Maybe you can help me with this deck idea: A budget artifact ramp deck.
During my years as a casual magic player I think I battled every Artifact archetype that is out there. I got smashed by bigbaddudes that were Tinkered/Goblin Weldered/Master Transmutered into play, I was beeing overrun by Signal Pest + Chronomaton, lost against some combo decks with Unwinding Clock and unlimited creatures or turns, got crushed by Affinity, Tempered Steel, equipment decks, my lands were wrecked by Sundering Titan, I lost life in EDH due to Magister Sphinx, get robbed by Memnarch and Vedalken Shackles, saw Precursor Golem going nuts, suffered from Wurmcoil Engine coming back again and again with Skeleton shard and got beaten by the Egg, which was the worst combo experience ever, because I had to watch 10 minutes of shuffling, drawing and playing stuff until my opponent said "I win".
I realized that, apart from some mildly equipment focused decks, I actually don't own any artifact deck myself. Ha! Payback time! Now it is my turn to strike back with the strength of lifeless iron and steel.
War Report is almost always going to be strictly worse than Congregate but even then I don't see a compelling reason to field pure lifegain over Equipment such as Loxodon Warhammer.
Your deck has no significant source of card draw. I'd always field Endbringer over Scuttling Doom Engine for example. If you want a ramp-heavy build then Oblivion Sower is the way to go. At that point you can legitimately run 9+ CMC colorless bombs.
Voltaic Key is almost strictly worse than Unwinding Clock in your deck. Key should be cut either way even if you can't afford Clock. It doesn't do enough in your build.
Your 2 drops kind of suck. Does Hangarback Walker count as "budget" nowadays? It has so much synergy with so many of your cards.
@WetBanditMarv: Volatile Rig is in it for the player damage, not for mass removal. Besides it's a little bit pricey, Darksteel Forge+Nevinyrral's Disk is strong but too combo-ish for my meta, since it doesn't win directly and can lead to stall games and downtime. I'll stick with Prototype Portal + Scourglass which nearly feels too combo-ish, too . I saw your deck in your post, it's on a higher power and budget level than what I try here. Worn Powerstone is strong ramp but I think Everflowing Chalice, Hedron Archive and Mind Stone are equal replacemens. The Chalice is more flexible and can be turn two ramp if needed while the other ones can be turned into card draw in late game.
Metalwork Colossus is a tempting suggestion. It escaped somehow my radar, but on a second look, his function as an instant sac engine with no mana cost involved could earn him a place in the deck. I will try some goldfishing with him.
@Prid3: I think your suggestions covered most of my concerns with this deck. Bomat Bazaar Barge, Pierce Strider, Voltaic Key, the 2-drop creatures, the lack of card draw, this was all something I wondered about. Endbringer is a strong card but is already played in my meta by some people and doesn't fit the artifact theme, so I'll stick with the Doom engine. I'll also stick with Congregate because it's a trap card and we play team games regularly. Of course in pure FFA, lifelink on a stick is more powerful, especially with Volatile Rig.
Your 2 drops kind of suck. Does Hangarback Walker count as "budget" nowadays?
Well, not for me. 14 bucks for a playset is affordable but exceeds my budget limit and the rest of the deck is a little too goofy for spending this amount of money for it. So I am still searching for some early blockers. Anyways, your suggestions gave me enough input to try some more iterations of the deck, so thanks for the feedback!
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Maybe you can help me with this deck idea: A budget artifact ramp deck.
During my years as a casual magic player I think I battled every Artifact archetype that is out there. I got smashed by big bad dudes that were Tinkered/Goblin Weldered/Master Transmutered into play, I was beeing overrun by Signal Pest + Chronomaton, lost against some combo decks with Unwinding Clock and unlimited creatures or turns, got crushed by Affinity, Tempered Steel, equipment decks, my lands were wrecked by Sundering Titan, I lost life in EDH due to Magister Sphinx, get robbed by Memnarch and Vedalken Shackles, saw Precursor Golem going nuts, suffered from Wurmcoil Engine coming back again and again with Skeleton shard and got beaten by the Egg, which was the worst combo experience ever, because I had to watch 10 minutes of shuffling, drawing and playing stuff until my opponent said "I win".
