MTG Salvation

I'd like to know also if this is going to happen, or if at least there will be a forum created for it. MTGO is my only magic outlet as well.

I can't seem to post blogs using explorer 9 also. And the blog buttons aren't working. They highlight what the button is, but when you press B (for bold) for example, nothing happens.

Same goes for the other buttons...

Hi. I've been playing with a version inspired by this thread. However, I haven't been meeting much success with it. A little help please? My meta:

Zur the Enchanter with Armageddon effects and counterspells
Rafiq of the Many early Aggro with Leyline of Sanctity and Time Warp
Savra Queen of the Golgari with Braids, Cabal Minion
Numot the Devastator with Luminarch Ascension and Lighthouse Chronologist and LOTS of planeswalkers
Zozu the Punisher with PLENTY of LD and burn.
Intet the Dreamer
Azami, Lady of Scrolls
Uril, the Miststalker
Doran, the Siege Tower

1. I'm having a LOT of problems with all the land destruction and early aggro. What usually happens is my opponents lay some early threats, then go for the mass land destruction protected by Counterspells. I've only comboed out once, and that's when they didn't know what Rings of Brighthearth was there for. Because of all the land destruction, I'm thinking Darksteel Forge + Mycosynth Lattice. Is there any other way to play around land destruction? The deck seems to rely heavily on mana to win (Exsanguinate, Consume, etc...) or to do mass removal (Mutilate, Death Cloud, All is Dust).... and it can't seem to deal with a RESET move of any sort.

2. I also have no way to deal with a Leyline of Sanctity, Luminarch Ascension, Dovescape, or any other enchantments for that matter. My build has Steel Hellkite, All is Dust, Nevinyarral's Disk, and Oblivion Stone, but its still problematic. Right now I'm considering Spine of Ish Sah, but what do you guys think about Lux Cannon and Ratchet Bomb?

3. Finally, I notice that for the deck to have a fighting chance, some form of velocity must be in place (Necropotence, Crystal Ball, Sensei's, Scroll Rack, Phyrexian Arena) because the card draw is just too weak: Ambition's Cost, Promise of Power, Sign in Blood, Night's Whisper. What therefore is the overall approach to starting off games?

Some questions relevant to number 3:
Do I mulligan if there's no tutor/card draw/velocity in hand?

If I do have a tutor but no card draw/velocity, then do I reserve it to build a combo later on? Or should I use it immediately to get either Phyrexian Arena, Crystal Ball, Scroll Rack, Necropotence or the Top? I've been doing the latter, and the results aren't really encouraging.

I've been goldfishing the deck just to get a feel of it, and it seems to only be able to find a combo by turn 12 to turn 15 only (And I have a LOT of tutors -- Vampiric, Cruel, Diabolic, Beseech the Queen, Liliana Vess, Expedition Map, Demonic.) Is this normal? The combo's that I'm digging for are as follows:

Vampire Hexmage/Dark Depths
Bitterblossom/Contamination
Rings of Brighthearth/Cabal Coffers/Deserted Temple
Rings of Brighthearth/Basalt Monolith (Plus 7 mana) plus Exsanguinate
Rings of Brighthearth/Grim Monolith (Plus 8 mana) plus Exsanguinate
Xiahou Dun / Profane Command (This doesn't kill outright doesn't it?)

As you can see, my decklist is similar to those posted here... I can post it if its needed for analysis. Many thanks in advance!

Quote from Fooly Cooly

heres my list, i played and bant one last night and went 6-0 and dropped top 4 from mana screw.

this is a u/g/r build, still needs some work, suggestions would be awesome :]

• 2x cunning sparkmage
  
• 4x lotus cobra
  
• 1x inferno titan
  
• 2x frost titan
  
• 4x lightning bolt
  
• 1x basilisk collar
  
• 1x chimeric mass
  
• 1x garruck wilspeaker
  
• 1x brittle effigy
  
• 4x fauna shaman
  
• 4x vengevine
  
• 4x goblin guide
  
• 1x memnite
  
• 1x wurmcoil engine
  
• 4x birds of paradise
  
• 2x raging ravine
  
• 3x copperline gorge
  
• 2x rootbound crag
  
• 4x misty rainforest
  
• ??? island
  
• ??? forest
  
• ??? moutntain

Hi, no Trinket Mage to fetch chimeric mass and memnite?

Guys, what about Valakut Ramp? We don't always draw the Birds/Cobra starting hand, and we almost automatically lose once Titans are in play:

Primeval Titan with Khalni Ghardens in play or Harrow in Hand.
Inferno Titan (resets the board).
Any situation with Frost Titan (Even a Brittle Effigy activation costs 6)

We also have difficulty dealing with creature swarms ala Avenger of Zendikar.

After 50 to 60 playtest games with very experienced Valakut zealots, I'm finding that counterspells are overrated. You counter their ramp, but since you're leaving mana up, you're not playing your game and eventually they WILL reach six or seven lands enough to play a Primeval Titan or Avenger. Even if you can counter them, Summoning Trap beats you.

What is the approach? I have already tried:
1) Additional Flashfreezes and Spell Pierces.
2) Land Destruction - Ruinblasters and Acidic Slimes
3) Hate - Tunnel Ignus

The best so far is Land Destruction, but at four and five mana, these are too slow and they have far too many ramp spells for these to matter. I'm thinking going extreme aggro (as suggested by one of the earlier posts in this site --- Plated Geopede).

What do you guys think?