I've been playing with the Shard of Patience for a while too (
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,36599.0.html). I tried this kind of deck too (it seems to make sense with the Flayer coz of his ability, right?) But it was always too slow and weak. It was 'fun', but never particularly good
I know your pain lol.
Somebody once suggested to me mitosis/water (instead of fractal) because you might be able to make a more stall-speed deck out of it, but I haven't tried it that myself! The other popular suggestion is Chimera since it won't be delayed on the turn you power the creatures up, but that's tricky too because you need gravity. Hm.
Nope! I don't really know how to say anything useful except, maybe throw in some CC? For instance, since you'll be hitting them with Fractal anyway, do you really need 6 Physalia? Just a thought.