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With the release of the Scars of Mirrodin block, Affinity has gained a lot of new tools and evolved into a powerful deck. Here is a new, modern primer for discussing the deck.
Affinity is a powerful aggro deck based around artifact synergies. The deck derives its name from a powerful keyword from the first Mirrodin block, Affinity for ____, which decreases the cost of a card by 1 for each ____ you control. The majority of these cards had Affinity for Artifacts, and formed the core of the original deck. Artifact lands were also printed in Mirrodin, and are the main mana source for this deck. Some of the original cards such as Disciple of the Vault and Arcbound Ravager are so powerful that they still form the core of the deck today, while others such as Mox Opal, Signal Pest, and Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas come from the new Scars of Mirrodin block.
History of the Deck:
The roots of modern Affinity trace back 7 years, when the most infamous deck in the history of the Standard format was built. Ravager Affinity changed the game in a way that Standard players today would barely be able to comprehend. wasn't impossible to beat. Although it was the indisputable best deck, it was not a case of play Affinity or play to beat Affinity - Tooth and Nail did reasonably well as a contemporary - yet WotC decried that Affinity had to die in Standard, and banned the eight, let me say that again, EIGHT cards that made up the basis of the deck. So what was it that made this deck so fearsome? It is simple. Magic is at heart a game, and games are about having fun. By turn three, a Ravager Affinity pilot would have his entire hand on the table, and would be able to divide the rest of his deck into two types of cards: cards that are 2/2s or 4/4s for 0, and cards that won the game.
Today, the Mirrodin block, specifically the Affinity deck, are credited with causing more people to quit Magic because it has become 'unfun' than any other set or deck. Ever.
So, why would anyone even want to be associated with such a deck today? The answer is the format the deck lives in today: Legacy. In a world with Force of Will, Swords to Plowshares, and Tarmogoyf defining what it means to be 'the best', Affinity didn't make the cut. With the printing of Master of Etherium, the deck came back in the form of 'Vial Affinity', which functioned as much as a combo deck as an aggro deck. Vial Affinity slowly fell out of favor, but now, with the return of Mirrodin, Affinity has evolved into its newest form, modern Affinity.
Building and Playing Affinity:
So what kinds of cards go in an Affinity deck?
When Besieged was first spoiled, the potential for a new Affinity deck immediately occurred to some, including myself. Now with the addition of New Phyrexia, we have a lot of powerful weapons at our disposal.
Recently, with the rise of decks, Affinity has had to adapt. Since these decks can drop creatures T2-3 that are bigger than most of what we have, Affinity is moving the battle to the air.
Any Affinity deck is based off the following core:
This is the starting point, although many players modify it to fit their needs, but it is a good place for beginners to start, and all Affinity lists see the influence of this core.
The first thing one needs to do is choose the remaining 9 cards, and this is where different builds start cropping up.
1) Arcbound Ravager:
One of the most popular builds focuses on powerful, synergistic artifact creatures, specifically Vault Skirge and Arcbound Ravager. These builds tend to focus more on Etched Champion than MoE, as EC has amazing synergy with Ravager. A list along these lines might take the core and do something like:
This version of the deck looks at Cranial Plating and says "I want to draw that". Stoneforge Mystic lets this happen, and usually leads to either Batterskull or Jitte as well.
Artifact Lands: They are lands that are also artifacts. Affinity wouldn't work without them. All Affinity decks have around 12-16 of these.
Ornithopter: As a 0-cost artifact creature with flight, a full set of Ornithopters can be found in almost every Affinity deck. It increases the artifact count in the early game, swings with Signal Pest, and in the mid-game it can fly over the opponent's defenses while equipped with a Cranial Plating. When unequipped, it's also useful for paying the activation cost of Springleaf Drum.
Memnite: a 1/1 for 0, not much to say about Memnite beyond that. Enables major damage early, helps turn Mox on, and makes Springleaf free. Not as good as Ornithopter, but still useful.
Signal Pest: Signal Pest is one of the amazing MBS cards that makes this deck viable. Pest is amazing, allowing you to push more damage through faster. Pest also works amazingly with the next card on our list...
Vault Skirge: This guy is just great. Lifelink is often underestimated, but don't let that fool you. Skirge quickly makes up for the 2 life (which you should be paying unless you are going to have extra mana left over at EOT), and then some. Obviously great with Pest and Cranial Plating.
Arcbound Ravager: Ravagers are great in Affinity. They can turn every artifact about to hit the graveyard into +1/+1 counters, and when they die they pass those counters along to other creatures. Ravager makes EC simply amazing, easily pumping him to 5/5 or higher. Also gives us a use for extra Drums and Moxen. Plenty of combat tricks involving him, including blocking and sac'ing to stop a Jitte from triggering. That can be huge. He is also a good weapon vs dredge
Etched Champion: A relatively recent addition to the deck, Etched Champion has nonetheless quickly found itself being played as a 3-of or 4-of in most builds. It's basically a tiny Progenitus, and that makes it really, really good against any control deck that relies on spot-removal to deal with creatures or any aggro deck that relies on combat (ie. all of them). It's little more than a Grey Ogre against combo decks, so it might be best not to play them in a meta heavily focused on combo. Those metas are extremely rare, though, so when in doubt keep the ECs in.
Master of Etherium: This is the biggest fatty that Affinity can play, and it comes with a lord ability to boot. Some lists split the difference and play three Masters and three Etched Champs in the main, some run a 4/2 split, and some run only Etched Champion. If you are looking for a mid-game plan, Champion is more important, however the power level of this card is not to be underestimated
Mox Opal: In Affinity, these are even better than the original moxen. Most decks play 3 copies because this is a legendary artifact, but having four in the deck can make it even more explosive. Basically more Mox Opals in the deck mean more explosiveness in exchange for an increased chance of drawing multiples. Remember that you can tap a mox for mana, sac it to Arcbound Ravager, and then play another one to generate one more mana. If you play Thopter foundry, than 4 Mox is a good call.
Springleaf Drum: This is the other mana-acceleration card played in addition to Mox Opal. While not as explosive as a mox, the fact that it's not legendary makes drawing into multiples tolerable (and sometimes really good). Springleaf is especially powerful with 0-drops, since a opening turn can many times go: Ornithopter, Seat, Drum, Drum taps Orni for 1, Pest, Frogmite.
Cranial Plating: This card can turn any creature in play into a serious threat. Most decks play a full set of this, but some builds choose to play just three. It is the reason Affinity can kill the opponent so fast. It best when equipped into an evasive creature like Ornithopter, Signal Pest or Etched Champion. The "instant equip" ability just makes it even more dangerous. Remember that after attacking with a Cranial-Plated creature, it can be re-equipped to any creatures left untapped to block.
