NinjaStill: Drawing Cards is Not Enough

So last night Ryan and I approximated the mono-blue ninja deck for some Legacy shenanigans.

It went about like this:
Creatures - 22 - 3 Ornithopter, 3 Mothdust Changeling, 3 Mistblade Shinobi, 3 Looter il-Kor, 4 Ninja of the Deep Hours, 4 Spellstutter Sprite, 2 Trinket Mage.
Spells - 18 - 2 Umezawa's Jitte, 1 Shuriken, 1 Relic of Progenitus, 4 Force of Will, 3 Spell Snare, 3 Stifle, 4 Standstill.
Land - 20 - 4 Mutavault, 1 Tolaria West, 1 Riptide Laboratory, 1 Wasteland, 1 Seat of Synod, 12 Islands.

We tested it about five games apiece against Team America, Aggro Loam, and Enchantress.
It was not very good. At least, after turn 5 or so it was basically shitty, on the balance.

The deck draws a lot of cards, and that is swell. However, most of the cards it draws just cause it to draw more cards.
Granted, this is not always a terrible strategy. A deck like Threshold plays 12 or so cantrips, only a handful of creatures and counters, and what would appear to be nowhere near enough land - like 17.
Threshold just uses the cantrips as a consistency engine, maximizing card quality while filling its graveyard for profit. The few creatures, counters and removal spells it plays are all top-notch - Goyf, FOW and Swords to Plowshares - and because it sculpts its hand so perfectly, the deck doesn't have to screw around with inferior filler spells.

This does not work with the ninja deck. In part I think this is because unlike Thresh, the deck has no means of filtering its draws. In part I think also it's because the creatures do not present a scary clock or even come close trading with Goyf, barring an active Jitte. Last but not least, Mistblade Shinobi is cute, but once the opponent re-plays his fatty and can block, his utility plummets.

Most games started with Ryan doing his best to keep me off Standstill. He was never happy when it resolved, and I would usually get in for 8 or 10 damage in the early turns, between Thopter-dropping Ninja of the Deep, and Spellstutter Sprite and Looter-il-Kor getting in for a few points. Somewhere in there I might Force of Will a Pernicious Deed or Spell Snare a Dark Confidant, whatever.
Once I ran out of counters, Ryan would resolve a Tarmogoyf and my ninjas would become useless. Messy combat would ensue and usually I would not draw enough threats to push through the final few points.

So. Scratch that off my list of decks to try, and file it under "danger of cool things."

In other news: Dreadstill + Elspeth = Red Bull gives this giant robotic worm from hell WIIIIIINNNGGSSSSSS..... (because the planeswalker makes the Dreadnought fly for extra win).

Still to come: Zur! The Enchanter. Plus: T2 - Dark Bant, without the dark?