Quote Originally Posted by Fox View Post
If you're playing mono-blue not-Merfolk you probably need to try and cheese wins off the back of Chalice. In terms of card draw, within the context of Chalice, your best options are Thoughtcast, Reverse Engineer, Thirst for Knowledge, Search for Azcanta, Standstill, etc... or you go down the Paradoxical Outcome pathway.

Without going down the Paradoxical path the question becomes naming the best 0 or 2 drop artifacts which preferably don't tap such that your deck can utilize the improvise mechanic. At least 8 slots are Spyglass and Chrome Mox (option to play without imprint). Best creature would be Walking Ballista, so now you're at 16 artifacts, and let's say 8 draw effects (Thoughtcast + Reverse Engineer seem best). Next best improvise spell is Metallic Rebuke - instant speed has very specific implications with tapping down own Winter Orb (so Winter Orb x2 is a direction you could go down). Tag on a pair of Mox Opal and you're at 30 cards done. Blue count is high enough so FoW x4 and about 6 slots to work with.

You stay on Standstill x4 w/ Factories also in the manabase and maybe you want 2x Foundry Assembler to really max out on Factory synergy. Could do Ensnaring Bridge and another wincon (probably a PW, probably Karn). Could be boring and play 4x TNN plus 2x PWs (at this point though, why aren't you playing Merfolk); Misthollow Griffon isn't good, but it's kinda fine with Chrome Mox imprints (recast it later, not really killing the Mox since it improvises), so that's another thing you could do.

For the sake of simplicity with the manabase, let's say 20 lands is correct and you're doing the Factory/Standstill thing: 4x Factory, 4x Ancient Tomb, 6 Fetch, 6 Island.

Removal is the problem in decks like these, not sure how you can fix it and keep the deck focused on 'doing the thing.'
I personally think Chalice of the Void decks are good only if they have multiple options of turn 1 to play good spells and/or if they can play any of their cards between first and second turn. It is the case of Dragon Stompy, which is to my view a control deck nowadays
and has the nice Simian Spirit Guide which ables it to play a lot of cc3 killing-cards on turn1
(Blood Moon, Magus of the Moon, Trinisphere, Chalice of The Void)
and card disadvantage is sometimes good because their strategy is also based on Ensnaring Bridge.

I think Mono-U with Chalice of the Void would be too inconsistent.

Actually I was thinking of something like that:

3 Mutavault (can be trasformed into a Construct with Retrofitter Foundry and with also Crucible of Worlds it becomes quite funny)
2 Ancient Tomb
2 Wasteland
2 Seat of The Synod
2 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
6 Island
4 Chrome Mox

4 Retrofitter Foundry
1 Pithing Needle
1 Crucible of Worlds

2 Grindstone
3 Painter's Servant

2 Zahid, Djinn of the Lamp
3 Whirler Rogue (whose Thopters can be converted into Constructs with Retrofitter Foundry)

4 Brainstorm
3 Ponder

2 Whir of Invention

4 Force of Will
1 Flusterstorm
1 Dismember

2 Standstill
3 Reverse Engineer