Thoughtcast: Paying one mana to draw two cards is really good. As in, the best draw spell legal in Legacy. All Affinity decks play four of this card. When other card-drawing effects are discussed, it is with the understanding that they will be played in addition to and not instead of Thoughtcast.
Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas: Tez is Affinity's planeswalker. All of his abilities are extremely powerful and game-breaking, but he is also the most mana-intensive card played in the deck. When you resolve him however, you will almost always win.
Glimmervoid: Glimmervoid is the best rainbow land Affinity can play. It effectively has no drawback because if it ever gets to the point where you have no artifacts to satisfy Glimmervoid, you're going to lose that game anyway. It's also a useful land because it isn't an artifact. It is frequently the only way an Affinity deck has of producing colored mana with a Null Rod in play.
Frogmite: A full set of Frogmites has been in the deck from Affinity's inception. They aren't very fancy, but they get the job done. The first to get cast will probably be undercosted, and the next ones will probably be free. Even with a slow hand, they will rarely ever cost more than 1 mana. These have been dropped for the most part to make room for Skirge
Blinkmoth Nexus: Blinkmoth Nexus is a way to increase the count of mana producers played in Affinity without lowering the threat-count. Some poeple like it, others dont. Test and reach your own conclusions.
Thopter Foundry: Foundries are can be powerful cards. They can generate an evasive creature to carry Cranial Plating, turn artifacts that are about to die into evasive threats, or just assemble a massive army of fliers for an alpha strike. Most decks that play Thopter Foundry have one or two copies only, though, because drawing into multiples is sub-par and you don't want to play them until the mid to late game anyway.
Galvanic Blast: Noone needs to be told why Lightning Bolt is and will always be the best 1 mana burn spell (unless WotC goes crazy). Thus noone needs to be told that getting 33% more burn for the same cost is ridiculous. Unfortunately, it strains your mana by either forcing more Glimmervoids (thus less art lands) or Great Furnace, which is a kill-able Citadel to the rest of the deck.
Wasteland: This deck has cut it's lands to the minimum, it cannot afford lands to sac.
Disciple of the Vault: The life loss from this card can win the game if allowed to live for several turns. Its synergy with sac effects like Arcbound Ravager and Thopter Foundry is ridiculous. Most decks have stopped running this card as it is sup-par without a sac outlet and we have more powerful creatures available that we do not need to rely on the Ravager/Disciple combo as much as we used to.
Arcbound Worker: This used to be a core card, but was supplanted by Signal Pest and Memnite. Some players still prefer them, though. It can be fun to transfer Ravager counters to them when Ravager is killed, because after the worker is killed it can transfer the counters yet again forcing the opponent to deal with the same +1/+1 counters three times.
Myr Enforcer: This was a core card of Affinity for a long time, acting as the "cheap fat" for the deck. It is no longer very relevent, as other decks have more powerful creatures they can drop as early or earlier.
Shrapnel Blast, Fling: These are the biggest burn cards available to the deck, but they have been supplanted by Galvanic Blast because they require sacrificing valuable resources.
AEther Vial: Another contender for the most powerful card in Legacy, AEther vial was supplanted by more explosive mana acceleration from Mox Opal and Springleaf Drum.
The issue with Inkmoth is that he doesn't contribute to the same wincon as everyone else, which slows u down. Also, if he gets Wasted it becomes a waste, and topdecking him when ur opp has 3 life n 0 poison kinda sucks. Neutralizing him puts you back quite a lot, as you need to draw another to continue along the same wincon.
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I actually run 4 copies of inkmoth nexas lands. And to be honest they are absolutely amazing and should not be underestimated. They often grant their own win con and have been known to be game winners for me. Especially with cranial plating. They have even been known to pull out wins for me when they plan to take the 1 poison and block the 11/x creature already equiped. Boom instant switch, instant win. Because of the poison it can also draw agro away from more important things on the board. Plus tez can pump it to a 5/5 infector and they can can to make themselves artifacts when necessary to add the the count.
The only reason they should be doing that is if they cannot block fliers. If they can, they're idiots. If they cant', you win regardless of which man land you have.
Also, yes, Tezz can turn your Inkmoth into a 5/5 Infect for 1 turn, then what? You think it's viable to use another counter on your land. If it were Blinkmoth, you could just keep swinging with your 5/5, as it has already dealt damage. And again, if it was a viable option to -1 Tezz again to turn your 1/1 Flying Infect into a 5/5 Flying Infect, you should be winning that game regardless of which man land you play.
So, as I stated again when Inkmoth was first suggested, what is he ACTUALLY doing for this deck that Blinkmoth cannot? Because he literally seems worse more situations than good ones, because if you plug Blinkmoth into all those good situations, he's just as good, where if you plug Blinkmoth into the situations were Inkmoth is bad, Blinkmoth seems fantastic.
The problem with him is vs decks that are GWx... Maverick, Dark Horizons, Bant, and more. All these decks run some number (usually 4) of Goyf and KotR. These creatures come down faster on average than Enforcer, but are also usually more powerful than Enforcer. This gets even more obvious in decks that run Noble Heirarch, as now KotR can hit the table turn 2, or you can zenith for Goyf turn 2, plus theres exalted making them bigger. Rhox War Monk also fits in the category of "as fast or faster cards that are bigger", although due to its mana cost you will usually only see him in Bant.
Dark Confidant is unplayible in this deck... and why would we want to anyway? We have the single best legacy legal draw card, U: Draw 2, and a curve that includes 13 cards in the 3-5 CMC range. And many of us play Ancient Tomb. And Bob is not an artifact... Wait, why do you want to play him again?
Sideboarding:
An important part of this deck is both proactive and reactive sideboarding. What does this mean? It means that when building and using a sideboard with this deck you need to think carefully about how you are screwing up other decks, and how you are protecting yourself from artifact hate. Here's a rundown to help you out.
Before I get into the sideboard, here is an example sb (This is my sb that I play with my Skirge/Ravager list):
The sad truth is that lots of Affinity-hose cards exist. Here is a rundown of the cards, decks to expect them in, and tips for combating them.
Pernicious Deed
Found in: BGx decks (Dark Horizons, BUG Landstill)
Combat with: Pithing Needle or Revoker
Notes: You must drop Needle or Revoker before they drop Deed. You will see this card game 1.
Kitaki, War's Wage
Found in: Creature-based W decks (Zoo, Bant, Maverick)
Combat with: Dispatch
Notes: Easily the most difficult to deal with as he is the only non-artifact/enchantment. I usully use Cabal Theropy if I expect to see him.
