Contacting Jace Beleren proved to be difficult as he is also a planeswalker. I was fortunate to hear from Max - one of the Rafiqs/Invokers of Bant - that he has means of getting in touch with Jace.
So I planeswalked and eventually found myself in one of Alara's shard: Bant. Bant is a world cut off from red and black mana, a haven of order, honor, and community. It's a shard of Alara where traditions have thrived, protected by innumerable knightly orders, warrior angels, and a caste system designed to support the good of the many over the good of the few. Without the magic of death and chaos there to threaten convention and stability, and with angels flying as tireless symbols of peace and justice, its community traditions have become codified into law. Its monks study the words of ancient prayers. Its mages and clerics practice magic of healing, prevention, protection, and growth. Its druids and laborers care for the rolling fields, bringing nourishment to the population. And its knights—the finest in all of Alara's shards, not that they'd know it—practice the codes and forms of martial perfection, weighed down by the medallions of honor and patronage known as sigils.
I had some trouble at first trying to convience the Bant that I would not like to join their fight. He started to withheld information. I had to resort to my spells just to get away. I forced him to purse me together with his army towards the northern portion of Bant. Unaware that during our initial talks i was already able to discern where Beleren was and managed to plant the seed of the illusion he was to chase in his mind. By the time the Rafiq realized he was misled, I was alread well on my way accross the plane with the knowledge I needed from Beleren.
Labels: Travel Log
Researching spells and gathering spell components was never easy. More so if the items you are looking for might be located in a different plane. I was currently lookign for the able to trace the Cryptic command spell and finally traced it one of the mountain mages willig to trade for it. That's what brought me to Lorwyn.
It was evident why the mountain mages would head down as some sort of festivities and a tournament was beilng held in one of the towns.
I quietly watched the proceedings, while continuing my search for the mountain mage. Even with the help of mind reading, it was still difficult to find one particular mage in the large throngs of people there.
I eventually persuaded the mage to part with his spell, which allowed me to watch the tournament itself. A lot of fights were happening but the main fight was between the smaller fold or what the natives called the kithkin.
From what I've learned, the kithkin of Lorwyn are peaceful farmers, but are fierce warriors when provoked. Their society is based on a type of collective consciousness called the thoughtweft. The thoughtweft connects the kithkin by a kind of empathic web, allowing them to share their emotions and thoughts, making them very effective in battle cooperation. They are quite superstitious, and their magic is often powder-based. Everything that is of cultural importance, like stories and customs, are found in the Book of Kith and Kin. Kithkin knights and soldiers ride into battle on springjacks, which they also raise for their wool and meat.
Physically, Lorwyn kithkin are shorter than their Dominarian counterparts, with stout bodies and thick limbs. Their faces are round and almost pumpkin-like, with highly expressive features.
One particular kithkin warrior emerged as a victor who goes by the name "Profeta". He seems to be a leader of sorts of in one of the native kithkin communities, but I did not stay to find out as I needed to head back to the Blind Eternities and back to my tasks.
Labels: Travel Log
Playing this deck can be a little more tricky than first thought, the main thing is to keep yourself alive and disrupt your opponents plans through counter and bounce etc. Laying sufficient speed bumps along the way.
The most important thing to remember is that you only need to make sure is that you can play your Sanity grinding WITH a Twincast without any fear of interruption. Obviously against most decks, this is not a problem, however against blue control decks you have to pilot more carefully. You have to force them to tap out at their EOT, whether that’s using a cryptic command to bounce their key board pieces, or even land, you need to make them use up their counter spell, out of the board, this is easier, as Memory plunder gives you that EOT boost, which usually utilised their Draw spells etc, or just gives you a MUST COUNTER spell. However, as soon as you are open, the game is set. If you can play three sanity grindings, whether that’s two sanity grindings and one twin cast, or one sanity grinding and two twin casts etc, you will normally win the game.
