So Living Death is one of my all-time favourite cards. I picked up a playset of Scrap Mastery when it first came out with the intention of trying to build something around it some day. I'm wondering what you guys think of the card, and what kind of shells you run it in (if you even play it at all).
One of my first ideas is to remove the black reanimation package (Animate Dead and Reanimate) from my Welder reanimator deck so I can keep it to 2 colours instead of 3. I was thinking I'd try something similar to this (very rough, mostly untested) list:
The deck should be pretty straight-forward, but a couple of notes: Intuition grabs a bunch of stuff and is the reason for running most of the creature package @ 2+ each. Running two copies of stuff like Duplicant and Sundering Titan means you have better access to that effect when you need it by ensuring one of the copies hits the bin, and ready to be welded or Daretti'd into play.
Greater Gargadon is something I'm thinking of testing for the ability to sac my artifacts with a Scrap Mastery on the stack, but it might be too cute. I don't need to worry too much about counter magic in my meta, but there is a possibility I get burned by one now and again. Am I better off removing the artifact lands so I'm not killing my own mana base by resolving a SM? While it would be nice to keep ALL my artifacts (non-creature and creature) in play and get some double-triggers to boot, there should be enough other recursion to still do broken things I have to sac some of my stuff that's already in play.
I'd like a couple more artifacts that would let me draw multiple cards (similar to what Memory Jar provides, though I accept there's probably nothing else that will be on the same power level). Stuff like Ichor Wellspring just doesn't seem to do enough per rotation (on paper, at least), though perhaps I'm being too critical? Any love for Loreseeker's Stone?
I know there's not many lands in the deck, but I am playing some broken mana producers in Sol Ring, Mana Vault, and the much less broken Lotus Bloom. There's a fair bit of looting going on too, so I'm hoping it will work out in practice. If a Welder sticks, I probably don't really need any more than 3 mana, but Daretti, Scrap Savant and Scrap Mastery are higher on the curve and are the only other cards that let me cheat fatties into play if Welder goes plowing or whatever. Am I being too greedy at 19 lands?
Lastly, the deck is currently at 62 cards, so I would like to cut at least one, if not two cards. I'm thinking I might shave a single [c]Scrap Mastery[c] for starters...
Thoughts? Suggestions welcome, even if it's a completely different deck. I'm curious to see how other people are using this card. I might brew up a janky UR proliferate themed deck too and see where that takes me
Thanks!
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Would you have any interest in building a "Wildfire deck" that abuses things like Greater Gargadon and Daretti? Suspend Gargadon, cast Daretti, resolve "Devastation," win game?
... and if you can't get up to that tier of bustedness, even Sol Ring, Gilded Lotus, Mana Vault, things like that? This is what I run in my cube alongside Metalworker, and while it's not quite so expensive, it's potentially almost as busted as the ones Prid3 listed.
People love drafting Tezzeret the Seeker alongside this stuff in my cube, too, so I'd recommend even looking at a single copy of him if possible (he's just been reprinted in MM2, so there should be a few cheaper copies of him floating around soon). He fishes all the rocks out of your deck and then ramps with them (and can fetch one of your bombs at a pinch if he's been left alone).
Also, shout out to Feldon of the Third Path. Another level of brokenness for this deck.
Thanks guys. For now, I'm trying to build with mostly what I have available/not in use. I mean, I wouldn't mind spending $50 or something to round out the deck, but the broken mana producers are obviously much more expensive than that. I know they're not really in the same league, but options I DO have are: 4 Basalt Monolith, 2 Gilded Lotus (but could buy the rest of the playset), 4 Worn Powerstone, 4 Everflowing Chalice (different mana rock, but abusable in the right deck), the Lotus Blooms, etc.
I also have a playset of Thran Dynamo and a few Tezzeret, the Seeker, but they're in another deck that I'd like to leave together if possible. If they're that crucial, I could look at what other types of options I'd have for that deck but casting kicked Rite of Replications is a bit mana intensive
I would certainly be interested in seeing what a Wildfire list might look like. I've never played one (I hardly ever play red at all) but I do love me some mass destruction, especially if it means blowing up lands at the same time I wouldn't be dropping $60 on Devastations though; are there any cheaper alternatives? Is there a way to abuse Devastating Dreams or something instead?
Tinker is obviously ridiculous, and I'm fine with including one. It was actually in my previous decklist that I used as a starting point for this deck but I must have deleted it by accident.
