Thank you on the semblance anvil, although I can't really take credit. This list is basically the result of my reading everything I can find online about the deck and pulling together my favorite concepts and pieces.
I have a Sculpting Steel in the mail so I will swap out for the mizzium. I have to admit though the ability to use mizzium mid game to copy whatever lock piece I need and then copy my win-con late game seems strong. I'm going to build without it for now and just keep track of my mana availability as I play.
I swear I own a Tezzeret the Seeker, but I can't find it for my life at the moment so I'll have to add this to my shopping list the next time I'm out.
I pulled the Shimmer Myr based on your recommendation. I am a big fan of instant speed activity in multiplayer games as it keeps you relevant on other people's turns. Alchemist's Refuge has been HUGE for me in my Animar deck in the past.
Below is the final decklist from my build the other night.
Over all your list is really tight, makes it really hard to squeeze cards like these in. My recommendation would be to play the deck a few times, and see if there are any common denominators that dont seem to fit or perform as expected. For example, Brand looks great, but in the wrong meta, its a very dead draw. Same goes for Homeward Path - they heavily rely on your opponents packing theft tech.
I havent managed to get myself a copy of Drownyard Temple yet, i will probably pick it up after it rotates and is worth next to nothing. Let me know if you play test it to great effect.
SO! Eternal Masters has been very good to Mishra, looking forward to working these cards into the deck in the very near future (also, wanted to show off my new collection of x and y swords):
IN: Mana Crypt - Mo mana, mo awesome
OUT: Mana Web - Less awesome when we dont face counter magic
IN:
1 Mana Crypt - free mana in a storm deck is always a plus
1 Gamble - one of the cheapest tutors. fun little risky card
OUT:
1 Diabolic Tutor - Simply put? too expensive for use when comboing out
1 Fractured Powerstone - less mana efficient than crypt
So, due to my little one absorbing a lot of my nerd time, i have yet to playtest the voltron fun variant in person; but in my gold fishing it appears to be a tad slower than desired. I will be trimming the list a bit to include more mana rocks so we can drop some faster Mishra's so we can start swinging as early as possible. The deck might also need a few more strong equips for damage
Something inside me told me that artifacts were still fun, and I've decided to finish my Mishra deck (4 more cards to go!). A great little piece of tech I've found to be useful in my build is Ugin's Nexus. It's extremely easy to get the card into the grave and it can sometimes be a better version of Time Walk. It also doubles as a nice hate card, which is always helpful.
Ugin's Nexus is great tech vs a lot of annoying cards in the format. Everyone has that friend or has been that guy who takes 15 turns in a row, and its SO nice to ruin that jerk's day. Could be really abuseable with Goblin Welder too if you want to really want to be that jerk
Unfortunately, it exiles itself upon entering the yard, so it won't work like that. The only way I could see an infinite turn loop with the card would be with Prototype Portal.
So I played my Mishra deck for the first time in a few weeks the other day. I totally forgot what a lock Portcullis combined with Possibility Storm is for most decks... Including myself to a lesser degree lol
Portcullis is one of the few pieces of tech i blatantly stole from a friend after a game, and it was because of how powerful it was with my own lock on the board, I was just compelled to add it to my own deck, what a beautiful card!
Some gold fishing has shown some flaws with the voltron build, which i will be debuting this weekend. Not enough card draw / ramp to explode as early as we need to in order to be a proper threat. Probably will squeeze in some wheel effects (thanks Nekusar, you wont mind if we take those do you?) and add in more ramp artifacts at the cost of some of the mishra synergies. It sucks to lose a bit of the flavor of the deck, but in order to make it work, its a must have.
So last weekend I played only 2 games, hard to get out with the new baby. Both games I was testing Voltron out.
TL;DR - The variant is very casual. I got my ass kicked. I am going back to the drawing board on Stax, and would LOVE some community input on how to improve my stax variant.
Game 1: King Maker
Game went slowly, elf deck under Rhys the Redeemed, Thelon fungus, and Marchesa. I blew most of my answers keeping Rhys from going infinite. Had to chaos warm away a staff of domination when he went for a combo win with Elvish Archdruid, and generally spent the game keeping him in check. For what its worth, Steel Hellkite + sword of X and Y is an amazing synergy. Ended up outlasting Rhys, but at this point Thelon and Marchesa were both huge. I had the ability to seriously wound either of them, but wouldve left the game wide open for the other to simply win, so I scooped to let them duke it out rather than play king maker.