Energy Flux
Found in: Fish decks (Merfolk, FaeNinjaStill)
Combat with: Any enchantment hate
Notes: Almost guaranteed to be in a Merfolk sb, you need to play aggressively to beat it. Bring in both Cabal Theropy and Nature's Claim, or Grip, as you need to get through counterspells. Glimmervoid and Ancient Tomb come in handy to both combat it as well as pay the upkeep if you cannot.
Serenity
Found in: Enchantress
Combat with: Any enchantment hate
Notes: Be very careful about overextending vs Serenity. Hold back on art-lands if you can afford to. If you draw enchantment hate, try to keep up the mana for it as often as possible.
Null Rod
Found in: Decks that dont fall into other categories (Zoo also sometimes runs it over Kitaki)
Combat with: Any artifact hate
Notes: Being an artifact that hurts Storm, many decks like to play Null Rod. You can tap and float mana in response to it being cast, hopefully for a Claim or Grip. Not always game over, as a strong board position can allow you to win anyway. Decks running 4-8 non-artlands have much less to fear from this card.
Top Sideboard Cards:
The following cards should be included in ever sideboard
Pithing Needle/Phyrexian Revoker: Very powerful cards for shutting down decks. Although Pithing Needle is 1 cheaper, Revoker comes with a 2/1 body. The real decision maker between these two should be the cards you are planning to shut down with them, since they have slightly different targets. Pithing Needle is useful vs Lands.deck and other decks that run non-mana lands, while Revoker can be used vs decks like TES, since it can stop LDE, Lotus, and Moxen.
Ethersworn Canonist: Canonist is an amazing sideboard card. Useful in a variety of situations, you get the best use out of it vs storm decks (especially wishboard decks as it will earn you a minimum of 2 turns and often 3) and very low curve decks like Elves and Zoo.
Cabal therapy: In a deck with so many creatures, you can get full use out of Theropy without missing a beat. Very nice if you are unsure about which of the many hate cards you might see. Becomes insane I'd you know your decks well.
Some form of artifact/enchantment hate: As virtually every affinity hate card is an artifact or enchantment, it is important to have counter hate ready. Some popular choices are Annul, Nature's Claim, and Disenchant.
Dispatch (especially if not mainboard): Affinity players should run atleast 2 copies somewhere in the 75, and some opt for more (often 2 mb and 1 or 2 sb). Put simply, if you don't understand why this card is insane you are playing the wrong deck, the wrong format, and possibly the wrong game. If on the sb, make sure to bring it in vs Bant and MBC at a minimum.
Other Sideboard Cards:
Relic of Progenitus/Nihil Spellbomb/ Tormod's Crypt: Pretty standard in the sideboard of legacy decks, these cards are used vs decks like Dredge (duh), but also can be used vs decks that run Goyf/KotR/Grim Lavamancer. You should change up your graveyard hate regularly, especially if you see Dredge often as Dredge constantly tries to adapt its sb to stop different types of hate. Having the element of surprise on your side can be very powerful.
Meekstone: This card is amazing in many matchups. Seriously hurts Fish, secures victory vs Zoo, and is a pain for every creature-based deck build except for this one.
Retribution of the Meek: Like Meekstone but more permanent. Side out your MoE and enjoy a one-sided Wrath. Especially useful for destroying Progenitus or Emrakul.
Meta-Specific/Old Sideboard Cards:
Engineered Plague: This card hoses goblins, but goblins is not a very good deck right now (I saw a metagame analysis where gobs's best my was... The mirror. No joke). By killing of most of their 1-2 drops, Plague can give you the board advantage you need to win before they start dropping the big guys. Take note that this card stops killing goblins as soon as they have a Lord on the table, but it will still shrink them.
Perish: A powerful hate card useful in a green dominated meta.
Playing the Deck
Here is a video of Eisenhauer playing in the top 8. He wins game 1 easily and had little chance game 2. Game three however, he should have won. Mike's missplay is when he cast Galvanic Blast (37:32). Here he should have targeted Grim Lavamancer, in response to the equipping of Basilisk Collar. This mistake cost Mike the game again, because, as the commentators point out, Lavamancer refills English's life and kills many of Eric creatures, eventually leading to Eric's victory.
There are also some who believe a control-ish approach to Affinity is to be considered. You can find that thread here
Zoo: Favorable
Although we are a mid-range deck, we are only a turn or two slower than small Zoo and are faster than Big Zoo. Deal as much damage as you can while keeping your own life total high. Remember we get hit hard by Price of Progress, so be careful. Tezz will likely die to burn, so do not be afraid to animate a Citadel or a Drum if you have an even board presence.
Games 2 and 3 you are likely to see Pridemage, Kitaki, or Null Rod. Bring in Cannonist or Cabal Theropy to protect you from burn. Tezz may or may not come out, make a judgement call based on your opponent. Although he is slow, he can be the difference between winning and losing.
Goblins: Favorable
Racing goblins is rarely the wrong move. Be careful about how many blockers you leave in case of a basted pile-driver and you should be fine.
Game 2/3 Goblins might try to bring in REB, as they usually have nothing useful. Sometimes you will see a Shattering Spree, but this is unlikely due to Goblins' mana issues. Drop Tezz for Cabal Theropy and you should be good to go. Needles may be used against Æther Vial, but do not bring in Revoker as 2 CMC is too slow. Name Æther Vial with Theropy if there is not one in play. Watch the Vial carefully. If they keep the counters for a turn, they may be planning on bringing someone in to block or EOT. Use Theropy before attacking, and name the worst goblin they could vial in.
Merfolk Fish - Strongly favorible:
Affinity is a deck that Fish is simply terribly equipped to deal with. We run no Islands, none of our spells are that powerful by themselves, and we are much faster than Fish. Standstill turn 2 can be annoying, but just ignore it if that happens. Besides, many builds are moving away from Standstill.
Bring in Pithing Needle/Revoker/Nature's Claim over Tezz for game 2.
Burn - Favorible:
The whole idea of Burn is to cast 6 spells to deal 20 damage in the first 6 turns of the game. The wole idea of Affinity is to cast 6 spells and swing for 5 per turn in the first 4 turns in the game. The simple truth about the matchup is that we are noticably faster. Not an assured win, but smart play and decent luck should bring it through for you.
Bring in Nature's Claim over Tezz for game 2.
