My comments: so with Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God and The Elderspell, all you need is UBBBBBR and you win the game. Kind of like a very dark version of Coalition Victory, but a lot easier to pull off. This is nuts.
No, I think you are misreading the ult on Bolas. Other players need either a PW or Legendary creature, not both.
Or you are assuming Legendary creatures are fairly rare, which might be true in standard. After this set, it might be more common to have a PW out than a Legendary creature.
Any thoughts on why wizards wants you to return a tapped land? I'd have thought if they were trying to stop it being broken they'd require you returning an untapped land. Without mana burn or something there doesn't seem to be any downside to having to tap the land first or what am I missing?
I don't know, but it could be that they are trying to help teach the less savvy player the optimal strategy, if they find that people otherwise assume they can't choose a tapped land for the ability.
You had to special order them from a limited supply awhile back. If you want them, you'll have to pay extra. Compare you lgs prices with an on-line store like TCGplayer.com to see if you are getting fair prices.
But otherwise stick with counterspells.
I'm loving that golem splice splicer card so much.
In limited though, you don't even need a PW out to get a fair creature. 4/4 trample for 5 is a fine base.
Or you are assuming Legendary creatures are fairly rare, which might be true in standard. After this set, it might be more common to have a PW out than a Legendary creature.