Learnings from this game: Wheel effects are HUGE and should be used fast and furious. Got a wheel with sword of feast and famine out, and just went nuts one turn, it was great. Also, fliers are great for carrying swords / jitte.
Game 2: Obliterated
My little brother switched to his Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury deck. If you have never played against her, she is the most frustrating commander to ever be against Mishra, simply because she is very difficult to hit with all her little bodies, and she can remove any sort of equipment that renders our creature unblockable, and when we do kill her, she generates enough ramp by herself that she gets replayed...THEN she draws a ton of cards to play with all that ramp. Shes about as ugly as an opponent gets for our deck. Little brother knew I was holding a trick or two up my sleeve, and just blew me out of the water early game. Wasn't even in the running at any point. Was honestly kinda brutal.
A card I've been having a lot of fun with is Myr Incubator. It seems really weak at first, but the reactions you get around the table when you suddenly blow out the table with a Battlsphere or Cranial Plating is priceless. It's probably not for serious builds, but fun nonetheless.
@Pithing Needle / Phyrexian Revoker - so for quite some time these cards have been hot buttons in my playgroup. I think since I am going full try hard with the stax variant, i will add them in. Before i had avoided them because it flips the table - it single handedly turns his deck off the same way his commander turns mine off. Since my brother and i play frequently, I tried to avoid single card hate like that. But I AM the elder brother, and i dont take kindly to getting whooped up on
After much deliberation, i have dropped Liliana of the Veil, Pendrell Mists, and Lodestone Golem from my stax variant. Basically, 4cc is too slow / clumsy, and Lili wasnt surviving in multiplayer.
Which of the lists you have do you think have the most potential to be converted into a budget list? I love the deck idea but would like to try and keep it under $100.
Which of the lists you have do you think have the most potential to be converted into a budget list? I love the deck idea but would like to try and keep it under $100.
This deck actually is easily converted to a budget build. My recommendation would be to take either the 'Robot army' or the '75%' build and try to convert those - that said, the 'Storm combo' isnt particularly expensive either; but its less versatile and frankly, gets old quick.
The things i would avoid in making this deck in a budget format:
Lands that enter play tapped - just use basics. Honestly, we run so many artifacts that mana color isnt a major issue
Cutting Mana rocks - this is how we ramp, super important. That said, there are tons of affordable options in this space, you dont need mana crypt or mox opal
Cutting card advantage completely - there are tons of budget draw options, like my pet card, Recurring Insight
Going to 1 win condition - Most important part of building a bomb is to build a spare. You dont need blightsteel colossus if you are saving money, but have a back up win method
I've finally gotten to the point where I am happy about my Mishra deck, so I've decided to post it here! The big performers in it are definitely Prototype Portal and Muzzio, Visionary Architect. I am also going to be putting a bunch of cards from CN2 into it, including the new Daretti and maybeShow and Tell. Any tips on what I should cut for those cards?
Its hard to recommend cards for cuts since thats normally a personal experience sort of thing. Also, hard to know what to cut when i dont know how many cards you are thinking of adding in. Any idea what you'll be adding?
Conspiracy 2 review incoming, havent had a chance to type it up yet, but i'll be adding in a day or two
Here is my set review for Conspiracy 2 for Mishra. Nothing really wow factor-y. I do like the new Daretti, but I am unsure how useful he will be in the long run - though I will be buying him. The Monarch mechanic is cool, and a nifty way to draw some extra cards over the course of the game, but we have tons of options to draw cards, and dont need something volatile that also paints a target on our head. Lots of cool reprints, but I will not cover those. Goad also seems very useful, but frankly, I didnt see much in the ways of useful goad cards for Mishra.
Blue
Expropriate - Nifty way to take an extra turn and a few permanents, but for 9 mana you should honestly play a game winning card. Time Stretch is a better slot imo since it guarantees 2 turns and that normally will win a game.
Covenant of Minds - More often than not, its 5 mana to get 3 cards. If not, its 5 mana for 5 cards. I am not really a fan either way.
Stunt Double - Clone got a flashy new upgrade #dadjokes
Red
Black
Capital Punishment - a bit pricey at 6cc, this card is going to cause some MAJOR discard and creature sacrificing. Could have potential in a staxy deck if you can stomach the mana cost.
Marchesa's Decree - not a great card, but really mean vs go wide strategies like infinite token generation. Basically makes attacking with 1/1s pointless to them if they are behind on life.
Deadly Designs - I love the political implications of this card. That said, I dont like that an opponent can force it to activate. I won't be running this card in Mishra, but i could see it as fun in a multiplayer team strategy deck.