Aggro Bant - Unfavorible:Although the build determins the exact matchup strength, in our case it determins how much we will wanna commit suicide before the game is over. Bant has bigger and more powerful creatures, Tygon Preditor, Jitte and friends (if Excalibur build), Progen (if NO build), and Kitaki off the sb (if Zenith build, and sometimes other builds). Meekstone can help here, since almost every creature they have will only swing once, but thats about all you have. Play as hard and as fgast as you can and hope for the best.
Bring in Nature's Claim game 2, what you take out depends on your build, but I usually leave Tezz in as he is our best wincon game 2 vs Zenith
I don't run Darksteel Citadel as I like to assure I always have the colors I need. If I am finding turn 1 wastelands too much to handle then I may change my mind but as of now I would prefer a turn 1 wastelanded ancient den than a turn 2 wastelanded seat of the synod.
I am testing Fling. I know it has been tested and determined not ideal but I love the explosiveness and am a red player at heart. I loved winning turn 2 on the play like this:
Initial 7: Seat of the Synod, Ornithopter, Mox Opal, Springleaf Drum, Frogmite, Cranial plating, Great Furnace.
Turn 1: Seat of the Synod, Ornithopter, Mox Opal, Springleaf Drum, Frogmite, Cranial plating, go ... "Wow," he says, "good draw?"
Opponent turn 1: City of Brass, go.
Turn 2: Draw (Thoughtcast), Great Furnace, Thoughtcast (Ornithopter, Fling), Ornithopter, Equip Plating to Frogmite, swing for 10 with Frogmite, Fling Frogmite for 10.
Opponent was playing TES (ready to go off next turn) and dominated me the next two games but that first one was fun. Ethersworn Canonist is now my best friend.
Glimmervoid, MoE and Tezz are probably not core right now. I don't know why the pros aren't running him but they must. I just don't lose a game that he lands in.
Good start on the new primer, however, I still feel it needs a lot more work. Deck history from standard, to the banning of the old-school staples, to Vial Affinity and up to now.
What are the late trends and changes? How popular is the deck? What are the most common hate against us? Card options to combat such hate. What are the decks strong sides, and how to pilot etc.
Regarding Tez 2.0, people need to give it some more time. I'm positive it will become an all-star in affinity. Its pretty much tailor-made for this archetype.
Whether or not it belongs in the "traditional" aggro style or a newer control build with FOW remains to be explored.
The way I see it right now, it probably belongs more to the latter as it (the deck) will have options and opportunity to protect Tez before activating his ultimate. The drawback is that it will lose its trademark explosiveness and high-speed aggressive play.
In order for the control build to function as it wants to, I "fear" the deck needs a total restructure. Meaning that staples like Ravager and Disciple might need to get booted. I'm not saying it will, but the possibility should be open.
I've removed MoE in my aggro tez set-up giving me a slightly lower need for mana focusing my power on Signal Pest for the alpha strike, and evasive (Etched Oracle) for Plating beats. And using 22/23 mana sources helps out a lot.
having some copies of Galvanic Blast also helps you out against opposing Planeswalkers which I've found quite helpful.
Thanks for the support guys! I think I have the bones of the Primer now, although it is significantly lacking in some areas. I will work on finishing it in the next few days. I know I need to add the second type, Tezz Affinity to the Deck Analysis section, add more cards to that section, and do matchup anaylsis. If anyone wants to help out at all, feel free to PM me whatevern you can type up and I'll add it in.
great starting primer. Lots of room to grow, cited by the people who posted above.
If its okay, you can include that vid I posted in the past forums on the Affinity player who top 8-ed recently in the SCG legacy open who ran the tezz-less build.
Cite the wrong and right plays he did too, to help new players get the hang of how affinity should be played.
I'll keep my eyes out for other affinity-plays.
Also add the erayo/Glimpse affinity decklists.
Even if most of us go against it, we can't deny that it has won top 8's in the past.
What top 8s has Glimpse won? I origonally tested that deck, but abandoned it because it is not as good as normal builds. Vs Bant, CounterTop, Fish, etc it is basically an auto loss as one has to hope that Glimpse is not countered. Erayo makes it somewhat better, but still inferior. Also, the deck takes 3-4 turns to get going which is a huge liability.
While I agree, I think you could maybe at least mention it. I'm not really a fan of those Glimpse decks either. You mulligan until you see Glimpse. If you don't find it, you lose. And if you find it, theres still the chance that it gets Forced (and that will happen more often than you want).
Or Daze, Spell Pierce, etc. Also, Chalice @ 1 kills the entire deck. I dont like it, but if you give me any proof it is viable I'll add it. I don't want to just support random varient build because there are far to many. Legacy Tempered Steel, Ravager Combo, and Meek decks (the versions without counterbalance) are just a few examples of tier 2-3 decks that could claim to fall under Affinity.
I don't mean to be offensive to anyone, but if you want a variant included here, show me it is established competitive. The developing forum is one below developed.
how bad is to use 4 shrapnel and 4 galvanic blast?
Galvanic Blast is good. It's a bolt but does 33% more damage. Shrapnel was used as a way to win in Vial, but I dont think Modern Affinity needs it. Each non-artifact we run weakens the synergy, so they need to be good. Shrapnel used to be, but Blast is better and I don't think we need 8 burn spells. It may depend though, what's your list?
PS: I wanted a new name for the deck in recognition that it is not Vial Affinity, but just Affinity is an archtype and a mechanic, not a deck. What do you think of it?
PS: I wanted a new name for the deck in recognition that it is not Vial Affinity, but just Affinity is an archtype and a mechanic, not a deck. What do you think of it?
I thought it was pretty commonly accepted to be called Ravager Affinity or Raffinity? (honest question, I have no clue really!)
-Glimmervoid may look good but i think its worth running den or tree because glimmervoid cannot be sacced and mox opal is already included for virtually the same ability plus is an artifact
-Galvanic blast scares me especially since theres a playset in your deck and the only draw you have is thoughtcast. What worries me most is the color fixing involved, i feel that drawing these early game sucks because it might screw your T1 or drawing them late game still leaves you open after you dealt some damage
-If it were up to me i'd switch the galvanic blast for 2-3 MoE which hits harder and gives the artifact critters a boost, it also is the prime candidate for removal which allows you to guess the opponents play easily. The last slot i feel should be for another springleaf drum which matches the amount of creatures you would now have.
I thought it was pretty commonly accepted to be called Ravager Affinity or Raffinity? (honest question, I have no clue really!)
People have different names for this deck, vial affinity died after vial became a SB option but ravager affinity still stands as well as plain old affinity
I am actually very comfortable with Galvanic because of the Glimmervoids. I run 8 red-producing sources, which seems to be enough for Galvanic Blast. The other thing is that Nature's Claim in the SB requires green, although tree of tales does that.