I realized that, apart from some mildly equipment focused decks, I actually don't own any artifact deck myself. Ha! Payback time! Now it is my turn to strike back with the strength of lifeless iron and steel.
I searched around the database for budget cards that I can win/have fun with and ended up trying ramp with Everflowing Chalice and Hedron Archive into Volatile Rig and Scuttling Doom Engine. I like decks that are able to deal siginificant combat damage AND non-combat damage. Volatile Rig can kill mana dorks so no Renowned Weaponsmith, Etherium Sculptor and their like.
However, after lots of goldfishing later, the deck just doesn't get together and still feels clunky:
2 Myr Retriever
2 Perilous Myr
2 Bomat Bazaar Barge
2 Pierce Strider
4 Volatile Rig
4 Scuttling Doom Engine
1 Thopter Assembly
2 Myr Battlesphere
3 Everflowing Chalice
3 Hedron Archive
Other Artifacts 8
1 Voltaic Key
1 Strionic Resonator
1 Trading Post
2 Prototype Portal
1 Minion Reflector
2 Scourglass
3 War Report
Land 24
4 Boros Garrison
8 Plains
2 Forbidding Watchtower
2 Buried Ruin
2 Sequestered Stash
2 Inventors' Fair
2 Phyrexia's Core
1 Tomb of the Spirit Dragon
1 Urza's Factory
Any thoughts?
War Report is almost always going to be strictly worse than Congregate but even then I don't see a compelling reason to field pure lifegain over Equipment such as Loxodon Warhammer.
Your deck has no significant source of card draw. I'd always field Endbringer over Scuttling Doom Engine for example. If you want a ramp-heavy build then Oblivion Sower is the way to go. At that point you can legitimately run 9+ CMC colorless bombs.
Pierce Strider should be cut for Everflowing Chalice and Hedron Archive. You want the full 4 of each. Mind Stone could obviously be ran over Chalice too if desired.
Minion Reflector is both overcosted and underpowered and should be cut. Play Mimic Vat or Staff of Nin instead.
Voltaic Key is almost strictly worse than Unwinding Clock in your deck. Key should be cut either way even if you can't afford Clock. It doesn't do enough in your build.
Your 2 drops kind of suck. Does Hangarback Walker count as "budget" nowadays? It has so much synergy with so many of your cards.
I'd cut the 2x Bomat Bazaar Barge and play the full 4x Scourglass. It's a 5 mana Plague Wind + Back to Nature that's tutortable/recurrable with your lands. Seems like a no-brainer 4-of to me personally.
Forbidding Watchtower should be cut for another 2x Bounceland. This deck should never miss a land drop. Period.
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Metalwork Colossus is a tempting suggestion. It escaped somehow my radar, but on a second look, his function as an instant sac engine with no mana cost involved could earn him a place in the deck. I will try some goldfishing with him.
@Prid3: I think your suggestions covered most of my concerns with this deck. Bomat Bazaar Barge, Pierce Strider, Voltaic Key, the 2-drop creatures, the lack of card draw, this was all something I wondered about. Endbringer is a strong card but is already played in my meta by some people and doesn't fit the artifact theme, so I'll stick with the Doom engine. I'll also stick with Congregate because it's a trap card and we play team games regularly. Of course in pure FFA, lifelink on a stick is more powerful, especially with Volatile Rig.
Well, not for me. 14 bucks for a playset is affordable but exceeds my budget limit and the rest of the deck is a little too goofy for spending this amount of money for it. So I am still searching for some early blockers. Anyways, your suggestions gave me enough input to try some more iterations of the deck, so thanks for the feedback!