Actually, this would probably be quicker / easier to read if I just list the cards that have been suggested so far that I have available, as well as a few alternatives that I thought of off the top of my head:
Maybe fewer copies of Scrap Mastery? Keep in mind it's going to make you sacrifice like half your mana base (8 artifact lands out of 19 lands, Sol Ring, Mana Vault, other artifact mana you may add), so it becomes an extremely high risk investment. You either need to be sure you're going to win when you resolve it or have some way to quickly recover lost mana. Getting back Lotus Blooms help, but still... I wonder if you really need this as a 4-of, or if 2 copies will suffice for when your GY is stacked and you want shenanigans.
Since your goal is to reanimate creatures anyway, I also wonder if Living Death would be much better. Living Death won't threaten your manabase and also Wraths everyone else while you get your robots back. Scrap Mastery will pretty much not affect the opponents (maybe kill a Sol Ring or two), will probably cause you to lose mana, and gets robots (and dead mana) back. Seems like a more underwhelming affect for 5 mana.
If your goal is to abuse Scrap Mastery, I wonder if it would fit better in a deck that also wants to get back value noncreature artifacts (e.g. Chromatic Star, Ichor Wellspring, Time Sieve, Throne of Geth) than just robots.
Maybe fewer copies of Scrap Mastery? Keep in mind it's going to make you sacrifice like half your mana base (8 artifact lands out of 19 lands, Sol Ring, Mana Vault, other artifact mana you may add), so it becomes an extremely high risk investment. You either need to be sure you're going to win when you resolve it or have some way to quickly recover lost mana. Getting back Lotus Blooms help, but still... I wonder if you really need this as a 4-of, or if 2 copies will suffice for when your GY is stacked and you want shenanigans.
Since your goal is to reanimate creatures anyway, I also wonder if Living Death would be much better. Living Death won't threaten your manabase and also Wraths everyone else while you get your robots back. Scrap Mastery will pretty much not affect the opponents (maybe kill a Sol Ring or two), will probably cause you to lose mana, and gets robots (and dead mana) back. Seems like a more underwhelming affect for 5 mana.
If your goal is to abuse Scrap Mastery, I wonder if it would fit better in a deck that also wants to get back value noncreature artifacts (e.g. Chromatic Star, Ichor Wellspring, Time Sieve, Throne of Geth) than just robots.
Yeah, I'm already thinking 4 is too many for the sample list I posted. And yes, you're right, it will likely take some of my land with it, but that land is also prime fodder for Welding/Daretti's -2 as well and in the couple games I tested, I did get some lands + a Mana Vault or Lotus Bloom back from a Scrap Mastery too. Not saying it's going to be as beneficial as it may be detrimental, but the card works both says and, with a sac outlet on the table, it's possible that Scrap Mastery becomes a "free" spell a la the Urza's block spells.
What I don't want is to make another Living Death deck; I have one already and it's pretty good. My friends would surely say something if I were to make another one I want to try an artifact deck that aims to abuse a similar mechanic, and perhaps you're right... Maybe reanimating fat creatures isn't the best approach to take. I've got all kinds of nasty noncreature artifacts as well that I could try to abuse. But that's what I'm looking for in this thread: I'm wondering if anyone else on the forums has found a home for this card yet (and if they have a list they'd care to share), or even if they've tried it and retired it to the trade binder not long after
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I think you could make a really quirky and strong red-based artifact deck using Daretti, possibly other planeswalkers (blue Tezz?), 4 Throne of Geth, a couple Trading Post, and cantrip artifacts like Ichor Wellspring and Chromatic Star. Maybe Lux Cannon and something anti-aggro like Tangle Wire or Sun Droplet. Basically, its an RU control deck where you sacrifice cantrip artifacts to proliferate your Planeswalkers and Lux Cannon, then use the card draw and effects like Scrap Mastery to keep the fuel going. IMO that would be really fun and different to play. There's probably a way to power up that shell with good card choices.
So I gave up on the idea that my Goblin Welder deck would be better with Scrap Mastery and the other jank I tried to jam into it. If it ain't broken, don't try to fix it, right? So I took FTW1987's idea and kinda ran with that... To be honest, I was kinda surprised that it actually did something (no offence to you, FTW, but the list is really just a huge pile right now). Not only did it do something, but it managed to lock out the table in both games I played from about round 4 onward. Tangle Wire is indeed a b****.