Driver of the Dead - I don't like the 4cc, but this guy screams combo abuse to me. Also staxy fun times for sure.
Colorless
Multicolor
Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast - What a name. Firstly, great mana cost. Creates 1/1 construct tokens on his +1 which are useful. -1 is sac an artifact and you can destroy a creature or artifact, and his -6 is basically game over for our opponents if we get it off. I like him, am going to buy him, and he is the only card I am pleased to see in this set. Hate his art.
Normally I wouldn't pay attention to a coming set this early, and I know you do prefer to do the review once the whole set list drops... but this hit the net today and I think it's a bit up our alley Awesomeness
18 hour later edit: we are 7 cards in and I love this set -_-* help
Normally I wouldn't pay attention to a coming set this early, and I know you do prefer to do the review once the whole set list drops... but this hit the net today and I think it's a bit up our alley Awesomeness
18 hour later edit: we are 7 cards in and I love this set -_-* help
god i know that feel, this set cant come fast enough!!
Madcap Experiment
3R
Sorcery
Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal an artifact card. Put that card onto the battlefield and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. Madcap Experiment deals damage to you equal to the number of cards revealed this way.
Madcap Experiment
3R
Sorcery
Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal an artifact card. Put that card onto the battlefield and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. Madcap Experiment deals damage to you equal to the number of cards revealed this way.
Yeah, that one looks like an all-star for sure. Super excited for this set. Did you get any new alters Ulka?
Below is the final decklist from my build the other night.
1x Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
Mana Rocks (12)
1x Mox Opal
1x Sol Ring
1x Mana Vault
1x Grim Monolith
1x Everflowing Chalice
1x Mind Stone
1x Commander's Sphere
1x Chromatic Lantern
1x Basalt Monolith
1x Thran Dynamo
1x Hedron Archive
1x Gilded Lotus
Ramp (2)
1x Blood Funnel
1x Semblance Anvil
Lock Pieces (15)
1x Winter Orb
1x Thorn of Amethyst
1x Sphere of Resistance
1x Tangle Wire
1x Ensnaring Bridge
1x Mana Web
1x Trinisphere
1x Planar Chaos
1x Nether Void
1x Smokestack
1x Portcullis
1x Lodestone Golem
1x Possibility Storm
1x Ice Cave
1x Mindslaver
Search(6)
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Praetor's Grasp
1x Fabricate
1x Arcum Dagsson
1x Kuldotha Forgemaster
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Phyrexian Arena
1x Rhystic Study
1x Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
1x Trading Post
1x Mind's Eye
Recursion(4)
1x Goblin Welder
1x Myr Retriever
1x Junk Diver
1x Daretti, Scrap Savant
Copy Effects (3)
1x Mizzium Transreliquat
1x Phyrexian Metamorph
1x Mirrorworks
Reset Effects(5)
1x Hurkyl's Recall
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Oblivion Stone
1x Nevinyrral's Disk
1x All Is Dust
Value Creatures(5)
1x Hangerback Walker
1x Baleful Strix
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Karn, Silver Golem
1x Wurmcoil Engine
Global Effects(6)
1x Crucible of Worlds
1x Vedalken Orrery
1x Unwinding Clock
1x Myr Turbine
1x Mycosynth Lattice
1x Darksteel Forge
Lands (35)
2x Island
2x Swamp
1x Mountain
1x Mishra's Factory
1x Cavern of Souls
1x Kher Keep
1x Tectonic Edge
1x Ghost Quarter
1x Phyrexia's Core
1x Academy Ruins
1x Ancient Tomb
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Polluted Delta
1x Scalding Tarn
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Seat of the Synod
1x Vault of Whispers
1x Great Furnace
1x Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Command Tower
1x Sunken Ruins
1x Watery Grave
1x Drowned Catacomb
1x Temple of Deceit
1x Temple of Epiphany
1x Shivan Reef
1x Sulfurous Springs
1x Dragonskull Summit
1x Lavaclaw Reaches
1x Temple of Malice
1x Blood Crypt
I would love to find slots for the following (some are duplicate effects)
1x Drownyard Temple
1x Homeward Path
1x Brand
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Thirst for Knowledge
1x Fact or Fiction
1x Spine of Ish Sah
1x Voltaic Key
1x Blinkmoth Nexus
Over all your list is really tight, makes it really hard to squeeze cards like these in. My recommendation would be to play the deck a few times, and see if there are any common denominators that dont seem to fit or perform as expected. For example, Brand looks great, but in the wrong meta, its a very dead draw. Same goes for Homeward Path - they heavily rely on your opponents packing theft tech.