I'm not certain of Galvanic over MoE, I will do a lot of Galvanic testing before my next major tournament (April 12th!), but for now I posted it that may because those are the builds that place. Kinda hard to argue with that.
On the name... I like it I feel that this version has the potential to be more than any previous ones (especially if the Tezz builds work out), so I wanted a new name. Idc if you guys don't want to use it, but I've signed up in tournaments with Modern Affinity as my deck name
I was thinking that too at first, but I played in a small tournament last Sunday and one guy had Null Rods in his SB. Believe me, if I had had Glimmervoids (and Annul or Nature's Claim in my SB) I could have won that match ^^
I see that often which is why i run a tree of tales over glimmervoid and another den for the other glimmervoid, the tree of tales plus other color fixers is used for green artifact hate such as Tel-jilad justice, etc and for combos which i often face i run den for canonist
Edit: concerning the MoE, I run it because if i drop it, i will know 95% of the time what my opponents will do, and thats very powerful when you can guess their move and find a way to screw them over, with galvanic blast they remain unpredictable, I think the reason why other decks place with galvanic is because they run etched champion which i think serves its own purpose but cannot be compared with MoE because both have unique aspects that make them both special
Nature's Claim: This card takes up the other two spots in my 5 card sideboard. Nature's Claim kills things like a boss. In addition to removing pesky AEther Vials, Null Rods, Trinospheres, and Chalice of the Voids, it also will also hit enchantments such as Bridge, Moat, Blood Moon, every non-land card but 1 in Enchantress, Show and Tell, and Bitterblossom. Run 2-4
I just wanted to give a heads up on a rules clarification in case anyone runs it as a sideboard answer in a tournament. Nature's Claim would not be an effective answer to Null Rod. Null Rod shuts off all artifact abilities, including mana abilities, which means the only way to pay for it would be if you have a glimmervoid in play. Null Rod shuts off all your artifact lands, mox, and drums.
I just wanted to give a heads up on a rules clarification in case anyone runs it as a sideboard answer in a tournament. Nature's Claim would not be an effective answer to Null Rod. Null Rod shuts off all artifact abilities, including mana abilities, which means the only way to pay for it would be if you have a glimmervoid in play. Null Rod shuts off all your artifact lands, mox, and drums.
You can always float mana you know... but yes, you are correct. Also, there are a few reason that I have 3 Needles on my SB. They are (in order): Null Rod, Null Rod, Trinosphere, Null rod
I don't see null rods... like ever. The issue with them is they are useless vs basically anyone else, and its hard to justify too many coppies of a sb card that has no use vs any deck but one, unless its a weakness of your deck.
I see that often which is why i run a tree of tales over glimmervoid and another den for the other glimmervoid, the tree of tales plus other color fixers is used for green artifact hate such as Tel-jilad justice, etc and for combos which i often face i run den for canonist
Edit: concerning the MoE, I run it because if i drop it, i will know 95% of the time what my opponents will do, and thats very powerful when you can guess their move and find a way to screw them over, with galvanic blast they remain unpredictable, I think the reason why other decks place with galvanic is because they run etched champion which i think serves its own purpose but cannot be compared with MoE because both have unique aspects that make them both special
Why run a Tree and a Den, instead of two voids? voids produce both colors.
I think a three mana bait is a bit much for this deck. I prefer Etched Champion to MoE for three main reasons:
1) They cant do anything about it
2) It blocks anyone
3) It has the ultimate evasion
All this is summed up in "protection from all colors". That is just soooo amazing.
That should probably be the 47 card "base" or "core" deck with Tezz builds usually putting him in for Myr Enforcer.
You can then talk about choices for the other 13 cards that can finish out your build including 4-8 more lands based on your curve and inclusion of red, more of the already included artifact creatures, Etched Champion, Galvanic Blast and MoE.
One more thing:
How can people not feel MoE is awesome? 'Goyf is considered the greatest creature ever and typically comes down Turn 2 as a 2/3 or 3/4 and can grow to a max of 8/9 (although about 6/7 is more typical). MoE can easily come down turn 2 as a 5/5 lord and can easily grow to a 9/9 or 10/10 in a couple turns in this deck. He does cost 1 more but creating 3 mana on turn 2 is common in this deck. The only other downside to him is that he is susceptible to artifact removal. He is just always a 'deal with him now or lose the game' card for my opponents and that means that they aren't dealing with my other artifacts that can probably win me the game too.
You can always float mana you know... but yes, you are correct. Also, there are a few reason that I have 3 Needles on my SB. They are (in order): Null Rod, Null Rod, Trinosphere, Null rod
I don't see null rods... like ever. The issue with them is they are useless vs basically anyone else, and its hard to justify too many coppies of a sb card that has no use vs any deck but one, unless its a weakness of your deck.
Why run a Tree and a Den, instead of two voids? voids produce both colors.
I think a three mana bait is a bit much for this deck. I prefer Etched Champion to MoE for three main reasons:
1) They cant do anything about it
2) It blocks anyone
3) It has the ultimate evasion
All this is summed up in "protection from all colors". That is just soooo amazing.
a matter of perspective i suppose, i on one hand prefer the "true" all in swarm where its pretty much dropping threats after threats and just beating face with it. Sure you have a etched champion t3 or t2 if you're lucky but you also need plating to make it do serious damage and im not about to give my opponents the time to figure out how to deal with champion
Galvanic Blast is essential when you're trying to take down certain cards. I've tried to play without them but I often find myself putting them back in eventually. It makes you feel safer when you have them. I honestly wouldn't mind having to draw one in my first 7. Making R is easier than ever. With glimmervoids, Mox Opals and Springleaf Drums, you will have a way to make R more often than not.
Glavanic Blasts also give you a little unpredictability. Affinity typically has no other instants, making us play/do things only on our turns. This gives our opponents "breathing" room. If you watched the vid I posted in the other forums where the affinity player had two Galvanic Blasts in hand, if he only used it correctly he would have won. He would have gotten 7th or maybe even 6th place had be used his Galvanic Blasts effectively as REMOVAL instead of in-the-face damage.
As for MoE, I removed mine to make space for Signal Pests and to be able to bump my Etched Champion count to 4. I did this because I often found myself wishing MoE was Etched when I drew him in a lot of situations. He's a built in Crainial Plating, but I was seldom are able to swing with it because he's so often chump-blocked all day by 1/1's or something. He often remains untapped for this reason and serves as a blocker most of the time.
He also eats removal way too easily compared to the other 3 to cast (Etched Champion.)
I'd rather have Etched than MoE in so many situations because he usually just ends the game more often than MoE does.