Anyway, I had an early Tolarian Academy in both games, so maybe that had something to do with it... broken cards will do broken things, afterall. This leads me to wondering if I shouldn't be aiming to increase my odds of getting Academy online, though, and I'm already in major need to trimming/streamlining. So anyway, I'm hoping you guys can help with that! Here's the current list I'm working with:
A couple of notes: 4 Scrap Mastery seems like too many, considering I'll probably only need to resolve 1 (maybe 2) in most games... however, I want access to the effect early on in the game so I have it in hand as soon as I want to cast it. I can always pitch redundant copies to Daretti or Faithless Looting anyway. Thoughts?
Ichor Wellspring was an allstar. Best artifact to sac to Trading Post, hands down... In fact, it was kind of the only artifact I wanted to sac to the Post or Throne of Geth. So I'm thinking I might need a token producer (trying a single Pentavus for the time being, but will probably want at least one more of this effect, whatever it ends up being [you don't need to suggest how good Wurmcoil Engine would be here...]). The other option is to remove the 2 Throne of Geth and add an additional Trading Post (the flexibility is just really good), and one more Contagion Engine for the proliferate without the need for saccing an artifact.
Speaking of proliferate... Untapping on every turn thanks to Unwinding Clock means I can proliferate for 2 counters per player. The Everflowing Chalices quickly get beyond the point where you need any other mana source in order to activate the Contagion Engine. This will get the planeswalkers to ultimate territory in no time, and keep counters on your Tangle Wires (you likely won't even want to add counters here with each opportunity... I found I didn't need them all). It also means the Lux Cannons can tick up a lot faster as well.
Still a lot of one-of's in the deck... I did have a few copies of Artificer's Intuition in the deck for my test games. It was ok for tutoring up mana rocks in the early game while dumping high-cmc stuff into the bin for Scrap Mastery, but I pulled them for Tezzeret, the Seeker because it tutors AND it's a win condition, as much as I don't want to take them out of my other deck. The tutor effect is waaay stronger (albeit only usable once per turn) and the synergy with all the proliferating is hard to ignore.
Anyway, that's all I've got for now. I know it's a pile, but I'm really not expecting too much from this deck at all. I've got over 20 other decks already, most of which I would consider pretty strong in my metagame, so if I want better odds of winning I can play one of those. But sometimes it's nice to have some janky brews you can pull out when someone says "So I just made this deck and it's probably going to be terrible... if you guys also want to pull out your sh**** decks too, now's the time!!" Thanks for the suggestions!
EDIT: So I've done a bit more testing... I actually like have the 4 Scrap Mastery, I think. Got my board wiped by Bane of Progress and Fracturing Gust in two different games, was able to loot into a second Scrap Mastery and return every single artifact to play on my turn.
Also, I might leave a couple of copies of Artificer's Intuition in the deck afterall... I just found a really sweet win condition that's tutorable off of AI: Altar of the Brood!
Don't know if you'd actually want to sacrifice Doom Engine as fodder. Great body as an attacker, and 6 mana for Lava Axe@6 is not amazing. Wurmcoil probably wins for the 6cc slot if you're looking for one at all.
If you do want a dork that sacrifices well, there's always Solemn Simulacrum. Full of endless value. Seems like he'd go well with Trading Post.
e.g.
Cast Ichor. Draw.
Sac Ichor to draw. +2 cards.
Cast Solemn. +1 land.
Sac Solemn to recur Ichor. +1 card.
Cast Ichor. +5 LOLs.
Yeah, I considered the Engine but I think FTW is right. If it was each opponent? Maybe, but as it is, I'm not sure it's the 6 drop I'd choose to play.
Simulacrums are tied up in another deck atm, but they would probably do some work in this deck... However, what I feel like I need most right now is more looting effects. I need to see early Tangle Wires every game, and I need to be dumping more artifacts in my grave while I get closer to finding a Scrap Mastery. I played a couple games where I didn't see Faithless Looting or Daretti early enough, and then I just kind of durdled til I died.
Thirst for Knowledge is the type of card I need, I think. Or maybe Chromatic Star will be enough, as originally suggested. Something I can play from under Tangle Wire and further my gameplan would be ideal though... Anyway, I'll be back at some point with updates. Appreciate the suggestions, guys!
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Well, if you need to loot more and one issue is playing spells under Tangle Wire, you could just go ultra-simple with Careful Study, literally just adding more Faithless Lootings to your deck.
