MTG Salvation

Since I am a player whom is limited by budgeting quite a bit, I was a bit late to the C16 Party and didn't want to run into the issues which I had with C15 where I was forced to wait it out too long and missed out pretty much on picking up Meren for a decent price. Funnily enough, Breya wasn't exactly the deck that initially stood out to me, as I was more tempted by Atraxa and Yidris when they were spoiled. Yidris got pushed out quickly enough since while Cascading stuff looks like fun, I don't consider myself a Storm player and with that I'm more likely to whiff than to land the surprise wins. Atraxa meant going more like a good stuff route for me, using her with Odric to spread the evergreen. Now, I prefer more synergistic decks and Breya ended up sparking my interest around this time and seeing that I don't do much combo-centric stuff in my other decks I figured that this would be a good way to go.

So, with that I began working on my draft for a Breya, Etherium Shaper deck, getting some inspiration of other decks and thus using some of the more common combos that are being used with her. Now, a lot of times my decks try to do their own little thing due to the themes and such and with Breya I wanted it to be having more of an impact, so I wanted to somewhat center it around artifact production and getting damage with Reckless Fireweaver, Disciple of the Vault and Marionette Master. That and some budgeting was what got me to the first version of the deck.

I made some minor tweaks after the first games with it, but enjoyed how the deck is playing out so far. However, with Aether Revolt just around the corner and the spoilers out, I got more excited to tweak the deck a fair bit more and give it more a direction and one card specifically has done so: Mechanized Production. It's a perfect fit for the style of Breya I want to run and with a few other cards I've been able to smoothen out the list.

Due to some nice pulls during my AER prerelease I was able to trade for a few additional pieces for this deck, but the mana base is still somewhat budgeted. There are no fetches and shocks in the list due to that, I might see about adding them over time but they don't have any priorities for me at the moment, since I've been putting a lot into this deck lately already. The main focus is going to be on smoothening out the deck, tweaking the curve and taking out less efficient cards to make the deck more coherent.

So, some things of note, other than the limits imposed on me by budgeting. Obviously, I don't intend this to be a good stuff deck and use a lot of tutors to get quickly to win conditions, it keeps things from growing too repetitively. This deck runs more tutoring effects than most my decks as it is already and don't intend to push it further in that regard. While Blightsteel Colossus would be quite efficient in this deck as a win condition, it does lean towards the good stuff a bit too much and foremost I don't like to run it because I don't enjoy having infect as my win condition in Commander.

As mentioned before I'm not playing combo a lot in my decks, but Breya is lending herself to it so it's my attempt at dabbling in it. Obviously, there are quite a few of them and while I added a few of the common ones, I'm not adding all of them and have it all about churning out a combo as quickly as can be. So, for example, I decided not include the Pili-Pala/Grand Architect combo. And while Aether Revolt has made Saheeli Rai more interesting, she simply wasn't working out in this deck for me.

Changelog :

So got my first few trial games in and the deck been doing decently, the match ups weren't good enough to really push the deck but that was to be expected since it was a quite casual game night. It was just to get a feel for the draws and the way the mana base is set up so far, but am liking where the deck is going.

Finally found a Krark-Clan Ironworks so hoping to get that in somewhere next week along with a few pain lands to reduce the CIPT lands a bit more.

Saheeli Rai has been somewhat disappointing so far, so might consider taking it out for something that will do more. Noxious Gearhulk still remains an option in the long run, or maybe Skysovereign, Consul Flagship could make a nice splash.

I threw together a Breya list recently and I really like how it plays. Looking at your list, I would highly recommend running Blightsteel Colossus. It's a great target for Kuldotha Forgemaster, Sphinx Summoner + Master Transmuter, and Saheeli Rai. Since Infect rules don't change in commander, he straight up ends games. Gives an alternate wincon if you can't get there with the token strategy.

Blightsteel Colossus could be a great addition to some, but I don't get too much joy out of playing infect and thus I'm not likely to run it out of personal preferences.

With Aether Revolt coming out and having a few games under the belt with this deck, I started working on updating and streamlining the deck a bit more. The changes won't be just adding in new cards but I plan on making a few other changes and upgrades while at it. Of course, its still a wait until my preordered cards will arrive, but these are the planned changes so far:


So a few small changes are being made to the mana base, it's still fairly budget but the tweaks should smoothen things out a bit more. Spire of Industry is an obvious inclusion in such a heavy artifact build and well being able to generate all colors just helps a lot. Since my LGS had a Reflecting Pool in stock this week, I decided to bring it in as well to help with the mana production. Initially, I wasn't too sure on Ash Barrens in this deck, but after some play in my other deck I decided it was worth bringing it back in. For cuts, I felt safe enough with going down one Swamp, though don't want to lower the amount of basics too much. While Tri-Lands are obviously good in a four color build, I wanted to bring down the CIPT lands a bit so I cut one of the four; the deck is heavier on the blue so since Nomad Outpost doesn't produce blue it got the axe. The final land cut was a bit tougher to make, but decided to drop Battlefield Forge. Pain lands can be efficient in this deck but with the tweaks that are being made this one just feels in the wrong colors for what I need most.

