Except you *are* dependent on your graveyard, because otherwise Visions is terrible.
Grapeshot solves almost no problems that tight play would also solve. Blockers? Fatestitcher or Flesh//Blood. Hatebears? They'll impede your ability to storm out anyways, and you have removal in the board to wish for. Wasted slot.
I've stated my views on Wisps and Manamorphose. It's getting to the "agree to disagree" phase of the debate. Manamorphose at least beats Blood Moon, lets you better go off with one creature (though in a list with no Fatestitchers, you could just as easily and more effectively solve that problem with Fatestitchers, which also solve other problems), and fixes your mana. Wisps, however, is *only* good when you're going off--i.e. already winning. I don't want cards that require me to be winning to be at their best. I want cards that *get* me to that point, get me back to that point, and are solid when I'm there.
If you're going to play a free spell that doesn't draw you a card the turn you play it, then Noxious Revival is vastly superior to Mishra's Bauble--to the point that I can't imagine the Bauble is worth playing. Revival gets back a countered/destroyed/discarded Ascendancy, gets back an Ideas Unbound while going off, and can even deny an opponent a relevant draw by putting a fetchland on top of their deck. It's fantastic and I have immensely appreciated playing 2.
Regarding Fatestitcher, I think both ends of the spectrum of only Fatestitchers or no Fatestitchers are problematic. No other mana dorks renders you susceptible to grave hate and no Fatestitchers means you can't combo off from an empty board--nor can you tap down blockers or the opponent's lands.
Is your evaluation of which kills faster assuming that an Ascendancy is in play? Otherwise, I have no idea how you're realistically killing with Pyromancer on turn 4. I'll cede the point that turn 2 Pyromancer, turn 3 Ascendancy, turn 4 shenanigans is a nice curve that is smoother than Mentor into Ascendancy. But for me, the entire point of a "Plan B" is to plan around things NOT going well. As such, I wouldn't evaluate Pyromancer or Mentor based on having an Ascendancy active and available. My metric would be...which card is better for when my main plan (of getting an Ascendancy into play and playing a bunch of spells) is disrupted? Without an Ascendancy in play, the time when your plan B should be needed most, Mentor seems superior to me.
Echoing the sentiment. Always hard to hear, and harder to go through I'm sure.
On a happier note, I just started last week at a new job! I'm now the Youth Director for my church, which is pretty great after a year and a half of looking for meaningful employment. I think I applied to over 50 different schools in that time (graduated with a degree in high school history/social sciences education), and didn't get a single interview. Illinois is bad all over for teachers. Actually making more than I would have at a lot of those schools, which is not what I was expecting at all for working in the church, haha.
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Grapeshot solves almost no problems that tight play would also solve. Blockers? Fatestitcher or Flesh//Blood. Hatebears? They'll impede your ability to storm out anyways, and you have removal in the board to wish for. Wasted slot.
I've stated my views on Wisps and Manamorphose. It's getting to the "agree to disagree" phase of the debate. Manamorphose at least beats Blood Moon, lets you better go off with one creature (though in a list with no Fatestitchers, you could just as easily and more effectively solve that problem with Fatestitchers, which also solve other problems), and fixes your mana. Wisps, however, is *only* good when you're going off--i.e. already winning. I don't want cards that require me to be winning to be at their best. I want cards that *get* me to that point, get me back to that point, and are solid when I'm there.
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Regarding Fatestitcher, I think both ends of the spectrum of only Fatestitchers or no Fatestitchers are problematic. No other mana dorks renders you susceptible to grave hate and no Fatestitchers means you can't combo off from an empty board--nor can you tap down blockers or the opponent's lands.
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On a happier note, I just started last week at a new job! I'm now the Youth Director for my church, which is pretty great after a year and a half of looking for meaningful employment. I think I applied to over 50 different schools in that time (graduated with a degree in high school history/social sciences education), and didn't get a single interview. Illinois is bad all over for teachers. Actually making more than I would have at a lot of those schools, which is not what I was expecting at all for working in the church, haha.
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