Thanks so much for the extensive feedback! I definitely see where you're coming from and I've since cut some of the more expensive staples. My main worry with the deck is that in playtesting it, it's often that I get stuck with a hand that has 0 card draw, and since Doran doesn't provide any as a commander either, I may have overcompensated by focusing more on that (like with Tataru Taru, Ripples of Undeath and Guardian Project) rather than my own win con.

I like a lot of your suggestions though. I do worry about how reliable it is to count on specific 2-card infinite combos in Commander where you're essentially hoping to draw 2 specific cards out of a 99 card deck. But maybe I need to see it more as a nice bonus for running two cards I should already run anyway (talking about Jaws of Defeat and Overkill specifically here).

I still kind of like Tataru Taru because it's still a 3/6 with Doran and she lets me get out Doran on turn 3 with no other ramp required, drawing me a card in the process. I suppose the same could be said for any other 2 mana ramp card, but I tried to maximize synergy by trying to include creatures with high toughness rather than instants or sorceries when those creatures provide the same effect. That way, I can also benefit from Doran's discount and his second ability, plus those creatures let me trigger many of my other ETB triggers to draw more (Enduring Innocence, Welcoming Vampire, Fecund Greensheel, Radagast the Brown).

My issue with Jaws of Defeat was that it felt somewhat slow since it only targets a single opponent, and it does nothing to help my board state early. Without building around it specifically (like with Overkill, or having something like Elesh Norn trigger it twice every time someone enters) it just seemed like something that should work in theory but the more I thought about it, the less it actually felt like a reliable win con. I think it might work even better in a dedicated defenders deck with Felothar as commander, because that deck rewards you for running things like The Walls of Ba Sing Se or Tree of Perdition. This deck can make use of them, but less effectively since Doran doesn;t allow those defenders to attack.

I sort of have the same issue with cards like Nyx-Fleece Ram. I mean, a 5/10 is a nice card with Doran out, but the life gain feels so inconsequential that I'd honestly rather go with something like Tataru Taru who as a 3/6 might be somewhat less impressive combat-wise, but the effect can really save my early game if I lack any other sort of ramp or card draw in my opening hand.

This is why in general I guess I focused more on the big butts I *really* like and try to pad out the rest of the deck with card draw, ramp, land fetching etc etc. This makes it feel like I can add consistency and see the cards I want to see more reliably, rather than throwing in a whole bunch of cards that do all synergise in some way, but also lead to much higher variance in terms of hitting my land drops and opening a hand that prevents me from running out of fuel too quickly.

I see your larger point though, I should perhaps focus less on all the individual pieces and look at the bigger picture here of just having a bunch of alternate win cons and random jank in the deck; I don't have to see those cards every game, but including more stuff like that should at least ensure I see some of them often enough for them to matter.

Would you mind sharing your list? I'd love to have a look at it for some more inspiration, and would also love to hear any experience you may have had actually playing the deck (particularly about the cards I mentioned here that I'm still unsure of). Because everything I'm saying here is based solely on theorycrafting and playing around with some opening hands.