Thassa's Oracle

[Smea.gol.lum]

Hey guys,

I think that a deck with Thassa's Oracle and Thought Lash could be very potent.
A card that has flown under the radar for a long time is Sacred Guide . Since the printing of Mystic Sanctuary, Aether Vial is not the only possibility to abuse Sacred Guide's deck removal ability anymore. Now, you can also exile the library in response to Sanctuary's ability.
The advantage that this deck has over other Combo decks like Cephalid Breakfast is that its combo pieces aren't useless on their own. Thought Lash can act as a shield until you find Thassa's Oracle and Thassa's Oracle can dig for Thought Lash or other goodies.

Here's my first draft for the deck:

UGrw Thassa's Oracle

3 Aether Vial
4 Thassa's Oracle
2 Imperial Recruiter
2 Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath
4 Ice-Fang Coatl
1 Sacred Guide
3 Thought Lash
4 Ponder
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
3 Daze
1 Veil of Summer
3 Once Upon a Time
2 Oko, Thief of Crowns
2 Cavern of Souls
4 Flooded Strand
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Snow-Covered Island
1 Snow-Covered Forest
2 Tundra
2 Tropical Island
1 Mystic Sanctuary
1 Volcanic Island

SB:
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Brazen Borrower // Petty Theft
2 Gilded Drake
1 Barrin, Tolarian Archmage
1 Remorseful Cleric
2 Veil of Summer
2 Flusterstorm
3 Surgical Extraction
1 Oko, Thief of Crowns
1 Jace, Wielder of Mysteries


The questions that have to be asked are:
Aether Vial or Arcum's Astrolabe?
Once Upon a Time or Living Wish maindeck and shift Sacred Guide as well as one Thassa to the sideboard? Living wish could also fetch Cavern of Souls and other creatures out of the sideboard.
Daze yes or no?


There have also been top8 finishes with UG and UB lists.

Here's an example for the UG approach:

1 Sylvan Library
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
2 Preordain
2 Spell Pierce
4 Lotus Petal
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Veil of Summer
4 Paradigm Shift
4 Ponder
4 Thought Lash
4 Thassa's Oracle
2 Ancient Tomb
2 Tropical Island
2 Shelldock Isle
3 Botanical Sanctum
3 Misty Rainforest
4 Island
4 Waterlogged Grove
SB:
2 Dismember
2 Jolrael, Mwonvuli Recluse
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Carpet of Flowers
1 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Echoing Truth
2 Reclamation Sage


Here's an example for an UB list:

1 Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Preordain
2 Skeletal Scrying
3 Flusterstorm
4 Thought Lash
4 Lotus Petal
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Thoughtseize
4 Ponder
4 Paradigm Shift
4 Thassa's Oracle
1 Swamp
2 Underground Sea
2 Flooded Strand
3 Scalding Tarn
3 Ancient Tomb
4 Island
4 Polluted Delta
SB:
1 Tormod's Crypt
3 Surgical Extraction
1 Rebuild
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Fatal Push
3 Echoing Truth
3 Duress
1 Relic of Progenitus

[FTW]

Is it worth splashing a color to play a more expensive Paradigm Shift that can only be played as a 1-of? Divining Witch could be played in multiples and lets you play other cards in that color of creature type Strix, but is probably also worse than Shift.

[Reeplcheep]

I think divining witch is better; but if you want to go creature combo I think you should smush the deck up with cephalid breakfast instead of thoughtlash; it lets you reap more benefits of the oracles, caverns, and vials.

[FTW]

Witch's Breakfast


//Spells: 17
4 Aether Vial
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Cabal Therapy
1 Dread Return

//Creatures: 24
4 Nomads en-Kor
4 Cephalid Illusionist
4 Thassa's Oracle
4 Divining Witch
4 Baleful Strix
4 Narcomoeba


//Lands: 19
3 Cavern of Souls
4 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
2 Marsh Flats
3 Underground Sea
1 Tundra
1 Scrubland
2 Snow-Covered Island
1 Snow-Covered Swamp


Maybe that's a starting point.

You have both
Breakfast combo: Nomads + Cephalid to mill your library, then Dread Return Thassa's Oracle from the grave
Witch combo: Divining Witch + Thassa's Oracle

Aether Vial is very strong for both.
With Vial on 1 you can EOT Vial in Nomads, then tick up to 2 and Vial in Cephalid FTW.
For Witch combo with Vial on 2 you can EOT flash in Witch, then untap and activate Witch with lands (naming Storm Crow) and Vial in Thassa
Witch even finds Thassa if you don't have it.

Edit: I don't like this though. It has too many dead combo pieces and conditional draws. I think the UG Thassa's Oracle / Paradigm Shift / Thought Lash shell is just better, without needing to awkwardly splash for Sacred Guide and Imperial Recruiter. Paradigm Shift is surprisingly good just because it's fast and it can tutor you into a Thassa if one is in the graveyard.