MoE gives you stayability, Etched gives you a win-con.
I am also trying an unconventional and experimental build where Meekstones are mainboard. Meekstone just overachieves whenever he's needed and I think we board him in more matchups compared to matchups where we don't use him. It also makes sideboarding easier since I have three cards that are an auto-remove if my opponent doesn't have creatures above 2 power. In my deck, MoE just isn't required.
This is just experimentation though. Purely for research/analysis purposes.
Thank you MChief111 for the amazing banner! Check out his Avatar/Sig Shop here
With the release of the Scars of Mirrodin block, Affinity has gained a lot of new tools and evolved into a powerful deck. Here is a new, modern primer for discussing the deck.
Affinity is a powerful aggro deck based around artifact synergies. The deck derives its name from a powerful keyword from the first Mirrodin block, Affinity for ____, which decreases the cost of a card by 1 for each ____ you control. The majority of these cards had Affinity for Artifacts, and formed the core of the original deck. Artifact lands were also printed in Mirrodin, and are the main mana source for this deck. Some of the original cards such as Disciple of the Vault and Arcbound Ravager are so powerful that they still form the core of the deck today, while others such as Mox Opal, Signal Pest, and Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas come from the new Scars of Mirrodin block.
History of the Deck:
The roots of modern Affinity trace back 7 years, when the most infamous deck in the history of the Standard format was built. Ravager Affinity changed the game in a way that Standard players today would barely be able to comprehend. wasn't impossible to beat. Although it was the indisputable best deck, it was not a case of play Affinity or play to beat Affinity - Tooth and Nail did reasonably well as a contemporary - yet WotC decried that Affinity had to die in Standard, and banned the eight, let me say that again, EIGHT cards that made up the basis of the deck. So what was it that made this deck so fearsome? It is simple. Magic is at heart a game, and games are about having fun. By turn three, a Ravager Affinity pilot would have his entire hand on the table, and would be able to divide the rest of his deck into two types of cards: cards that are 2/2s or 4/4s for 0, and cards that won the game.
Today, the Mirrodin block, specifically the Affinity deck, are credited with causing more people to quit Magic because it has become 'unfun' than any other set or deck. Ever.
So, why would anyone even want to be associated with such a deck today? The answer is the format the deck lives in today: Legacy. In a world with Force of Will, Swords to Plowshares, and Tarmogoyf defining what it means to be 'the best', Affinity didn't make the cut. With the printing of Master of Etherium, the deck came back in the form of 'Vial Affinity', which functioned as much as a combo deck as an aggro deck. Vial Affinity slowly fell out of favor, but now, with the return of Mirrodin, Affinity has evolved into its newest form, modern Affinity.
Building and Playing Affinity:
So what kinds of cards go in an Affinity deck?
When Besieged was first spoiled, the potential for a new Affinity deck immediately occurred to some, including myself. Now with the addition of New Phyrexia, we have a lot of powerful weapons at our disposal.
Recently, with the rise of decks, Affinity has had to adapt. Since these decks can drop creatures T2-3 that are bigger than most of what we have, Affinity is moving the battle to the air.
Any Affinity deck is based off the following core:
4 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Signal Pest
4 Vault Skirge
3 Master of Etherium
3 Etched Champion
3 Mox Opal
3 Springleaf Drum
4 Cranial Plating
4 Thoughtcast
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
3 Seat of the Synod
3 Vault of Whispers
3 Darksteel Citadel
3 Glimmervoid
This is the starting point, although many players modify it to fit their needs, but it is a good place for beginners to start, and all Affinity lists see the influence of this core.
The first thing one needs to do is choose the remaining 9 cards, and this is where different builds start cropping up.
1) Arcbound Ravager:
One of the most popular builds focuses on powerful, synergistic artifact creatures, specifically Vault Skirge and Arcbound Ravager. These builds tend to focus more on Etched Champion than MoE, as EC has amazing synergy with Ravager. A list along these lines might take the core and do something like:
4 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Signal Pest
4 Vault Skirge
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Master of Etherium
4 Etched Champion
Spells:
4 Mox Opal
2 Springleaf Drum
4 Cranial Plating
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
4 Thoughtcast
3 Seat of the Synod
3 Vault of Whispers
4 Darksteel Citadel
3 Glimmervoid
2 Ancient Tomb
3 Chalice of the Void
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Tormd's Crypt
3 Cabal Therapy
2 Cursed Totem
2 Nature's Claim
2 Pithing Needle
2) SFM and Equipment:
This version of the deck looks at Cranial Plating and says "I want to draw that". Stoneforge Mystic lets this happen, and usually leads to either Batterskull or Jitte as well.
4 Memnite
4 Signal Pest
4 Vault Skirge
3 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Etched Champion
3 Master of Etherium
4 Mox Opal
2 Springleaf Drum
4 Crainial Plating
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
4 Thoughtcast
1 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Seat of the Synod
3 Vault of Whispers
3 Darksteel Citadels
2 Glimmervoid
2 Ancient Tomb
3 Chalice of the Void
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Tormd's Crypt
3 Cabal Therapy
2 Cursed Totem
2 Nature's Claim
2 Pithing Needle
In-Depth Card Analysis:
Artifact Lands: They are lands that are also artifacts. Affinity wouldn't work without them. All Affinity decks have around 12-16 of these.
Ornithopter: As a 0-cost artifact creature with flight, a full set of Ornithopters can be found in almost every Affinity deck. It increases the artifact count in the early game, swings with Signal Pest, and in the mid-game it can fly over the opponent's defenses while equipped with a Cranial Plating. When unequipped, it's also useful for paying the activation cost of Springleaf Drum.
Memnite: a 1/1 for 0, not much to say about Memnite beyond that. Enables major damage early, helps turn Mox on, and makes Springleaf free. Not as good as Ornithopter, but still useful.
Signal Pest: Signal Pest is one of the amazing MBS cards that makes this deck viable. Pest is amazing, allowing you to push more damage through faster. Pest also works amazingly with the next card on our list...
Vault Skirge: This guy is just great. Lifelink is often underestimated, but don't let that fool you. Skirge quickly makes up for the 2 life (which you should be paying unless you are going to have extra mana left over at EOT), and then some. Obviously great with Pest and Cranial Plating.
