I'll let you play it if I can play your soldier deck. :D

I played this 1v1 against Nick K. Won both matches... the second match I was able to stabilize after he got me down to 6 life. Talrand is insane if you can keep him on the board. You basically cast spells that 1) slow down your opponents game, 2) give you flying 2/2 drakes, and 3) increase the power of your Pike. So much value for playing a low mana cost spell.

I don't think this deck works without Talrand though. Without generating 2/2s, you will start taking big hits unless you have a Pike out. So if you only have one Talrand in your hand, you should cast it only if you have a counter spell at the ready. I might add Midnight Haunting to give me more blockers since Talrand can't come out until turn four (or later if you need counter mana up).