakul because of the lack of Midrange and Control in my meta.
I was looking into possibly streaming an FNM feature match for the top table at my LGS. I have a camera that could work and I've been playing around with getting it to work with my laptop, the main problem I've been thinking over is how exactly to mount a camera to record play. Any ideas? I searched around some and haven't found anything conclusive.
Has anyone considered Shuriken in the sideboard? Seems okay against Affinity and other creature decks. Might be good in a build with 3+ Mutavaults, but considering you are playing at least 6 Ninjas it might be something to consider.
Can we talk a little bit about how much better Peek is than Probe, especially in the tempo variant? In the primer, it lists it as merely helping preserve life, but it really does much more. Instant speed is everything on this card.
Being an instant compared to a sorcery means leaving up Lightning Bolt without taking damage T1, seeing if the coast is clear end of turn when one's able to combo off on your opponent's turn, and it's pretty nice to be able to make use of the untap on Mite and Exarch to untap an Island to Peek when you have nothing else to do on T3.
How much have WR lists been explored? It plays a whole different strategy but I think it likely helps improve weak matchups.
The addition of red adds a lot to the deck and certainly warrants making the mana base a little worse (although there are many ways to fix your mana involving Ghost Quarter/Flagstones). One of the biggest additions with red is Boom // Bust. This card is a powerhouse in this deck and synergies very well with other cards and also the overall gameplan. Boom // Bust is effectively a 2 mana Stone Rain most of the time when you target a land that is able to be sacrificed (Arid Mesa, Marsh Flats, Tech Edge, Ghost Quarter) or Flagstones. Late game it can Armageddon with fetches and Flagstones on the table to get value, while Busting with Crucible or an Elsepth emblem is an easy win.
Red also adds very important spot removal and reach in the form of Lightning Bolt, Lightning Helix, and Grim Lavamancer. Any deck playing red, especially one with a midrange type of strategy, should consider Lightning Bolt and many decks splash solely for this very powerful instant. Lightning Helix is added for similar reasons. Grim Lavamancer may seem marginal with only 5 fetch lands and 17 instants and sorceries, but Ghost Quarter, Tech Edge, and Flagstones fill up the graveyard quickly as well. Lavamancer is somewhat of a non-bo with Crucible of Worlds, but considering games can go very long with this deck, it's slot is well suited for this deck and Crucible is typically just to recur Ghost Quarters.
The last slots look to secure the Tax strategy for the deck: Ajani Vengeant, Thalia, and Ghostly Prison. Thalia can be annoying with so many non-creatures in the deck, but it is a strong body combined with a tempo effect that can help up pull ahead early.
The problem with those kinds of UWdecks is called Deathrite shaman.
You DO NOT want to path one of those guys. And you dont want to path a confidant either.
Do you really care about Deathrite when you're just able to counter all their threats and tempo them out?
I've been interested in building a sole UW variant since I like being able to play more counters to make Snapcaster better. What do you all think of a list like this?
Lava Spike just doesn't do enough, Peer Through Depths is used on occasion because of how far it looks at a lot of cards and it's an arcane. Browbeat isn't that great because a 3 mana, deal 5 is not worth it either.
EDIT: Here's my list currently. I've actually had great success and usually place within the Top 3 each week. I know there are some unconventional and controversial choices like a Merchant Scroll main and Bojuka Bog in the board, but they work. Merchant Scroll is a great 5th Gifts and also has lots of utility in my mainboard right now. Theres's a lack of interaction in most decks I play against and a resolved Gifts means I usually win. Bojuka Bog is there because I haven't encountered any graveyard decks in my metagame but want at least 1 hoser; "5" copies of gravehate with 1 sideboard slot is great. I prefer Mindslaver to Emrakul because of the lack of Midrange and Control in my meta.
1 Buried Ruin
3 Celestial Colonnade
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
1 Plains
3 Seachrome Coast
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
1 Condescend
4 Path to Exile
1 Repeal
4 Remand
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Gifts Ungiven
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Wrath of God
1 Unburial Rites
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Day of Judgment
4 Azorius Signet
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Mindslaver
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Condemn
2 Porphyry Nodes
1 Spell Pierce
1 Sunlance
2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Negate
1 Spellskite
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Pithing Needle
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
Being an instant compared to a sorcery means leaving up Lightning Bolt without taking damage T1, seeing if the coast is clear end of turn when one's able to combo off on your opponent's turn, and it's pretty nice to be able to make use of the untap on Mite and Exarch to untap an Island to Peek when you have nothing else to do on T3.
The addition of red adds a lot to the deck and certainly warrants making the mana base a little worse (although there are many ways to fix your mana involving Ghost Quarter/Flagstones). One of the biggest additions with red is Boom // Bust. This card is a powerhouse in this deck and synergies very well with other cards and also the overall gameplan. Boom // Bust is effectively a 2 mana Stone Rain most of the time when you target a land that is able to be sacrificed (Arid Mesa, Marsh Flats, Tech Edge, Ghost Quarter) or Flagstones. Late game it can Armageddon with fetches and Flagstones on the table to get value, while Busting with Crucible or an Elsepth emblem is an easy win.
Red also adds very important spot removal and reach in the form of Lightning Bolt, Lightning Helix, and Grim Lavamancer. Any deck playing red, especially one with a midrange type of strategy, should consider Lightning Bolt and many decks splash solely for this very powerful instant. Lightning Helix is added for similar reasons. Grim Lavamancer may seem marginal with only 5 fetch lands and 17 instants and sorceries, but Ghost Quarter, Tech Edge, and Flagstones fill up the graveyard quickly as well. Lavamancer is somewhat of a non-bo with Crucible of Worlds, but considering games can go very long with this deck, it's slot is well suited for this deck and Crucible is typically just to recur Ghost Quarters.
The last slots look to secure the Tax strategy for the deck: Ajani Vengeant, Thalia, and Ghostly Prison. Thalia can be annoying with so many non-creatures in the deck, but it is a strong body combined with a tempo effect that can help up pull ahead early.
4x Arid Mesa
4x Flagstones of Trokair
4x Ghost Quarter
1x Marsh Flats
1x Mountain
4x Plains
3x Sacred Foundry
3x Tectonic Edge
Sorcery (5)
4x Boom/Bust
1x Wrath of God
3x Ghostly Prison
Creature (12)
4x Aven Mindcensor
2x Grim Lavamancer
4x Leonin Arbiter
2x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Instant (12)
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Lightning Helix
4x Path to Exile
Planeswalker (3)
2x Ajani Vengeant
1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1x Crucible of Worlds
2x Celestial Purge
1x Crucible of Worlds
2x Kataki, War's Wage
3x Leyline of Sanctity
1x Oblivion Ring
2x Spellskite
2x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1x Wear / Tear
1x Wrath of God
Do you really care about Deathrite when you're just able to counter all their threats and tempo them out?
4 Celestial Colonnade
1 Eiganjo Castle
2 Glacial Fortress
3 Hallowed Fountain
2 Island
1 Mystic Gate
1 Plains
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Seachrome Coast
4 Tectonic Edge
3 Spell Snare
1 Azorius Charm
3 Mana Leak
3 Remand
1 Shadow of Doubt
2 Think Twice
1 Sphinx's Revelation
4 Cryptic Command
3 Snapcaster Mage
2 Wall of Omens
2 Geist of Saint Traft
2 Vendilion Clique
3 Restoration Angel