I havent managed to get myself a copy of Drownyard Temple yet, i will probably pick it up after it rotates and is worth next to nothing. Let me know if you play test it to great effect.
SO! Eternal Masters has been very good to Mishra, looking forward to working these cards into the deck in the very near future (also, wanted to show off my new collection of x and y swords):
Primer - Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
Thor, Ragnar Röks!
Hela, and the Enemies of Asgard
Teferi, Temporal Archmage
Mana Crypt - Mo mana, mo awesome
OUT:
Mana Web - Less awesome when we dont face counter magic
1 Mana Crypt - free mana in a storm deck is always a plus
1 Gamble - one of the cheapest tutors. fun little risky card
OUT:
1 Diabolic Tutor - Simply put? too expensive for use when comboing out
1 Fractured Powerstone - less mana efficient than crypt
1 sword of fire and ice - the swords of x and y make our creatures a lot scarier
1 sword of light and shadow
1 sword of body and mind
OUT:
1 Havengul Lich - Too pricy, too valuable to put in redzone
1 Chief Engineer - convoke means im not swinging
1 Slobad, Goblin Tinkerer - great in theory, never useful when i have him
Much experimenting will be done with these new changes!
Primer - Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
Thor, Ragnar Röks!
Hela, and the Enemies of Asgard
Teferi, Temporal Archmage
current front runners for the slot are:
Grappling Hook
Fireshrieker
Primer - Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
Thor, Ragnar Röks!
Hela, and the Enemies of Asgard
Teferi, Temporal Archmage
Primer - Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
Thor, Ragnar Röks!
Hela, and the Enemies of Asgard
Teferi, Temporal Archmage
Primer - Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
Thor, Ragnar Röks!
Hela, and the Enemies of Asgard
Teferi, Temporal Archmage
Modern: B 8RACK B
EDH: BRU Mishra, Artificer Prodigy BRU, W Kemba, Kha Regent W, B Ghoulcaller Gisa B, BU Oona, Queen of the Fae BU, G Seton, Krosan Protector G, BW Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim BW, R Purphoros, God of the Forge R, UGW Arcades, the Strategist UGW, GW Karametra, God of Harvests GW, GU Edric, Spymaster of Trest GU, UW Grand Arbiter Augustin IV UW, BRW Kaalia of the Vast BRW, BRU Nekusar, the Mindrazer BRU, BGWU Thrasios, Triton Hero/Tymna the Weaver BGWU
Some gold fishing has shown some flaws with the voltron build, which i will be debuting this weekend. Not enough card draw / ramp to explode as early as we need to in order to be a proper threat. Probably will squeeze in some wheel effects (thanks Nekusar, you wont mind if we take those do you?) and add in more ramp artifacts at the cost of some of the mishra synergies. It sucks to lose a bit of the flavor of the deck, but in order to make it work, its a must have.
Primer - Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
Thor, Ragnar Röks!
Hela, and the Enemies of Asgard
Teferi, Temporal Archmage
TL;DR - The variant is very casual. I got my ass kicked. I am going back to the drawing board on Stax, and would LOVE some community input on how to improve my stax variant.
Game 1: King Maker
Game went slowly, elf deck under Rhys the Redeemed, Thelon fungus, and Marchesa. I blew most of my answers keeping Rhys from going infinite. Had to chaos warm away a staff of domination when he went for a combo win with Elvish Archdruid, and generally spent the game keeping him in check. For what its worth, Steel Hellkite + sword of X and Y is an amazing synergy. Ended up outlasting Rhys, but at this point Thelon and Marchesa were both huge. I had the ability to seriously wound either of them, but wouldve left the game wide open for the other to simply win, so I scooped to let them duke it out rather than play king maker.
Learnings from this game: Wheel effects are HUGE and should be used fast and furious. Got a wheel with sword of feast and famine out, and just went nuts one turn, it was great. Also, fliers are great for carrying swords / jitte.
Game 2: Obliterated
My little brother switched to his Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury deck. If you have never played against her, she is the most frustrating commander to ever be against Mishra, simply because she is very difficult to hit with all her little bodies, and she can remove any sort of equipment that renders our creature unblockable, and when we do kill her, she generates enough ramp by herself that she gets replayed...THEN she draws a ton of cards to play with all that ramp. Shes about as ugly as an opponent gets for our deck. Little brother knew I was holding a trick or two up my sleeve, and just blew me out of the water early game. Wasn't even in the running at any point. Was honestly kinda brutal.
Primer - Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
Thor, Ragnar Röks!
