So, I set out to make another tempo deck, using early beaters, and then sufficient board control to make sure we can keep hitting the opponent for as long as it takes. It went 5 in a row before finally losing to a gruul monsters (top tier deck of our current META IMO) build that needed a twin bolt 2 for 1 nailing both elite vanguards I had in play, and 2 Chandra's Ignitions (the last of which was literally the only out he had in his entire deck) - I should mention that one of the other 5 was an absolute beating of another Gruel deck, so don't mistakenly assume this deck can't handle Gruul. When it takes that kind of luck to kill my streak, I usually think it's time to post the build, so here goes (some additional information below).
Decklist:
Dance Tapper - Aggro/Control (yes, this is a nod to MegaBeast's version, and it's extremely similar, but definitely not the same)
1 x
Kytheon, Hero of Akros3 x
Elite Vanguard3 x
Dauntless River Marshal1 x
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy4 x
Welkin Tern4 x
Grasp of the Hieromancer4 x
Disperse3 x
Jhessian Thief4 x
Frost Lynx3 x
Whirler Rogue4 x
Separatist Voidmage2 x
Willbreaker6 x
Plains10 x
Island2 x
Glacial Fortress4 x
Azorius Guildgate1 x
Evolving wildsSo, it should be obvious from the list that this deck is all about putting pressure on the opponent from the beginning, and beating them before they have a chance to get set up - or ruining whatever they set up. I put aggressive creatures in the early slots, everything must have at least 2 power, evasion and power is even better. Later slots provide even more evasion, control abilities, and or card advantage. It's pretty quick, but much more importantly, in most matches you will be the beatdown deck, but they may not notice that fact until it's too late.
Mulligans: the most basic thing to consider in your opening hand: do you have at least 1 drop, by turn 2? if you do, you are probably good to go - obvious land mulligans notwithstanding. You can play the deck differently, depending on your end game cards, but the 1 play by t2 is essential. Without it you are a slow crappy control deck, with no serious end game threats: e.g.: you are dead before you play your first land. With it, you should be constantly on the aggressive stance - even if they manage to hit your early plays with removal. (btw, I should mention, that your later game plays - such as Willbreaker - are much less likely to be removed, as they will need to expend a lot of their removal in order to handle your early threats)
I think most of the cards here don't really require any defending, except possibly
Welkin Tern, so I will address it and only it. The 2/1 flyer for 2 is actually an extremely aggressive card. If it hits for 6 damage, you probably win the game. You should be attacking with it each turn, and the only reason not to run it is in the event that you start noticing everyone running thopters. Right now, I'm not seeing that in my META, but should that change, I'd consider a different card -
or my Simic build, which will be posted later today, unless it's too similar to Hakeem's, in which case, (edit: my Simic build is not good enough until bfz, maybe try Hakeem's) I'd simply tell you to run his in the event of high Thopter likelihood.
FYI: Simic Tempo, trades the best 2 drop for Tempo builds -
Dauntless River Marshal - with the best 3 drop for Tempo -
Bounding Krasis and a few other 2/2s like
Undercity Troll, which combined will do a better job against a flood of 1/1 flyers.
In the event that you feel you must run this deck, and you want to handle thopters, I'd suggest a 4 for 4 trade Terns for either
Kinsbaile Skirmisher, or
Topan Freeblade (I prefer Freeblade, but both have their justifications in this deck, so user decide). With Skirmishers you gain some synergy with Willbreaker (probably not worth it), With Freeblade you gain some defense (but you probably don't need it), with both you lose evasion (and I really wanted the evasion).
Edit: possibly - 1 Jace, -1 Tern, +2
Harbinger of the Tides. If you do this, play harbinger as a 2 drop. The second ability is relevant, but having a 2/2 on t2 is the most important thing. It's the last 2 drop you should play, if you have options, but it should still be treated primarily as a bear. The return creature ability is only relevant if you draw him later, puttin 2/2s on the board to create pressure is the more important thing for this deck. You must be the early beat down if you want to win. Tempo only works if you are ahead.