Not sure if anyone was actually waiting for the update I promised, but I figured I'd give the thread some closure anyway and thank those who made suggestions. Here's what I ended up going with after a fair bit of test games:
62 cards, but I don't care enough about the negligible loss of consistency to axe another card or two. And obviously the deck will fold to mass grave hate or Null Rod type effects, but those cards are pretty narrow and underplayed in my experience. Otherwise the deck is actually capable of winning some % of games, which is all I can really ask for out of such a janky brew
Anyway, if anyone has questions about certain inclusions, fire away. I'd be more than happy to elaborate, but most of it is probably pretty straightforward anyway. Thanks again!
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Hey Matthijs, thanks for taking an interest in the deck!
I actually win far more games with Inkmoth Nexus, and to a lesser extent, scoops to Tangle Wire soft-locks. Most times, I'll connect once or twice with Nexus when they're tapped down to Tangle Wire @7 or 8 counters, or after their stuff got blown up by a Nevinyrral's Disk and I can squeak through for a poison counter. Once they have one, then their fate is usually sealed because I generally have the means to proliferate them to death (often before they get to act again) via Throne of Geth and/or Contagion Engine, sometimes with Unwinding Clock providing additional untaps between my turn and theirs.
There's not much in the way of instant speed removal in my meta game, so I can kinda rely on Nexus to get in there for one on each player at some point. But if Swords to Plowshares or whatever is everywhere in your games, then you would probably want to consider going with a different wincon. I mentioned Altar of the Brood as a cheap, tutorable option since there can be a fair bit of re-entering of permanents with the Scrap Masterys, but it has the down side of taking more turns and potentially aiding graveyard strategies in the process. Whereas Nexus is a land that also kills people... Umm, pretty hard to argue with that one, right? Honestly, I would likely just add a Crucible of Worlds or more Nexuses to the list if I find that people start blowing them up, instead of looking for a different wincon altogether. I wouldn't want an infinite combo, and Wurmcoil Engines & Myr Battlespheres are already in like 3 different decks each so I wanted to do something different.
The deck plays fairly consistently, despite all the singletons. There's enough drawing going on to find the key pieces as you need them, but strong decks that can interact with you at key times, such as with counterspells or mass grave hate? Well you probably just lose. I'd include a couple Boseiju, Who Shelters All or something if they weren't busy in another deck, but I know this deck will never be one of my strongest decks and so I'm fine with it having some glaring weaknesses like that. Sometimes I like to give other people in my group a chance to win a game or two, ya know?
On the topic of weaknesses, I've actually found that mass artifact hate is *less* of a problem for the deck, as weird as that may sound. I've pretty much always had an additional Scrap Mastery or two in my hand as insurance in all the games the deck has won. With all the looting, I can almost always respond to Bane of Progress or Fracturing Gust effects by just bringing everything back the next turn, often with more cards in hand thanks to Ichor Wellspring and Chromatic Star triggers. And although I haven't had the chance to use it since adding it recently, Codex Shredder seemed like a good addition to the deck to buy back planeswalkers and Scrap Masterys, and it tutors with Tezz for the low cost of 1 loyalty.
The one thing I would caution if you're considering building a similar deck is that there is a degree of douchebaggery inherent in the Tangle Wire plan, which is both oppressive and simultaneously necessary to win most games, in my experience. It's one of the few disruptive elements in the deck and, without it, the deck would be a vulnerable to a lot more opposing strategies.
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Ah. I totally missed the poison theme. Thought the proliferate was for the planeswalkers.
Funny.
Though this deck's not my type (I'm more aggro) I'm very much interested in how to play Scrapmastery. My opponents are pretty weary of me having a filled graveyard do to Living Death and other fun and games with reanimation. So much so that these days I target their GY's more than my own.
So I'm trawling for ideas and cards.
Thanks for the explanation!
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So Living Death is one of my all-time favourite cards. I picked up a playset of Scrap Mastery when it first came out with the intention of trying to build something around it some day. I'm wondering what you guys think of the card, and what kind of shells you run it in (if you even play it at all).
