So I have this deck that I love using... It is an artifact toolbox of sorts, it has things like Master Transmuter, Grand Architect, Quicksilver Amulet, and artifact tutors that let you grab cards you need to deal with threats as they come... But the problem is, one of my buds only plays fast white aggro decks. Before I can actually start making plays.. he has creatures out that hit me for like 6-7 damage combined and I lose.... And if I get a nice card out that can give me a chance to do my combos, he will just exile it half the time.
What are some artifacts that I can use to keep me alive just long enough so I can start making some combos works? I remember there was an artifact that you could kick.. and it would counter any spell with the CMC depending on how much it was kicked.... That might stop my stuff getting exiled... I just don't know what it was called...
Anyways, does anybody have any suggestions that could keep an artifact deck alive early game long enough to let me start doing combos?
Thanks.
Edit: I've thrown in 4 Baleful Strix, they are nice and help alot.. But they are not enough.
Yes, that is exactly it. Thank you! I'm sure if I throw 4 (nvm, they are like 5 bucks each. But I might get a couple..) of those in it will help. Do you know of any more artifacts that would be useful?
One deck my opponent runs (but all aggro is pretty strong vs this deck atm) is a deck that lets him have a Boros Elite, cavalry pegasus, and Frontline Medic. By turn three and then start killing while all I have is a Grand Architect out, lol.
I'm playing UBW. Mostly blue ofc, then black, then some white. (I think I'm going to get rid of the white mana. Doesn't really justify for the few cards that use it.)
Depending on how competitive your decks are, Steel Wall might be all you need.
Against aggro decks, usually Ratchet Bomb and Engineered Explosives do a lot of work. If your opponent's playing mono-white, Porcelain Legionnaire may also be a good choice since it's hard for weenies to attack into. Perilous Myr may also make him hold back to avoid a 2-for-1.
[EDIT] Since you're in blue, may also want to just consider some cheap bounce and other delaying spells like Vapor Snag and Frost Breath.
Though I agree with Mondu, Trinisphere would absolutely wreck your friend. If you do use it keep in mind that when casting a spell you account for all additional costs (like kicker), then all cost reductions (like etherium sculptor), then if the total cost is less than three you apply trinisphere. So no matter what happens everything will cost three.
Why don't you play lightning greaves I used to have a casual deck similar to this called ricochet robots where you got master transmuter into play bounced an artefact land into your hand and dropped the darksteel colossus onto the table and booted him into the red zone.
I remember Grand Architect was a fringe in a Standard that had a strong mono-white aggro deck in it, with cards like Dispatch and Leonin Relic-Warder to exile Architect's artifacts and creatures. This seems similar.
Part of the solution was to run Grand Architect with 1- and 2-drops that can block as opposed to mostly 3- and 4-drops. Blue has a few options in that regard - Kraken Hatchling stands out there, but Hedron Crab is an option, and Phantasmal Bear is surprisingly good - most 2/2s die to any removal your opponent was running anyway, and a 2/2 for U often trades with your opponent's early creatures, before they get cross-pumped. Vedalken Certarch was often an option, because you ran enough artifacts that it was "on" most of the time.
At 2 CMC, you can run Chief Engineer (sort of a back up Grand Architect), or cards like Fog Bank. Again, they're good at blocking early stuff.
The idea is to cast, as much as possible, a 1-drop, 2-drop, Grand Architect, and then tap them all immediately for a strong, hard-to remove creature that establishes board control, like Wurmcoil Engine, although against a white weenie deck, you might do similarly well with Triskelion, or a card that doubles as removal and a blocker, like Duplicant, or the not-much-seen-anymore Contagion Engine to wipe his board. For situations where you can't curve perfectly, you include a few 4 CMC artifacts that would work, such as Silent Arbiter. If you're running Chief and Grand Architect, Myr Superion is very easily cast in your deck, and it's going to block just about anything they put out.
Then, on your subsequent turns, you just turn up the mana advantage with Treasure Mages. Eventually, they won't be able to keep up, particularly if you're running other draw spells.
This strategy is a little different from what was suggested above - running Propaganda, Ensnaring Bridge, etc - but it might be more in line with how you want your deck to function, which seems to be a blue ramp deck that does shenanigans on turn 4 and higher.
100x this. Especially if you play multiplayer with your friends, having 2 droplets on the battlefield will make them cry.I reember our playgroud kind of walked away from this card because it had a nasty habid of dragging on games
So I have this deck that I love using... It is an artifact toolbox of sorts, it has things like Master Transmuter, Grand Architect, Quicksilver Amulet, and artifact tutors that let you grab cards you need to deal with threats as they come... But the problem is, one of my buds only plays fast white aggro decks. Before I can actually start making plays.. he has creatures out that hit me for like 6-7 damage combined and I lose.... And if I get a nice card out that can give me a chance to do my combos, he will just exile it half the time.
What are some artifacts that I can use to keep me alive just long enough so I can start making some combos works? I remember there was an artifact that you could kick.. and it would counter any spell with the CMC depending on how much it was kicked.... That might stop my stuff getting exiled... I just don't know what it was called...
Anyways, does anybody have any suggestions that could keep an artifact deck alive early game long enough to let me start doing combos?
Thanks.
Edit: I've thrown in 4 Baleful Strix, they are nice and help alot.. But they are not enough.
