As I've been having success with this deck recently, and others have as well, I figure it to be high time we formally create a thread for it. At the least, it allows the discussion of the deck in a thread separate from the Imperial Painter discussion. We'll begin with the list, as of September 2008:

4 Polluted delta
4 Flooded Strand
4 Underground sea
3 Tropical Island
1 Swamp
1 Academy Ruins
2 Island

2 Trinket Mage
4 Painter's Servant
3 Dark Confidant
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstrom
4 Ponder
3 Counterbalance
3 Sensei's Diving Top
3 Lim-Dul's Vault
4 Grindstone
4 Thoughtseize
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Echoing Truth
1 Tormod's Crypt

SB:
4x Tarmogoyf
3x Tombstalker
1x Tormod's Crypt
3x Krosan Grip
3x Blue Elemental Blast
1x Engineered Explosives

The sideboard has changed to include some number of BEB/Hydroblast, instead of the Plagues that were previously there. We made this change at the recent Beta Trop event in Syracuse, because of the large presence of Goyf Sligh players at the event. It's still good against Gobs, in tandem with your man plan, and it has similar utility against Combo. It provides an additional way to deal with both Magus of the Moon and Blood Moon, and can randomly hose people should you opt to play Painter on Red. I managed to win a game against Goyf Sligh due to Blasting two of his Goyfs, which was pretty sweet.

The deck is pretty straight forward. Your game 1 plan involves little more than comboing out, which can often be protected by Counter-Top. Don’t go gung-ho into the combo (ie, the turn three win) unless you’re positive that your opponent cannot protect himself from it. Generally, there’s little incentive for you to go for the quick win during game 1. You can play the control role pretty well against most decks, so take your time, and set it up with plenty of protection.

The real strategy comes in boarding with the deck. I’ve had to adopt the plan of shuffling 15 cards from the board into the deck (even between games 2 and 3), in order to mask the strategy of boarding the Man Plan in. If you play the deck (or against it) and you see 10 cards coming in, there’s a pretty significant chance that there will be Goyfs in the deck for game 2. If you see 15 come in, and 15 come out, then you really have no idea what’s in store, which is the entire point of the Man Plan to begin with.

Generally, if I’m boarding in 7 guys, the 7 cards that come out are:

3x Dark Confidant
2x Painter’s Servant
2x Grindstone

The Bobs are traded straight up for the Tombstalkers. You DO NOT want to take 8 to the face by flipping one off Bob. As for the combo pieces, it’s a simple switch of versatility for redundancy. You don’t want to completely remove the combo, because it can still win the game, but it isn’t plan A anymore. It’s more of a “oh, here’s two combo pieces. I guess I win,” aspect during the Man Plan games. While the opponent is forced to deal with the beaters, lest he be found at zero life, you have the opportunity to find and assemble a two card combo which doesn’t require the attack step. It’s a good thing.

Note that I don’t opt for the Man Plan in every matchup. Quite often, the pre-board configuration is simply better against a deck than guys would be. As an example, I very rarely bring in guys against Survival. They simply have a more difficult time beating the combo than they do beating dudes. Occasionally I’ll leave Bob in, and board in the Goyfs, simply to act as Wall of Tarmogoyf while I work to assemble the win.

The other most frequently boarded out cards are the Vaults and a Ponder, as well as a Thoughtseize or two if I’m on the draw.

The last point I want to make on boarding concerns the Painter Mirror, either the blue or red version. If any of you are familiar with the Oath Mirror from any time it’s been played, you’ll recall the strategy of boarding out your Oaths, and forcing your opponent to play the cards that are otherwise dead in your deck. The same plan is viable in the Painter mirror. Vs. Imperial Painter, for example, I will side out all four Painters, because I know their deck sucks without Painter, and they rely on having it in play to function. I’m willing to let the match come down to who can reliably Grind first, especially if I’ve got Academy Ruins in play. Your best turn 1 play in these matchups is Grindstone, which is counterintuitive, but true. It sets you ahead in a really unnatural way, because it shuts them off their Painter until they can either win all at once, or find a way to deal with your Stone. This gives you plenty of time to assume control of the game.

That’s really all I’ve got to say on the deck for now. I’d be happy to field questions or comments, as well as give more advice if you guys need any. The deck has been extremely solid the entire time I’ve been playing it, and I’ve only narrowly missed on top 8 every time I’ve played it. Feel free to discuss. Thanks!