To increase the efficiency a bit, I am bringing in a few new win conditions. Mechanized Production being the main new one in that regard and a lot of the other changes are made to help fill the requirements for this card. Clever Impersonator can double up any token producing, though it can also become a second copy of Production. Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast is definitely geared to helping with that, I still am considering the other Daretti but I left it in for the moment. Since we do have a minor +1/+1 counter theme Thopter Squadron becomes more effective to warrant inclusion, especially with the presence of some blink effects. Confirm Suspicions helps protect our win conditions while also churning out tokens that can bring us close to a win. Swan Song makes a return as a means to protect our win conditions but can help interrupt an opponent as well if needed. Walking Ballista is coming in as more a back up win condition, It's a mana sink if needed, can be spot removal and together with Cathars' Crusade and some token generation it can become a machine gun in this deck.

While Pia and Kiran Nalaar been doing decently in the deck, I decided to take it out due to the double red it requires to cast. Ghirapur Æther Grid gets added instead since it allows me to get extra use out of the artifact tokens that I produce, enough so that I'm willing to sacrifice a token producer for it.

The final new addition is a bit more of a controversial one on a personal level: Enlightened Tutor. I'm generally not too fond of running too many tutor effects and like to rely on the luck of the draw, however, with this deck I am stepping a bit out of my comfort zone and thus the card will simply make this deck more effective, helping it to overcome the budgeted mana base a bit.

I already mentioned some cuts I made, but I will try to explain why I took out some of the other cards. Skysovereign, Consul Flagship was just too underwhelming in this deck, it looked nice on paper but simply wasn't performing as I'd liked. I do like Combustible Gearhulk in the deck, but its a 6 CMC card and requires double red, so I decided to take it out for the sake of the deck's curve. Faerie Artisans is a card I'm not disappointed with either, but the tokens it produces are rather random and often don't last that long. So I wanted something which synergizes a bit better with the deck for it instead. Sphinx Summoner is also cut for curve purposes and am pretty much upgrading this slot with Enlightened Tutor, which hits just a tad bit more.

The remaining cuts are more or less made because I needed to make them. Sharuum the Hegemon while good is just one of many recursion effects and a six drop to boot, so while its cut can be debated I felt like the other cards performing the same part were just a tad better for this deck. Removing Etherium Sculptor perhaps contradicts smoothening out the curve, but it was either this or Foundry Inspector, and since we have a four color deck I went with the easier to cast one even if it's one mana more. Trading Post has been decent but I needed to make space for something more on theme, I'll miss some of it's effects but cuts have to be made. Swiftfoot Boots is good in protecting some of my stuff, but I took it out to bring in some more counter magic.

What about Purphoros, God of the Forge?

Purphoros could definitely bump things up a bit in this deck, though it's a bit more expensive to acquire. I'll certainly be marking it down as a potential upgrade in the future, but probably will see about getting a few upgrades done to the mana base next, at least when it comes to the slightly more expensive cards to add.

There is also Scarecrone that works well with all the artifact creatures.

While I run a fair amount of artifact creatures, it's not all I'm going to be depending on and seeing the price tag of Scarecrone, it's currently not too likely that it will go in. Purphoros would feel like a better fit and I do have Steel Overseer also on my shortlist of future upgrades.

Aether Revolt prereleases have been interesting for me, did well and had some nice pulls. Though maybe not a money card in itself, I had Mechanized Production as a promo and since its intended to be in this deck its a nice inclusion for sure. I don't play much Standard anymore so that meant I was able to put my other pulls to good use in trading and it allowed me to make a few upgrades to my Breya list.

The main upgrades were the inclusions of Gilded Lotus, Coalition Relic and Mana Confluence. My LGS had a good deal on Purphoros so used some store credit on getting that upgrade done as well.
Efficient Construction isn't offering the card draw and might be less consistent than Thopter Spy Network in generating tokens, but it is easier to cast and potentially can get out a couple of thopters on one turn.

So went and made some more tweaks based on cards I was able to get. These are mainly changes to the manabase, focusing on reducing the amount of lands that come into play tapped.

As shown by the Mirage fetches, the changes are still made on a budget but I did go out of my way to get one Shock Land into the list. I went with Sacred Foundry just to ensure that my fetches are capable of finding a dual that covers all four colors.

Mirrodin's Core looked interesting and flavorful on paper, but decided to take it out nonetheless. With the deck having a fair mount of token production and a few creatures which are less likely to attack, I think Holdout Settlement can more reliably provide us with colored mana we need.

The other two land changes could be perhaps be debated a bit more. Needing one extra cut, I opted to take out Darksteel Citadel as while it synergizes quite well we have enough ways to produce colorless and Aether Hub does get a one shot deal at producing a colored mana. Crosis's Catacombs is the standout addition I suppose, but it's a Tri Land which comes in untapped. It does have the downside of it forcing us to bounce a land back to my hand, which potentially allows us to get more use out of Aether Hub or even bounce Ash Barrens so it can be cycled. I did consider a regular Bounce Land over a Lair but they still come into play tapped and produce a color less. If it turns out that I need an additional white source, I can switch the Catacombs out for Dromar's Cavern.