One of my first ideas is to remove the black reanimation package (Animate Dead and Reanimate) from my Welder reanimator deck so I can keep it to 2 colours instead of 3. I was thinking I'd try something similar to this (very rough, mostly untested) list:
2x Duplicant
4x Goblin Welder
3x Greater Gargadon
1x Myr Battlesphere
1x Phyrexian Metamorph
2x Platinum Angel
2x Sundering Titan
2x Wurmcoil Engine
3x Daretti, Scrap Savant
Land (19)
2x Cascade Bluffs
1x Desolate Lighthouse
4x Great Furnace
3x Izzet Boilerworks
4x Seat of the Synod
4x Shivan Reef
1x Tolarian Academy
4x Faithless Looting
4x Scrap Mastery
Artifact (10)
1x Hammer of Purphoros
2x Lightning Greaves
4x Lotus Bloom
1x Mana Vault
1x Memory Jar
1x Sol Ring
4x Intuition
1x Thirst for Knowledge
The deck should be pretty straight-forward, but a couple of notes:
Intuition grabs a bunch of stuff and is the reason for running most of the creature package @ 2+ each. Running two copies of stuff like Duplicant and Sundering Titan means you have better access to that effect when you need it by ensuring one of the copies hits the bin, and ready to be welded or Daretti'd into play.
Greater Gargadon is something I'm thinking of testing for the ability to sac my artifacts with a Scrap Mastery on the stack, but it might be too cute. I don't need to worry too much about counter magic in my meta, but there is a possibility I get burned by one now and again. Am I better off removing the artifact lands so I'm not killing my own mana base by resolving a SM? While it would be nice to keep ALL my artifacts (non-creature and creature) in play and get some double-triggers to boot, there should be enough other recursion to still do broken things I have to sac some of my stuff that's already in play.
I'd like a couple more artifacts that would let me draw multiple cards (similar to what Memory Jar provides, though I accept there's probably nothing else that will be on the same power level). Stuff like Ichor Wellspring just doesn't seem to do enough per rotation (on paper, at least), though perhaps I'm being too critical? Any love for Loreseeker's Stone?
I know there's not many lands in the deck, but I am playing some broken mana producers in Sol Ring, Mana Vault, and the much less broken Lotus Bloom. There's a fair bit of looting going on too, so I'm hoping it will work out in practice. If a Welder sticks, I probably don't really need any more than 3 mana, but Daretti, Scrap Savant and Scrap Mastery are higher on the curve and are the only other cards that let me cheat fatties into play if Welder goes plowing or whatever. Am I being too greedy at 19 lands?
Lastly, the deck is currently at 62 cards, so I would like to cut at least one, if not two cards. I'm thinking I might shave a single [c]Scrap Mastery[c] for starters...
Thoughts? Suggestions welcome, even if it's a completely different deck. I'm curious to see how other people are using this card. I might brew up a janky UR proliferate themed deck too and see where that takes me
Thanks!
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UBG Tasigur Seedborn Control
WU Brago Bouncy Castle
WB Karlov Voltron
B Erebos/Drana MBC
R Feldon jank
Would you have any interest in building a "Wildfire deck" that abuses things like Greater Gargadon and Daretti? Suspend Gargadon, cast Daretti, resolve "Devastation," win game?
Would you rather build a generic UR broken deck with Thoughtcast, Tinker (+ Darksteel Colossus or whatever), Wheel of Fortune, etc? Fast mana, broken draw 7s, broken draw spells, that jazz?
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... and if you can't get up to that tier of bustedness, even Sol Ring, Gilded Lotus, Mana Vault, things like that? This is what I run in my cube alongside Metalworker, and while it's not quite so expensive, it's potentially almost as busted as the ones Prid3 listed.
People love drafting Tezzeret the Seeker alongside this stuff in my cube, too, so I'd recommend even looking at a single copy of him if possible (he's just been reprinted in MM2, so there should be a few cheaper copies of him floating around soon). He fishes all the rocks out of your deck and then ramps with them (and can fetch one of your bombs at a pinch if he's been left alone).
Also, shout out to Feldon of the Third Path. Another level of brokenness for this deck.
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I also have a playset of Thran Dynamo and a few Tezzeret, the Seeker, but they're in another deck that I'd like to leave together if possible. If they're that crucial, I could look at what other types of options I'd have for that deck but casting kicked Rite of Replications is a bit mana intensive
I would certainly be interested in seeing what a Wildfire list might look like. I've never played one (I hardly ever play red at all) but I do love me some mass destruction, especially if it means blowing up lands at the same time I wouldn't be dropping $60 on Devastations though; are there any cheaper alternatives? Is there a way to abuse Devastating Dreams or something instead?
