Helminator (BW. splashes U) (Legacy)

With the new bannings, there will be a (presumed) rise in Temur and Reanimator. Helminator actually does quite well against the two (at least in my experience), so I decided to rebuild the deck but this time instead of UB I decided to go Esper, though the blue is barely used.

Originally I ran the typical UB build with chalices and more tezzerets and the foundry sword combo. While I do think the deck has some strengths, I constantly found myself boarding out the helminator combo for sideboard cards. When it works, it fees great, but a lot of the time the cards felt dead in my hand. I knew the strengths of Helminator, but I do feel the chalice and control build of UB does not play into its strong points.

The main things about the Helminator combo is;
1) With Leyline of the Void out before the game begins, you basically get to cast one half of your combo free without worry of counters.
2) Leyline of the Void is not only half of your combo, but can mess up a lot of decks out there (even after the Deathrite Shaman ban). Some decks it interferes with are; Temur Delver, Reanimator, Storm (Cabal Rituals and Past in Flames), Dredge, and any deck utilizing Snapcaster Mage. The combo piece (that you can usuallyget out turn 0) will help with controlling your opponents by itself.
3)Besides Leyline of the Void, there is another card that can act in its place: Rest in Peace. It not only is much cheaper to cast, but helps when your leylines get Surgical Extracted.
4) While not as relevant as it used to be (especially after Deathrite Shaman) but it can not be Abrupt Decayed

Leyline of the Void has many benefits just by itself, with and without the combo. But the other piece is of course essiental; Helm of Obedience. Without it there is no combo, and because of this the rest of the deck helps set up a way to play it or get it on the battlefield without actual casting to make it as safe as possible. With Transmute Artifact and Tezzeret the Seeker using its -X ability to get Helm of Obedience, we can safely get it on the battlefield without worry. With all the discard spells we can not only remove counter spells but also gain information of the opponents hand to see if its safe to cast Helm or anything else. When you think it is safe to cast, then you cast it or tutor for it.

Now, if post board your helm of obedience gets Surgical Extracted (which won't be impossible with a turn 1 thoughtsieze and surgical paying two life) you can then win the game (though it will take time to build up) with either Tezzeret the Seeker making a bunch of signets into 5/5s or Jace the Mind Sculptor (who will probably be replaced with the 2019 Tezzeret or even possibly Teferi).

The black acts as pseudo counter spells but it also gives information about your opponent's hand. While some may think Thoughtsieze is better than Duress, the deck cares about the 2 life and Duress hits the things that a of our removal can not. For removal, the deck runs;
-3 Baleful Strix (draws you a card, has deathtouch, and can be transmuted to get helm)
-2 Cast Out (which can become a white cantrip late game to get what you need)
-2 Collective Brutality (which can also be a discard spell vs combo)
-4 Swords to Plowshares
-1 Terminus
-2 Ensnaring Bridge (not removal but most times the hand check will be at 0-2)

and in sideboard for removal we have

-1 Bontu's Last Reckoning (with signet's its drawbacks aren't as bad and it gets around cards like Gaddock Teeg)
-1 Collective Brutality
-1 Diabolic Edict
-1 Engineered Explosives

There is an abundance of removal, so all thats left is to pick apart their hand so you don't get comboed yourself.

The 1 of Hymn is just a placement card that I am testing out. Were I to remove it, I would do one of the following depending on playtesting and meta;

-1 Collective Brutality
-1 Terminus
-1 Duress
-1 Rest in Peace
-1 Azorius Signet
-1 Baleful Strix
-1 Toxic Deluge
-1 Engineered Explosives (from sideboard)

On Lands:
The lands are typically not easy to mess with. I fluctuate between 3 ancient tombs or 2 marsh flats and an extra swamp. The ancient tomb helps with the high cmc hands and early signets but can lead to awkward starters and even force mulligans.