Hi Paul,
nice that you started a detailed explanation. Before I start my detailed answer I understand that a lot of
these cards are really not super great but one lacks clearly better alternatives. Unfortunately I have not
yet put enough brainpower into it to propose alternatives (maybe I can add that in the future). Regarding
the cards discussed:
Bomat: I see that this card is nice in the case where you play it on turn one and it atks three times before
a power >2 sticks on the opps. side. The "cycle argument" is already diluted by the fact, that with quite
some counterspells in the deck you are not so often in pure topdeck mode where it is nice to cycle the card
right away. In turn, the card really sucks if your opp. sticks some random creature (e.g. turn 1 deathrite).
You also say in your decktech, that all creatures also have a relevance later in the game (which is a key
property for the deck to work I think). This however is often not the case with Bomat. I think I would really
replace him by some creature that has this impact.
Crop Rotation: The question for or against
crop rotation is, how bad it is to burn cards. I would think that
when playing against a similar or only slightly slower tempo deck, it might be quite relevant to not throw
away cards. So this is in the end a metagame call (and also a question to which matchups might want some
improvements).
I have to play with traverse for myself before saying more about this card. Without this experience it looks
a bit clunky to me, but I might be mistaken there.
Tarfire: I think, that
shock is not a card, I would play, because it just has too little of an impact.
(this also holds for all the alternatives you mentioned. They are either too shocklike or too slow (
sinkhole)
of too unreliable (mogis)). Also having only 2 cards as a payoff (goyf and travers) is a bit too few in a
deck without tutors.
Ray of Erasure: I currently feel like "
peek" would be a better replacement, because knowing the opps. hand
is quite helpful in this deck. Also it is a significant drawback, that you don't draw the card immediately.
Mirri: this is somehow similar to
crop rotation for me. If it is necessary to avoid burning cards, one might
want to cut this, otherwise it's ok.
Mystic Sanctuary: I really have a problem with cipt lands in this deck and when you draw this in your
first 10 cards it will probably come into play tapped. But I agree, that it has nice synergies, when you
search for it.
Other stuff worth mentioning:
Gut Shot: does again too little for my taste.
Pyroblast: why no
Red elemental blast?
Street Wraith: is it too bad?
Ash Barrens: ain't this a bit too expensive? What about
city of brass/
mana confluence?
Mana Leak: why no "
evasive action"?