Next Level Blue Bant updated for 2010 counterbalanceless.

[memnarch]

I experimented around with a deck that features most of the Bant type of things going on in Countertop type of decks I just always felt they needed to be slightly faster and slightly more aggressive. On the other hand I often feel tempo thresh runs out of steam and has too few threats. I have been having good results with this. Countertop is great VS combo but it takes a bit to set up still. Spell pierce and other sideboard options are just faster. And the rough match ups it would tend to have vs Merfolk and Goblins are improved with the number of threats up. The equipment gives them trouble and almost every card is top-notch so Merfolk wants to counter a lot of things but has too few counters. It can still be a good match vs you with the Islandwalk, but if you can get rid of Lord of Atlantis your creatures out match them. I feel a change was needed because of how the format in general seems to have slipped slightly aggro.
21 Land:
1 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Flooded strand
4 Tropical Island
4 Tundra
3 Savannah
1 Volcanic Island

18 Creatures:
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Rhox War Monk
3 Sower of Temptation
3 Stoneforge Mystic

Other 21:
4 Force Of Will
4 Daze
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Brainstorm
1 Jitte
1 Sword F/I
1 Loxodon War Hammer
1 Elspeth KE
1 Top

Side:
2 Gaddock Teeg
3 Firespout
4 Spell Pierce
2 EE
1 Krosan Grip
3 Pithing Needle

[Vacrix]

I've seen this before. Its called Excalibur. hungryLIKEALION did a lot of work on a concept like this. Check it out, it could give you some ideas:
http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?16881-%5BDeck%5D-Excalibur

[memnarch]

I've seen this before. Its called Excalibur. hungryLIKEALION did a lot of work on a concept like this. Check it out, it could give you some ideas:
http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?16881-%5BDeck%5D-Excalibur

OK thanks for the heads up. I like Threads of Disloyalty in here too, Although sometimes you run up against control decks where its useful to play Sower by itself just to get a body on the board. And Rhox War monk is amazing in this deck Life gain is actuality key to winning some matches thats why I included a Loxodon Warhammer as well.

[Vacrix]

Yeah I agree about Sower against Control; however, Sprite is just as good, providing you with another body and countermagic at the same time. IDK about Loxodon Warhammer. You could always run Sword of Light and Shadow instead. It still gains you 3 life but also returns dudes to your hand, protects the dude you are equipping with pro 'removal spell' (ie. pro white/black and pro bolt via +2/+2). Its much better than Hammer and even costs less to equip. Give it a shot in the Hammer slot.
Singleton Top isn't a bad idea. I like it actually in that it interacts with the Fetches and SFM. Have you considered Sylvan Library in that slot though? Basically does the same thing except its not a mana sink, something you want in control.

[memnarch]

Yeah I agree about Sower against Control; however, Sprite is just as good, providing you with another body and countermagic at the same time. IDK about Loxodon Warhammer. You could always run Sword of Light and Shadow instead. It still gains you 3 life but also returns dudes to your hand, protects the dude you are equipping with pro 'removal spell' (ie. pro white/black and pro bolt via +2/+2). Its much better than Hammer and even costs less to equip. Give it a shot in the Hammer slot.
Singleton Top isn't a bad idea. I like it actually in that it interacts with the Fetches and SFM. Have you considered Sylvan Library in that slot though? Basically does the same thing except its not a mana sink, something you want in control.

Ya Sower grabs tombstalkers and the like as well. I think Loxodon Warhammer has been underrated equipment for quite some time. Trampling over and gaining at least 4 life every turn is great. Light and shadow is good but i wanted another late game life gain equipment in case jitte gets removed or countered. Top VS Sylvan Library I just like Top way more I see why its good but with shuffle effects from fetches and Stoneforge Mystic I prefer a top.

[Vacrix]

Well with the right equipment, you don't really care about Tombstalker; SoLS gives your dudes pro-black. Gaining +1 life and having trample is irrelevant when you could be returning your creatures from the grave. Especially against Zoo, they will top deck burn; its only a matter of time. If the guy you equipped only has 1 toughness, you are going to be in much better shape if your equipment is SoLS, returning guys to hold the equipment every turn. Too many times has Zoo blasted right through me because they land one creature and then remove my guy every time I get a creature out to utilize equipment. Since SoLS has been run in DnT, I've had a much better Zoo matchup. Also, SoLS often puts your guy out of Bolt range, unlike Hammer.

Top vs. Library.. Why do you prefer top? Having 1 less land per turn to fix your draw is really going to be inhibiting when you have to hard cast creatures AND play control elements. You don't run Vial either so you are significantly limited as far as mana is concerned. Also, you are trying to support 3 colors, so Wasteland hurts even more. Singleton Library will work much better. If you were running CB then I would say differently but you really don't need to fix your top at instant speed.

Sower vs. Sprite is beyond me. I don't really know which one is better but I'm sure that an Excalibur player would explain why they play Sprite over Sower.

[memnarch]

Well with the right equipment, you don't really care about Tombstalker; SoLS gives your dudes pro-black. Gaining +1 life and having trample is irrelevant when you could be returning your creatures from the grave. Especially against Zoo, they will top deck burn; its only a matter of time. If the guy you equipped only has 1 toughness, you are going to be in much better shape if your equipment is SoLS, returning guys to hold the equipment every turn. Too many times has Zoo blasted right through me because they land one creature and then remove my guy every time I get a creature out to utilize equipment. Since SoLS has been run in DnT, I've had a much better Zoo matchup. Also, SoLS often puts your guy out of Bolt range, unlike Hammer.

Top vs. Library.. Why do you prefer top? Having 1 less land per turn to fix your draw is really going to be inhibiting when you have to hard cast creatures AND play control elements. You don't run Vial either so you are significantly limited as far as mana is concerned. Also, you are trying to support 3 colors, so Wasteland hurts even more. Singleton Library will work much better. If you were running CB then I would say differently but you really don't need to fix your top at instant speed.

Sower vs. Sprite is beyond me. I don't really know which one is better but I'm sure that an Excalibur player would explain why they play Sprite over Sower.

Well Noble Hierarchs really smooth out the mana. Wasteland is not a problem for this deck. Sprite seems real weak because I have to decided to have my lands open or not and it can only counter 1CC spells the first time. Its just to limited and weak IMO. If my opponent STPs I just let them most of the time I have plenty more threats coming. If someone else wants SoLS in the Hammer place Im sure it will work fine. Somtimes I want to push trample through and the sword needs to deal damage to the player first. VS Merfolk and Goblins SoFI is a big deal because of the pro. Your creatures can sneak by and get the damage in but the other type of common creature I face is green. I just like getting in the extra damage and trample and life gain are worth it to me. Its also +3 power so thats something I really like. You will usauly end up with big creatures and if you don't there is enough Hiearchs on the board to get the creature big. So the life gain is usually significant by that time.