For draw 7's, unfortunately I do not have any Wheel of Fortune and they're a bit pricey too. I have crappy alternatives in Wheel of Fate and Reforge the Soul. And Browbeats lol. Blue brings a Windfall, Jace's Archivist, probably others I can't recall at the moment.
Tinker is obviously ridiculous, and I'm fine with including one. It was actually in my previous decklist that I used as a starting point for this deck but I must have deleted it by accident.
Actually, this would probably be quicker / easier to read if I just list the cards that have been suggested so far that I have available, as well as a few alternatives that I thought of off the top of my head:
I'll think about it a bit today and maybe post some more ideas tonight if I can. Thanks!
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WB Karlov Voltron
B Erebos/Drana MBC
R Feldon jank
Since your goal is to reanimate creatures anyway, I also wonder if Living Death would be much better. Living Death won't threaten your manabase and also Wraths everyone else while you get your robots back. Scrap Mastery will pretty much not affect the opponents (maybe kill a Sol Ring or two), will probably cause you to lose mana, and gets robots (and dead mana) back. Seems like a more underwhelming affect for 5 mana.
If your goal is to abuse Scrap Mastery, I wonder if it would fit better in a deck that also wants to get back value noncreature artifacts (e.g. Chromatic Star, Ichor Wellspring, Time Sieve, Throne of Geth) than just robots.
What I don't want is to make another Living Death deck; I have one already and it's pretty good. My friends would surely say something if I were to make another one I want to try an artifact deck that aims to abuse a similar mechanic, and perhaps you're right... Maybe reanimating fat creatures isn't the best approach to take. I've got all kinds of nasty noncreature artifacts as well that I could try to abuse. But that's what I'm looking for in this thread: I'm wondering if anyone else on the forums has found a home for this card yet (and if they have a list they'd care to share), or even if they've tried it and retired it to the trade binder not long after
WUBG Atraxa Superfriends
WRBG Saskia's Angry
UBRG Yidris Valuetown
WUBR Breya "not just for infinite combos anymore" Etherium Shaper
mana]W[/mana]UR Narset the Nerfed
WBG Ghave counters madness
BRG Prossh, Token Master
UBG Tasigur Seedborn Control
WU Brago Bouncy Castle
WB Karlov Voltron
B Erebos/Drana MBC
R Feldon jank
Anyway, I had an early Tolarian Academy in both games, so maybe that had something to do with it... broken cards will do broken things, afterall. This leads me to wondering if I shouldn't be aiming to increase my odds of getting Academy online, though, and I'm already in major need to trimming/streamlining. So anyway, I'm hoping you guys can help with that! Here's the current list I'm working with:
1x Claws of Gix
1x Contagion Engine
3x Everflowing Chalice
1x Expedition Map
4x Ichor Wellspring
2x Lux Cannon
1x Mana Vault
1x Meekstone
1x Memory Jar
1x Mirrorworks
1x Mycosynth Lattice
1x Sol Ring
4x Tangle Wire
2x Throne of Geth
2x Trading Post
2x Unwinding Clock
1x Academy Ruins
1x Desolate Lighthouse
1x Great Furnace
7x Island
2x Inkmoth Nexus
4x Izzet Boilerworks
7x Mountain
1x Seat of the Synod
1x Tolarian Academy
Sorcery (10)
4x Faithless Looting
4x Scrap Mastery
1x Tinker
1x Windfall
3x Daretti, Scrap Savant
3x Tezzeret the Seeker
Creature (1)
1x Pentavus
A couple of notes: 4 Scrap Mastery seems like too many, considering I'll probably only need to resolve 1 (maybe 2) in most games... however, I want access to the effect early on in the game so I have it in hand as soon as I want to cast it. I can always pitch redundant copies to Daretti or Faithless Looting anyway. Thoughts?
Ichor Wellspring was an allstar. Best artifact to sac to Trading Post, hands down... In fact, it was kind of the only artifact I wanted to sac to the Post or Throne of Geth. So I'm thinking I might need a token producer (trying a single Pentavus for the time being, but will probably want at least one more of this effect, whatever it ends up being [you don't need to suggest how good Wurmcoil Engine would be here...]). The other option is to remove the 2 Throne of Geth and add an additional Trading Post (the flexibility is just really good), and one more Contagion Engine for the proliferate without the need for saccing an artifact.