Things like Runed Halo aren’t that much of a problem, as you pack enough bounce, Cryptic Command, which you can Twincast if you need to bounce several permanents.
The problem with a lot of Sanity grinding decks, is they try to up their ratio far too much in terms of blue mana symbols, without making enough control, and then play other milling cards, which is not necessary, Twincast can give any spell a two mana edge of being copied, whether it’s a double cryptic at EOT, or your game winning Sanity grinding. There is no need to pack your deck with ways of milling, when you have a five mana way of doing it pretty much in one go!
Labels: Trading Card Game, twInsanity
Creatures: Sideboard
Vendilion Clique (4)
A good way to disrupt your opponent’s hand, as well as being a good attacker if needed, can block large fliers, and is 1UU. Replaces Plumeveil in match ups with 5cc decks.
Wall of Frost (4)
With the release of M2010, this card serves to buy you time against kithkin and other aggrro decks. Normally replaces dream francture vs Kithkin decks.
Spells: Sideboard
Memory Plunder (3)
This card is truly exceptional in this deck, a must play four of in the board, most of the time you put it in, you play EOT card draw, flame javelin, Ultimatum’s, wrath, or even more potent, is having an effective EIGHT cryptic commands in your deck, WOW! Joins Vendilion Cliques against 5cc decks effectively replacing sleep.
Flashfreeze (4)
If R/G is popular in your meta, this card tends to be pretty potent indeed. Normally replaces Broken Ambitions when facing off with elves.
Labels: Trading Card Game, twInsanity
Lands
Island (24)
Obviously
Shelldock Isle (4)
Amazing in this deck. Playing cryptic command for 2 mana etc, helps you seal the game up.
Labels: Trading Card Game, twInsanity
Spells
Sanity Grinding (4)
This is our win condition. The deck has enough blue cards that Sanity Grinding will likely be milling the opponent for a good portion of their deck.
Twincast (4)
Makes your win condition very potent. Twincast is very important here. Usually you're using it with your Sanity Grinding to finish off the game, but a lot of times it can make things go very well for you in offbeat scenarios. Imagine if your opponent ever plays a Cryptic Command—this card becomes absolutely absurd. I think playing a full four of this is extremely important to the archetype.
Cryptic Command (4)
Best control card in the format, also is triple blue.
Dream Fracture (4)
Control that helps your opponent draw more cards, bringing you closer to milling them.
Broken Ambitions (3)
Good counter spell, that also mills your opponent. Broken Ambitions is a very reasonable counter in any deck. It's especially strong in this deck because the clash actually becomes relevant.
Time warp (4)
This spell gives you that extra turn to set things up.
Sleep (4)
Slows your opponent down.
Jace Beleren (4)
A very important card, it helps you draw two cards a turn, and distracts your opponent, as the game goes on, he gets easier to protect, and can win the game with his ultimate, or stop them from winning in their upkeep with a burn spell, by making them draw in your turn.
Labels: Trading Card Game, twInsanity
Creatures
Plumeveil (4)
Effectively a kill spell, flashing it in as a blocker big enough to kill most early game creatures, then sits back as a brilliant defender. Plumeveil is probably our best anti-aggro tool. It slows the game down to a crawl. Conveniently, it also has three blue mana symbols in its mana cost, it helps make our Sanity Grinding extra juicy.
Labels: Trading Card Game, twInsanity
What is twInsanity?
twInSanity is one of the most powerful milling decks that T2 has seen for some time. Utilising the powerful Sanity Grinding and copying it with Twincast, the result is milling your opponent for upto forty cards in one go, enabling you to play cheap spells from your Shelldock Isle, and finish the match. 
