With Dynavolt Tower, Inspiring Statuary, Aethersphere Harvester, Cultivators Caravan, Lifecrafters Bestiary, Scrap Trawler, Electrostatic Pummeler, and many more quality targets, Trophy Mage will be a big part of Standard
That isn't enough to justify his slot
Typically the kinds of deck that want coverall counterspells also want to leave mana up to be reactive, having to tap five mana in your upkeep will make the turns following a Pact of Negation deeply uncomfortable until you have lots and lots of mana
Unexpected Results If youve ever had spare mana floating around in a game and nothing to do, then Unexpected Results is the spell for you
Meta Changes or New Players "Let's see how Assassin's Creed shakes up Modern before making any bans was a common phrase I heard throughout the PT weekend in Amsterdam
Azurite Sea helps make this deck more competitively viable than ever thanks mostly to the Half-Shark