Speaking of proliferate... Untapping on every turn thanks to Unwinding Clock means I can proliferate for 2 counters per player. The Everflowing Chalices quickly get beyond the point where you need any other mana source in order to activate the Contagion Engine. This will get the planeswalkers to ultimate territory in no time, and keep counters on your Tangle Wires (you likely won't even want to add counters here with each opportunity... I found I didn't need them all). It also means the Lux Cannons can tick up a lot faster as well.
Still a lot of one-of's in the deck... I did have a few copies of Artificer's Intuition in the deck for my test games. It was ok for tutoring up mana rocks in the early game while dumping high-cmc stuff into the bin for Scrap Mastery, but I pulled them for Tezzeret, the Seeker because it tutors AND it's a win condition, as much as I don't want to take them out of my other deck. The tutor effect is waaay stronger (albeit only usable once per turn) and the synergy with all the proliferating is hard to ignore.
Anyway, that's all I've got for now. I know it's a pile, but I'm really not expecting too much from this deck at all. I've got over 20 other decks already, most of which I would consider pretty strong in my metagame, so if I want better odds of winning I can play one of those. But sometimes it's nice to have some janky brews you can pull out when someone says "So I just made this deck and it's probably going to be terrible... if you guys also want to pull out your sh**** decks too, now's the time!!" Thanks for the suggestions!
EDIT: So I've done a bit more testing... I actually like have the 4 Scrap Mastery, I think. Got my board wiped by Bane of Progress and Fracturing Gust in two different games, was able to loot into a second Scrap Mastery and return every single artifact to play on my turn.
Also, I might leave a couple of copies of Artificer's Intuition in the deck afterall... I just found a really sweet win condition that's tutorable off of AI: Altar of the Brood!
Might actually be on to something here
WUBG Atraxa Superfriends
WRBG Saskia's Angry
UBRG Yidris Valuetown
WUBR Breya "not just for infinite combos anymore" Etherium Shaper
mana]W[/mana]UR Narset the Nerfed
WBG Ghave counters madness
BRG Prossh, Token Master
UBG Tasigur Seedborn Control
WU Brago Bouncy Castle
WB Karlov Voltron
B Erebos/Drana MBC
R Feldon jank
If you do want a dork that sacrifices well, there's always Solemn Simulacrum. Full of endless value. Seems like he'd go well with Trading Post.
e.g.
Cast Ichor. Draw.
Sac Ichor to draw. +2 cards.
Cast Solemn. +1 land.
Sac Solemn to recur Ichor. +1 card.
Cast Ichor. +5 LOLs.
Simulacrums are tied up in another deck atm, but they would probably do some work in this deck... However, what I feel like I need most right now is more looting effects. I need to see early Tangle Wires every game, and I need to be dumping more artifacts in my grave while I get closer to finding a Scrap Mastery. I played a couple games where I didn't see Faithless Looting or Daretti early enough, and then I just kind of durdled til I died.
Thirst for Knowledge is the type of card I need, I think. Or maybe Chromatic Star will be enough, as originally suggested. Something I can play from under Tangle Wire and further my gameplan would be ideal though... Anyway, I'll be back at some point with updates. Appreciate the suggestions, guys!
WUBG Atraxa Superfriends
WRBG Saskia's Angry
UBRG Yidris Valuetown
WUBR Breya "not just for infinite combos anymore" Etherium Shaper
mana]W[/mana]UR Narset the Nerfed
WBG Ghave counters madness
BRG Prossh, Token Master
UBG Tasigur Seedborn Control
WU Brago Bouncy Castle
WB Karlov Voltron
B Erebos/Drana MBC
R Feldon jank
3x Chromatic Star
1x Claws of Gix
1x Codex Shredder
1x Contagion Engine
1x Expedition Map
4x Ichor Wellspring
1x Mana Vault
3x Nevinyrral's Disk
1x Sol Ring
1x Spine of Ish Sah
4x Tangle Wire
2x Throne of Geth
1x Unwinding Clock
1x Academy Ruins
4x Great Furnace
2x Inkmoth Nexus
3x Island
4x Izzet Boilerworks
4x Mountain
4x Seat of the Synod
1x Tolarian Academy
4x Faithless Looting
4x Scrap Mastery
1x Tinker
Planeswalker (6)
3x Daretti, Scrap Savant
3x Tezzeret the Seeker
62 cards, but I don't care enough about the negligible loss of consistency to axe another card or two. And obviously the deck will fold to mass grave hate or Null Rod type effects, but those cards are pretty narrow and underplayed in my experience. Otherwise the deck is actually capable of winning some % of games, which is all I can really ask for out of such a janky brew
Anyway, if anyone has questions about certain inclusions, fire away. I'd be more than happy to elaborate, but most of it is probably pretty straightforward anyway. Thanks again!