Origins
As soon as the Eventide spoilers rolled round to show us the card that was Sanity Grinding, my mind leapt at the prospect of it’s new best friend Twincast. A match made in ‘rogue-deck builder’s’ heaven. As soon as the full spoiler came out, I threw together the deck, and tested in on MWS. After a few tweaks, I ended up surprising myself with the ability that the deck had to actually win games. Before long, I had built up a lot of good results via testing, then it was time for FNM. At FNM, the deck was amazing, and made me everybody’s hero for a day, and since then, the deck has grown in stature and popularity, claiming FNM’s across the globe, waiting for it’s chance at the big time!
Labels: Trading Card Game, twInsanity
Islands provide blue mana—the magic of the deep sea and the endless sky. Blue magic is about deceit, logic, and illusion. To a blue mage, information and knowledge are paramount. Blue mages want to know everything, and they'll go to any lengths to do so. When a blue mage fights, tidal waves crash against rocky cliffs, the wind whips out of stormy skies, and an enemy's spells fail as their creatures vanish into thin air.
Knowledge, manipulation, wind, and wave: These are the blue mage's tools.
Blue magic is reactive, calculated, and methodical. Its strength lies in patience and intelligence. Blue mages work behind the scenes, scheming and stealing secrets. They control their environments completely before making a move. Blue spells and abilities focus on prediction and illusion. Blue is also the color of technology and artifice. At their best, blue mages are inventive and progressive. At their worst, they are manipulative and treacherous.
Examples of blue spells include crashing waves, whirlpools of Æther, and even manipulations of time itself.
Blue-aligned creatures try to deceive their opponents or trick them into using magic in a way they didn't intend. Blue-aligned creatures often confuse, disguise themselves, or steal things from their enemies. Blue mages call wizards and weird beasts of the air and oceans to serve them. They summon crafty sphinxes, ferocious drakes, and elusive sprites. Titanic leviathans surface from the depths of the ocean to do their bidding.
Each of the five colors of magic has two ally colors and two enemy colors. Blue is allied with white and black. Blue and white mana share values of thoughtfulness, structure, and progress. Blue and black mana share values of secrecy, manipulation, and desire for omniscience.
Blue mana opposes red mana through the conflicts of water vs. fire, logic vs. emotion, and thought vs. action. Blue mana opposes green mana through the conflicts of the artificial vs. the natural, illusion vs. reality, and stultification vs. growth.
Labels: The Five Colors, The Multiverse
After the planeswalker spark ignites, one has the power to dedicate one’s life to a personal mission, whatever that may be. A planeswalker’s life is consumed with the exploration of the Multiverse, the discovery of strange secrets and experiences, and the plumbing of the depths of one’s own mystic soul. The life of a planeswalker is a life of choice and self-determination, unrestricted by the boundaries of world or fate. With the freedom to travel and the power of magic, each planeswalker has the power to carve his or her name on the face of history.
Labels: Planeswalkers, The Multiverse
The “Blind Eternities” is a somewhat poetic term for the space between planes. The Blind Eternities are a chaotic, logic-defying place of quasi-existence filled with raw potential called Æther. Only planeswalkers can survive there, and only for a limited time. Mortal beings without the planeswalker spark are soon destroyed by raw entropy and uncontained mana that suffuses the Blind Eternities.
Labels: The Multiverse
One in a million sentient beings are born with “the spark,” the ineffable essence that makes an individual capable of becoming a planeswalker. Of those born with “the spark,” even fewer “ignite” their spark, enabling them to realize their potential and travel the planes. Most planeswalkers have their spark ignited as the result of a great crisis or trauma, but every awakening is different. A near-death experience might ignite a planeswalker’s spark, but so could a sudden, life-changing epiphany or a meditative trance that enables the mage’s grasp of some transcendent truth. There are as many such stories as there are planeswalkers.
Labels: The Multiverse
In Magic: The Gathering, a planeswalker is a powerful mage who is able to travel across the planes of existence. There are infinite worlds across the Multiverse, and planeswalkers are unique in their ability to move from one world to the next, expanding their knowledge and power through the experiences they collect there.
Labels: The Multiverse