Iona/Painters servant deck critique

[alphamale38]

Paint your Iona

4 x Tooth and Nail
4 x Defense of the Heart
4 x Skyshroud claim (my fav land getting card)
3 x Mercy Killings (a little defense, plus feeds the Defense of the Heart)
3 x Moments Peace (fogs to buy time for Tooth and Nail mana buildup)
2 x Chaotic Backlash (will always set Painter to white or blue)
1 x Worldly Tutor
1 x Enlightened Tutor

4 x Veteran Explorer (get him killed quickly!)
4 x Wood Elves
3 x Iona, Shield of Emeria
3 x Painters Servant
2 x Kor Sanctifiers (blocker + disenchant - mandatory in multiplayer games)
1 x Baneslayer Angel (for the 2nd Tooth or Defense you get off)
1 x Soltari Monk (shadow and pro black gets around most blockers)

The lands would just consist mostly of all the duel lands (Savannah's plus Temple Garden's, Taiga's, Forbidden Orchard for the Defense of the Heart, a Yavimaya Hollow (land plus creature regeneration), a Strip Mine, and the rest would be forests.

This is a fun deck I built that hopefully can be played in both multiplayer and dueling. Obviously it won't be much fun to play against if the lock goes off, but it looks pretty effective. Basically you just try to get the combo(Iona + Painters servant- they can't respond once in play) in as quick as possible, and then beat them with Iona and maybe the shadow creature or hit them with the chaotic backlash later in the game. I don't have access to power nine cards, but do have a very large amount of 'regular' cards so I built it with what I had access to. Having 3 Iona's and Painters means if you have them in hand the combo goes down at seven mana instead of nine with the Tooth and Nail which is nice if you don't get a Defense of the Heart off first. Will probably switch out the Sanctifiers for Wickerbough Elders - don't have to kick them as they come into play unlike the Sanctifiers and are a better blocker if needed. Remember, it's just a fun deck; certainly not competitive. Let me know what you think.

[Belzebozo]

By my count, you have 40 cards for a 60 card deck. This means 20 lands (which you ought to list because they're just as if not more critical to your build) and that's not enough land.

Veteran Explorer, if you can get him, only gets basics. This is also the only card in your deck that searches for land under 3 mana.

Everything else in your deck that you need to make it work costs 3 or more and in some cases, a lot more.

So the first thing to do is decide what direction you want to go in; TaN or DotH?

Whichever you choose, cut the other. If you stick with TaN, then cut the Tutors too, because you need as much mana production as you can get. If you keep in DotH, then you won't need quite as much mana but the Worldly Tutor doesn't make sense because DotH is better.
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[alphamale38]

The thing I like about my build is it has options. If you are playing someone who has disenchants, the Tooths are good, and against counter it gives you twice the opportunities to get your T&N or DotH card off since you are not relying on just 4 cards that can get them out. I had planned on it being 62 cards (with 22 lands - with 8 of those being basic lands for the Veterans, never was a believer that a 60 card deck is THAT much inifinitly better than 62). There is enough land getting cards that by the 3rd turn I have a blocker, and on the fourth enough to cast the DotH or a Skyshroud Claim with 2 mana open for a fog if I have to. It's possible with a Veteran out on the 1st turn to get the DotH out on the 2nd turn and set it off on the 3rd. The tutors get you what you need at the time, whether it's a disenchant, one of the two combo cards or the Banslayer for life if low. I feel realistically you can't expect your combo to always go off, and half of those cards limits your chances, even if it does slow the deck down a bit. Once the combo hits, as long as they dont have lethal on the board I can't block, it should be over. I think this gives you a better chance at getting your combo off rather than hoping you get it off blazingly fast. Only one player I play with has power 9, so my opponents are not going to be hitting me with those type cards from the getgo.

[grimafacia]

certainly not fun, but no reason not to put a grindstone in the deck. Just play a singleton Iona, which you will get off of Tooth and Nail most of the time anyway.

[alphamale38]

That is just adding salt in the wound! It's bad enough i'm playing the Iona + Painters servant combo. On top of that I'm running a couple of Chaotic Backlashes for the 'unfair' aspect. I just don't have the temerity or gall to run Grindstones for the auto scoop. I'd like them to think they have SOME kind of chance, although I believe most will just scoop after the combo hits. Many of the guys I play with take a very dim view of those combo 'I win' locks, so I will be taking a hit just playing this one. Plus the Grindstone is a standard net deck which I detest (I justify the combo I am playing because I truly thought up the combo - along with a million others the first 10 seconds they heard about Iona before it hit the net with the combo). Basically i'm playing this in retaliation to a friends Mindslaver deck.