Hela, and the Enemies of Asgard
Teferi, Temporal Archmage
Primer - Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
Thor, Ragnar Röks!
Hela, and the Enemies of Asgard
Teferi, Temporal Archmage
In their place, i have added Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, and Pithing Needle
Primer - Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
Thor, Ragnar Röks!
Hela, and the Enemies of Asgard
Teferi, Temporal Archmage
The things i would avoid in making this deck in a budget format:
Primer - Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
Thor, Ragnar Röks!
Hela, and the Enemies of Asgard
Teferi, Temporal Archmage
I apologize for my incompetence with the
1 Aether Spellbomb
1 Arcane Lighthouse
1 Arcum Dagsson
1 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
1 Blood Funnel
1 Bloodfell Caves
1 Bludgeon Brawl
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Brittle Effigy
1 Buried Ruin
1 Burnished Hart
1 Command Tower
1 Cranial Plating
1 Crystal Chimes
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Daretti, Scrap Savant
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Darksteel Forge
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Dimir Signet
1 Disciple of the Vault
1 Dismal Backwater
1 Dismember
1 Dragonlord Silumgar
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Etherium Sculptor
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Feldon of the Third Path
1 Goblin Welder
1 Grand Architect
1 Great Furnace
1 Hellkite Tyrant
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Inkwell Leviathan
7 Island
1 Izzet Signet
1 Junk Diver
1 Liquimetal Coating
1 March of the Machines
1 Metalworker
1 Mirrorworks
1 Mishra's Factory
7 Mountain
1 Muzzio, Visionary Architect
1 Myr Battlesphere
1 Myr Incubator
1 Myr Retriever
1 Myr Turbine
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Phyrexia's Core
1 Planar Chaos
1 Portcullis
1 Possibility Storm
1 Praetor's Grasp
1 Prototype Portal
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Rhystic Study
1 Rogue's Passage
1 Scrap Mastery
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Shivan Reef
1 Skullclamp
1 Slobad, Goblin Tinkerer
1 Sol Ring
1 Spine of Ish Sah
1 Spreading Plague
1 Steel Hellkite
6 Swamp
1 Swan Song
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Swiftwater Cliffs
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
1 Thada Adel, Acquisitor
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Trading Post
1 Ugin's Nexus
1 Vandalblast
1 Vault of Whispers
1 Vedalken Archmage
1 Wurmcoil Engine
Conspiracy 2 review incoming, havent had a chance to type it up yet, but i'll be adding in a day or two
Primer - Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
Thor, Ragnar Röks!
Hela, and the Enemies of Asgard
Teferi, Temporal Archmage
Here is my set review for Conspiracy 2 for Mishra. Nothing really wow factor-y. I do like the new Daretti, but I am unsure how useful he will be in the long run - though I will be buying him. The Monarch mechanic is cool, and a nifty way to draw some extra cards over the course of the game, but we have tons of options to draw cards, and dont need something volatile that also paints a target on our head. Lots of cool reprints, but I will not cover those. Goad also seems very useful, but frankly, I didnt see much in the ways of useful goad cards for Mishra.
Blue
Red
Black
Colorless
Multicolor
Primer - Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
Thor, Ragnar Röks!
Hela, and the Enemies of Asgard
Teferi, Temporal Archmage
Awesomeness
18 hour later edit: we are 7 cards in and I love this set -_-* help
Modern: B 8RACK B
EDH: BRU Mishra, Artificer Prodigy BRU, W Kemba, Kha Regent W, B Ghoulcaller Gisa B, BU Oona, Queen of the Fae BU, G Seton, Krosan Protector G, BW Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim BW, R Purphoros, God of the Forge R, UGW Arcades, the Strategist UGW, GW Karametra, God of Harvests GW, GU Edric, Spymaster of Trest GU, UW Grand Arbiter Augustin IV UW, BRW Kaalia of the Vast BRW, BRU Nekusar, the Mindrazer BRU, BGWU Thrasios, Triton Hero/Tymna the Weaver BGWU
Primer - Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
Thor, Ragnar Röks!
Hela, and the Enemies of Asgard
Teferi, Temporal Archmage
Madcap Experiment
3R
Sorcery
Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal an artifact card. Put that card onto the battlefield and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. Madcap Experiment deals damage to you equal to the number of cards revealed this way.
Primer - Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
Thor, Ragnar Röks!
Hela, and the Enemies of Asgard
Teferi, Temporal Archmage
Primer - Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
Thor, Ragnar Röks!
Hela, and the Enemies of Asgard
Teferi, Temporal Archmage