I ended up taking out Vedalken Engineer, since it only provides additional mana for artifacts and artifacts abilities, meaning it can't be used for some of our key creatures. Furthermore, it being a creature makes it a tad fragile. So, I opted to bring back in Trinket Mage so we can get Sol Ring and our Artifact Lands with it. I have considered the new Trophy Mage as well, which could fit quite well into the deck since it tutors up some of our combo pieces. Though I'm not too fond of running too many Tutors that go for the win conditions in the deck, so I want to see how the deck runs without it first.

I’m fairly happy with how the deck is shaping up to be so far, making good use of the synergies that are present in the deck. Though I am still looking ahead to see where I can improve the list and make tweaks.

I do know that I will eventually be adding Academy Ruins into the list, once I have some space in my budget for it. Seeing that I still have a copy of Tolaria West in my binder as well, I might be slotting that in around that time as well, since right now its not adding too much value aside from fetching a potential Sol Ring.

One part that I am currently looking at, is the potential inclusion of Scrap Trawler, as it’s a card that could do some interesting things in the deck. To make a cut for it I am looking at taking out either Beacon of Unrest or Nim Deathmantle. Beacon has some built in recursion of its own but when countered it won’t do too much, while Deathmantle just feels a bit on the slower side for this deck.

If I bring in Scrap Trawler I would consider bringing back Faerie Artisans as well to get more use out of it. And while I’m not fond of adding in too many tutors, having another interesting 3-drop could mean that Trophy Mage should get some more considerations as well.

Other then that there is the option of bringing in Ashnod’s Altar as a secondary sacrifice outlet, creating a bit more redundancy, but with the other considerations being there I’m not too sure yet of what I’d be cutting for this card.

Well, Academy Ruins is on it's way and thus should be soon in the deck as well. Meaning I'm also going ahead with adding Tolaria West to the list and while at it I will be adding in Dromar's Cavern as well to give the option to bounce Tolaria West, Ash Barrens or Aether Hub for additional uses. I'm not sure yet whether Academy Ruins will be an upgrade to Buried Ruin or that I will see about making space to run both.

Ashnod's Altar is going in as well, I will be taking out Foundry Inspector for it, as having a sacrifice outlet is important for this deck after all. The cost reduction might be more consistent in the long run, so I might end up reverting this switch but I'd like to try with the added redundancy first.

I'm also intending to bring in Baral's Expertise for a trial run, whether its a good enough fit is definitely debatable but it looks like a fun card that I do want to try out for a bit. Making a cut for it is perhaps a bit more controversial as has been proven in trying to get some general advice on some cuts, but I've decided to take out Ethersworn Adjudicator for it once I have the card. The Vedalken is simply fairly demanding on the mana so while good in essence it is going to be taken out for the time being.

While I did start out with making this deck a bit combo-centric, I've since then moved away from it in favor of some more synergistic cards, even if they are less efficient at times. I just enjoy a nice theme and flavor to a deck and I don't pursue having combos go off enough to really warrant some inclusions. So right now I am considering cutting the Sword of the Meek/Thopter Foundry combo from the deck, the Sword can be still a decent sacrifice target but the Foundry is something I feel that can potentially be cut in this deck. Giving space to tinker around with maybe Blade of the Bloodchief or bringing back Thopter Spy Network.

Something worth mentioning is that Ashnod's Altar lets you go infinite with Breya and Eldrazi Displacer. With Displacer and Alter in play, you cast Breya, get 2 thopers, sac both to alter, get 4 mana. Use 3 to activate displacer and blink Breya, repeat and you net 1 mana with each cycle. With infinite mana, you have infinite blinks and activations of breya's deal 3 damage.

Yeah, I'm aware of it, as have Krark-Clan Ironworks in the deck as well, which allows me to do the same. Though the deck is set up to deal 3 damage minimum, as have a few cards which would increase the damage output of this combo.

I'm still contemplating cutting the whole Thopter Foundry/Sword combo from the deck, it does synergize with the deck but in a way it does it's own thing. The sword itself still makes a decent item to sacrifice with the deck but I feel I want more of the card slot. I'm considering a bit more protection for my non-artifact pieces and since there is a bit of a +1/+1 counter subtheme rising in the deck I am thinking of adding Marchesa, the Black Rose to the list. She does a little bit of everything that I want more in this list. Though if I do, I might consider running Arcbound Crusher as well, letting me chuck around some counters.


On a side note : With Breya as one of my newer decks I ended up no longer playing my budget Oona list, though part of that was due to no longer really enjoying how that deck was playing out. It was fun and interesting at first but after getting in more games with it, that disappeared and the deckbox got pushed to the back of the shelf. So I've taken it apart and going to trade away some of the pieces in it, potentially to give Breya a few better fetches. Though I'll be deciding on where to spend the freed up budget in the upcoming days, as I might look around for ideas for a new deck as well though with a limited budget it might be better to just invest in the decks that I currently have and enjoy.