Arcbound Ravager: Ravagers are great in Affinity. They can turn every artifact about to hit the graveyard into +1/+1 counters, and when they die they pass those counters along to other creatures. Ravager makes EC simply amazing, easily pumping him to 5/5 or higher. Also gives us a use for extra Drums and Moxen. Plenty of combat tricks involving him, including blocking and sac'ing to stop a Jitte from triggering. That can be huge. He is also a good weapon vs dredge
Etched Champion: A relatively recent addition to the deck, Etched Champion has nonetheless quickly found itself being played as a 3-of or 4-of in most builds. It's basically a tiny Progenitus, and that makes it really, really good against any control deck that relies on spot-removal to deal with creatures or any aggro deck that relies on combat (ie. all of them). It's little more than a Grey Ogre against combo decks, so it might be best not to play them in a meta heavily focused on combo. Those metas are extremely rare, though, so when in doubt keep the ECs in.
Master of Etherium: This is the biggest fatty that Affinity can play, and it comes with a lord ability to boot. Some lists split the difference and play three Masters and three Etched Champs in the main, some run a 4/2 split, and some run only Etched Champion. If you are looking for a mid-game plan, Champion is more important, however the power level of this card is not to be underestimated
Mox Opal: In Affinity, these are even better than the original moxen. Most decks play 3 copies because this is a legendary artifact, but having four in the deck can make it even more explosive. Basically more Mox Opals in the deck mean more explosiveness in exchange for an increased chance of drawing multiples. Remember that you can tap a mox for mana, sac it to Arcbound Ravager, and then play another one to generate one more mana. If you play Thopter foundry, than 4 Mox is a good call.
Springleaf Drum: This is the other mana-acceleration card played in addition to Mox Opal. While not as explosive as a mox, the fact that it's not legendary makes drawing into multiples tolerable (and sometimes really good). Springleaf is especially powerful with 0-drops, since a opening turn can many times go: Ornithopter, Seat, Drum, Drum taps Orni for 1, Pest, Frogmite.
Cranial Plating: This card can turn any creature in play into a serious threat. Most decks play a full set of this, but some builds choose to play just three. It is the reason Affinity can kill the opponent so fast. It best when equipped into an evasive creature like Ornithopter, Signal Pest or Etched Champion. The "instant equip" ability just makes it even more dangerous. Remember that after attacking with a Cranial-Plated creature, it can be re-equipped to any creatures left untapped to block.
Thoughtcast: Paying one mana to draw two cards is really good. As in, the best draw spell legal in Legacy. All Affinity decks play four of this card. When other card-drawing effects are discussed, it is with the understanding that they will be played in addition to and not instead of Thoughtcast.
Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas: Tez is Affinity's planeswalker. All of his abilities are extremely powerful and game-breaking, but he is also the most mana-intensive card played in the deck. When you resolve him however, you will almost always win.
Glimmervoid: Glimmervoid is the best rainbow land Affinity can play. It effectively has no drawback because if it ever gets to the point where you have no artifacts to satisfy Glimmervoid, you're going to lose that game anyway. It's also a useful land because it isn't an artifact. It is frequently the only way an Affinity deck has of producing colored mana with a Null Rod in play.
Blinkmoth Nexus: Blinkmoth Nexus is a way to increase the count of mana producers played in Affinity without lowering the threat-count. Some poeple like it, others dont. Test and reach your own conclusions.
Thopter Foundry: Foundries are can be powerful cards. They can generate an evasive creature to carry Cranial Plating, turn artifacts that are about to die into evasive threats, or just assemble a massive army of fliers for an alpha strike. Most decks that play Thopter Foundry have one or two copies only, though, because drawing into multiples is sub-par and you don't want to play them until the mid to late game anyway.
Galvanic Blast: Noone needs to be told why Lightning Bolt is and will always be the best 1 mana burn spell (unless WotC goes crazy). Thus noone needs to be told that getting 33% more burn for the same cost is ridiculous. Unfortunately, it strains your mana by either forcing more Glimmervoids (thus less art lands) or Great Furnace, which is a kill-able Citadel to the rest of the deck.
Wasteland: This deck has cut it's lands to the minimum, it cannot afford lands to sac.
Any Non-mana Land: See about about Wasteland.
Dark Confidant: Look at our curve.
Disciple of the Vault: The life loss from this card can win the game if allowed to live for several turns. Its synergy with sac effects like Arcbound Ravager and Thopter Foundry is ridiculous. Most decks have stopped running this card as it is sup-par without a sac outlet and we have more powerful creatures available that we do not need to rely on the Ravager/Disciple combo as much as we used to.
Arcbound Worker: This used to be a core card, but was supplanted by Signal Pest and Memnite. Some players still prefer them, though. It can be fun to transfer Ravager counters to them when Ravager is killed, because after the worker is killed it can transfer the counters yet again forcing the opponent to deal with the same +1/+1 counters three times.
Myr Enforcer: This was a core card of Affinity for a long time, acting as the "cheap fat" for the deck. It is no longer very relevent, as other decks have more powerful creatures they can drop as early or earlier.
Shrapnel Blast, Fling: These are the biggest burn cards available to the deck, but they have been supplanted by Galvanic Blast because they require sacrificing valuable resources.
AEther Vial: Another contender for the most powerful card in Legacy, AEther vial was supplanted by more explosive mana acceleration from Mox Opal and Springleaf Drum.
Stuff That Has Been Discussed to Death:
On Inkmoth Nexus...
On Frogmite and Myr Enforcer...
On Dark Confidant...
Sideboarding:
An important part of this deck is both proactive and reactive sideboarding. What does this mean? It means that when building and using a sideboard with this deck you need to think carefully about how you are screwing up other decks, and how you are protecting yourself from artifact hate. Here's a rundown to help you out.
Before I get into the sideboard, here is an example sb (This is my sb that I play with my Skirge/Ravager list):
3 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Nature's Claim
3 Cabal Theropy
3 Pithing Needle
1 Relic of Progenisis
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Nihili Spellbomb
Expected Hate:
The sad truth is that lots of Affinity-hose cards exist. Here is a rundown of the cards, decks to expect them in, and tips for combating them.
Pernicious Deed
Found in: BGx decks (Dark Horizons, BUG Landstill)
Combat with: Pithing Needle or Revoker
Notes: You must drop Needle or Revoker before they drop Deed. You will see this card game 1.
Kitaki, War's Wage
Found in: Creature-based W decks (Zoo, Bant, Maverick)
Combat with: Dispatch
Notes: Easily the most difficult to deal with as he is the only non-artifact/enchantment. I usully use Cabal Theropy if I expect to see him.
Energy Flux
Found in: Fish decks (Merfolk, FaeNinjaStill)
Combat with: Any enchantment hate
Notes: Almost guaranteed to be in a Merfolk sb, you need to play aggressively to beat it. Bring in both Cabal Theropy and Nature's Claim, or Grip, as you need to get through counterspells. Glimmervoid and Ancient Tomb come in handy to both combat it as well as pay the upkeep if you cannot.