Engineered Explosives
Nevinyrral's Disk
Ensnaring Bridge
Does it need to be an artifact? If you're playing UB for strix just throw in a drown in sorrow or toxic deluge or something
I will explain the deck better.... There are 4 Grand Architect. For these Grand Architects I have 4 Etherium Sculptor, 4 Baleful Strix, 2 Treasure Mage, 4 Master Transmuter, and 1 Arcum Dagsson. They are all blue so if I can get a few of them out I will be pumping so much mana I can either just pay for my big stuff like Platinum Angel, Sundering Titan, Steel Hellkite. Or just use Treasure Mage to tutor Blightsteel Colossus in and use Master Transmuter or Quicksilver Amulet. Thats the basic idea, I basically want to be able to live early game to be able to atleast get a Master Transmuter out without it dying, so I can flip things up and down to prevent Exile and also give me many more play options.
One deck my opponent runs (but all aggro is pretty strong vs this deck atm) is a deck that lets him have a Boros Elite, cavalry pegasus, and Frontline Medic. By turn three and then start killing while all I have is a Grand Architect out, lol.
I'm playing UBW. Mostly blue ofc, then black, then some white. (I think I'm going to get rid of the white mana. Doesn't really justify for the few cards that use it.)
"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
Against aggro decks, usually Ratchet Bomb and Engineered Explosives do a lot of work. If your opponent's playing mono-white, Porcelain Legionnaire may also be a good choice since it's hard for weenies to attack into. Perilous Myr may also make him hold back to avoid a 2-for-1.
[EDIT] Since you're in blue, may also want to just consider some cheap bounce and other delaying spells like Vapor Snag and Frost Breath.
If you're splashing black for baleful strix then there are a lot more options, including ways to just kill their guys, plus darkness.
Though I agree with Mondu, Trinisphere would absolutely wreck your friend. If you do use it keep in mind that when casting a spell you account for all additional costs (like kicker), then all cost reductions (like etherium sculptor), then if the total cost is less than three you apply trinisphere. So no matter what happens everything will cost three.
Yes, another list of decks sig.
R Daretti, Scrap Savant
WBR Zurgo Helmsmasher Equipment
BBB Erebos, God of the Dead Goodstuff
UBG The Mimeoplasm
URG All Creatures Animar, Soul of Elements
WB Teysa, Orzhov Scion sac and combo
WUB Sydri, Galvanic Genius
WUG Rafiq of the Many Aggro-Control
UBR Nekusar, The Mindrazer
WRG Mayael, the Anima
Casual:
BB Ad Nauseam Combo
BB Burn
I've got Swiftfoot Boots. lol
B Lover Since '09 ~
Standard:
meh.
Modern:
Urzatron GR
Vintage:
Contol-Slaver UBR
EDH:
Drana B
Jhoira UR
Savra BG
Turned into:
Adun Oakenshield BGR
Sharuum BUW
Turned into:
Memnarch U
KiKi-Jiki R
Turned into:
Godo R
Turned into:
Aurelia RW
The Mimeoplasm UBG
Rasputin Dreamweaver UW
Turned into:
Geist of Saint Traft -French 1v1 UW
Nekusar UBR
ensnaring bridge
Ethersworn Canonist
batterskull
and if you just want to speed yourself up, try metalworker
WGURBLands!WGURB
WGUInfectWGU
Legacy Lands Primer
Top 8 SCG Oakland 2014
Helpdesk
My Cube on CubeTutor
Δε φοβάμαι τίποτα...
Είμαι Άνεργος.
Grimstringer on Cockatrice, add me if you wanna
"A Plague on All Your Houses!" - Thespian's Stage Pox
Part of the solution was to run Grand Architect with 1- and 2-drops that can block as opposed to mostly 3- and 4-drops. Blue has a few options in that regard - Kraken Hatchling stands out there, but Hedron Crab is an option, and Phantasmal Bear is surprisingly good - most 2/2s die to any removal your opponent was running anyway, and a 2/2 for U often trades with your opponent's early creatures, before they get cross-pumped. Vedalken Certarch was often an option, because you ran enough artifacts that it was "on" most of the time.
At 2 CMC, you can run Chief Engineer (sort of a back up Grand Architect), or cards like Fog Bank. Again, they're good at blocking early stuff.
The idea is to cast, as much as possible, a 1-drop, 2-drop, Grand Architect, and then tap them all immediately for a strong, hard-to remove creature that establishes board control, like Wurmcoil Engine, although against a white weenie deck, you might do similarly well with Triskelion, or a card that doubles as removal and a blocker, like Duplicant, or the not-much-seen-anymore Contagion Engine to wipe his board. For situations where you can't curve perfectly, you include a few 4 CMC artifacts that would work, such as Silent Arbiter. If you're running Chief and Grand Architect, Myr Superion is very easily cast in your deck, and it's going to block just about anything they put out.
Then, on your subsequent turns, you just turn up the mana advantage with Treasure Mages. Eventually, they won't be able to keep up, particularly if you're running other draw spells.
This strategy is a little different from what was suggested above - running Propaganda, Ensnaring Bridge, etc - but it might be more in line with how you want your deck to function, which seems to be a blue ramp deck that does shenanigans on turn 4 and higher.
100x this. Especially if you play multiplayer with your friends, having 2 droplets on the battlefield will make them cry.I reember our playgroud kind of walked away from this card because it had a nasty habid of dragging on games