WUBG Atraxa Superfriends
WRBG Saskia's Angry
UBRG Yidris Valuetown
WUBR Breya "not just for infinite combos anymore" Etherium Shaper
mana]W[/mana]UR Narset the Nerfed
WBG Ghave counters madness
BRG Prossh, Token Master
UBG Tasigur Seedborn Control
WU Brago Bouncy Castle
WB Karlov Voltron
B Erebos/Drana MBC
R Feldon jank
Are you happy with how it plays?
How did it interact in your meta?
Regards, Matthijs.
My meta: 3 or 4 player free for all, anything goes but boring games or broken decks cause a vote to end that game.
I actually win far more games with Inkmoth Nexus, and to a lesser extent, scoops to Tangle Wire soft-locks. Most times, I'll connect once or twice with Nexus when they're tapped down to Tangle Wire @7 or 8 counters, or after their stuff got blown up by a Nevinyrral's Disk and I can squeak through for a poison counter. Once they have one, then their fate is usually sealed because I generally have the means to proliferate them to death (often before they get to act again) via Throne of Geth and/or Contagion Engine, sometimes with Unwinding Clock providing additional untaps between my turn and theirs.
There's not much in the way of instant speed removal in my meta game, so I can kinda rely on Nexus to get in there for one on each player at some point. But if Swords to Plowshares or whatever is everywhere in your games, then you would probably want to consider going with a different wincon. I mentioned Altar of the Brood as a cheap, tutorable option since there can be a fair bit of re-entering of permanents with the Scrap Masterys, but it has the down side of taking more turns and potentially aiding graveyard strategies in the process. Whereas Nexus is a land that also kills people... Umm, pretty hard to argue with that one, right? Honestly, I would likely just add a Crucible of Worlds or more Nexuses to the list if I find that people start blowing them up, instead of looking for a different wincon altogether. I wouldn't want an infinite combo, and Wurmcoil Engines & Myr Battlespheres are already in like 3 different decks each so I wanted to do something different.
The deck plays fairly consistently, despite all the singletons. There's enough drawing going on to find the key pieces as you need them, but strong decks that can interact with you at key times, such as with counterspells or mass grave hate? Well you probably just lose. I'd include a couple Boseiju, Who Shelters All or something if they weren't busy in another deck, but I know this deck will never be one of my strongest decks and so I'm fine with it having some glaring weaknesses like that. Sometimes I like to give other people in my group a chance to win a game or two, ya know?
On the topic of weaknesses, I've actually found that mass artifact hate is *less* of a problem for the deck, as weird as that may sound. I've pretty much always had an additional Scrap Mastery or two in my hand as insurance in all the games the deck has won. With all the looting, I can almost always respond to Bane of Progress or Fracturing Gust effects by just bringing everything back the next turn, often with more cards in hand thanks to Ichor Wellspring and Chromatic Star triggers. And although I haven't had the chance to use it since adding it recently, Codex Shredder seemed like a good addition to the deck to buy back planeswalkers and Scrap Masterys, and it tutors with Tezz for the low cost of 1 loyalty.
The one thing I would caution if you're considering building a similar deck is that there is a degree of douchebaggery inherent in the Tangle Wire plan, which is both oppressive and simultaneously necessary to win most games, in my experience. It's one of the few disruptive elements in the deck and, without it, the deck would be a vulnerable to a lot more opposing strategies.
WUBG Atraxa Superfriends
WRBG Saskia's Angry
UBRG Yidris Valuetown
WUBR Breya "not just for infinite combos anymore" Etherium Shaper
mana]W[/mana]UR Narset the Nerfed
WBG Ghave counters madness
BRG Prossh, Token Master
UBG Tasigur Seedborn Control
WU Brago Bouncy Castle
WB Karlov Voltron
B Erebos/Drana MBC
R Feldon jank
Funny.
Though this deck's not my type (I'm more aggro) I'm very much interested in how to play Scrapmastery. My opponents are pretty weary of me having a filled graveyard do to Living Death and other fun and games with reanimation. So much so that these days I target their GY's more than my own.
So I'm trawling for ideas and cards.
Thanks for the explanation!
My meta: 3 or 4 player free for all, anything goes but boring games or broken decks cause a vote to end that game.