Serenity
Found in: Enchantress
Combat with: Any enchantment hate
Notes: Be very careful about overextending vs Serenity. Hold back on art-lands if you can afford to. If you draw enchantment hate, try to keep up the mana for it as often as possible.
Null Rod
Found in: Decks that dont fall into other categories (Zoo also sometimes runs it over Kitaki)
Combat with: Any artifact hate
Notes: Being an artifact that hurts Storm, many decks like to play Null Rod. You can tap and float mana in response to it being cast, hopefully for a Claim or Grip. Not always game over, as a strong board position can allow you to win anyway. Decks running 4-8 non-artlands have much less to fear from this card.
Top Sideboard Cards:
The following cards should be included in ever sideboard
Pithing Needle/Phyrexian Revoker: Very powerful cards for shutting down decks. Although Pithing Needle is 1 cheaper, Revoker comes with a 2/1 body. The real decision maker between these two should be the cards you are planning to shut down with them, since they have slightly different targets. Pithing Needle is useful vs Lands.deck and other decks that run non-mana lands, while Revoker can be used vs decks like TES, since it can stop LDE, Lotus, and Moxen.
Ethersworn Canonist: Canonist is an amazing sideboard card. Useful in a variety of situations, you get the best use out of it vs storm decks (especially wishboard decks as it will earn you a minimum of 2 turns and often 3) and very low curve decks like Elves and Zoo.
Cabal therapy: In a deck with so many creatures, you can get full use out of Theropy without missing a beat. Very nice if you are unsure about which of the many hate cards you might see. Becomes insane I'd you know your decks well.
Some form of artifact/enchantment hate: As virtually every affinity hate card is an artifact or enchantment, it is important to have counter hate ready. Some popular choices are Annul, Nature's Claim, and Disenchant.
Dispatch (especially if not mainboard): Affinity players should run atleast 2 copies somewhere in the 75, and some opt for more (often 2 mb and 1 or 2 sb). Put simply, if you don't understand why this card is insane you are playing the wrong deck, the wrong format, and possibly the wrong game. If on the sb, make sure to bring it in vs Bant and MBC at a minimum.
Other Sideboard Cards:
Relic of Progenitus/Nihil Spellbomb/ Tormod's Crypt: Pretty standard in the sideboard of legacy decks, these cards are used vs decks like Dredge (duh), but also can be used vs decks that run Goyf/KotR/Grim Lavamancer. You should change up your graveyard hate regularly, especially if you see Dredge often as Dredge constantly tries to adapt its sb to stop different types of hate. Having the element of surprise on your side can be very powerful.
Meekstone: This card is amazing in many matchups. Seriously hurts Fish, secures victory vs Zoo, and is a pain for every creature-based deck build except for this one.
Retribution of the Meek: Like Meekstone but more permanent. Side out your MoE and enjoy a one-sided Wrath. Especially useful for destroying Progenitus or Emrakul.
Meta-Specific/Old Sideboard Cards:
Engineered Plague: This card hoses goblins, but goblins is not a very good deck right now (I saw a metagame analysis where gobs's best my was... The mirror. No joke). By killing of most of their 1-2 drops, Plague can give you the board advantage you need to win before they start dropping the big guys. Take note that this card stops killing goblins as soon as they have a Lord on the table, but it will still shrink them.
Perish: A powerful hate card useful in a green dominated meta.
Playing the Deck
Here is a video of Eisenhauer playing in the top 8. He wins game 1 easily and had little chance game 2. Game three however, he should have won. Mike's missplay is when he cast Galvanic Blast (37:32). Here he should have targeted Grim Lavamancer, in response to the equipping of Basilisk Collar. This mistake cost Mike the game again, because, as the commentators point out, Lavamancer refills English's life and kills many of Eric creatures, eventually leading to Eric's victory.
There are also some who believe a control-ish approach to Affinity is to be considered. You can find that thread here
Recent Top 16s
3 Etched Champion
3 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Frogmite
4 Memnite
4 Signal Pest
4 Vault Skirge
Instants [4]
4 Dispatch
Sorceries [4]
4 Thoughtcast
2 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
Artifacts [12]
4 Cranial Plating
4 Mox Opal
4 Springleaf Drum
Lands [16]
4 Ancient Den
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
3 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Etched Champion
4 Ethersworn Canonist
4 Spell Pierce
1 Duress
2 Thoughtseize
4 Ornithopter
4 Signal Pest
4 Vault Skirge
3 Stineforge Mystic
4 Etched Champion
4 Mox Opal
2 Springleaf Drum
4 Cranial Plating
1 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
4 Thoughtcast
3 Darksteel Citadel
3 Seat of the Synod
3 Vault of Whidpers
3 Glimmervoid
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Grafsigger's Cage
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Spellskite
3 Pithing Needle
3 Cursed Totem
4 Ornithopter
4 Signal Pest
4 Vault Skirge
4 Etched Champion
4 Master of Etherium
4 Frogmite
4 Mox Opal
4 Springleaf Drum
4 Cranial Plating
1 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Tezzeret, Agrnt of Bolas
4 Thoughtcast
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
2 Annul
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Dispatch
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Pithing Needle
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Rest in Peace
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Memnite
4 Etched Champion
4 Frogmite
4 Master of Etherium
4 Ornithopter
4 Signal Pest
4 Vault Skirge
Sorceries [4]
4 Thoughtcast
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
Artifacts [13]
1 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Cranial Plating
4 Mox Opal
4 Springleaf Drum
Lands [14]
2 Ancient Tomb
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
2 Annul
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Pithing Needle
2 Dispatch
1 Rest in Peace
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Grafdigger's Cage
Matchup Analysis:
Zoo: Favorable
Although we are a mid-range deck, we are only a turn or two slower than small Zoo and are faster than Big Zoo. Deal as much damage as you can while keeping your own life total high. Remember we get hit hard by Price of Progress, so be careful. Tezz will likely die to burn, so do not be afraid to animate a Citadel or a Drum if you have an even board presence.
Games 2 and 3 you are likely to see Pridemage, Kitaki, or Null Rod. Bring in Cannonist or Cabal Theropy to protect you from burn. Tezz may or may not come out, make a judgement call based on your opponent. Although he is slow, he can be the difference between winning and losing.
Goblins: Favorable
Racing goblins is rarely the wrong move. Be careful about how many blockers you leave in case of a basted pile-driver and you should be fine.
Game 2/3 Goblins might try to bring in REB, as they usually have nothing useful. Sometimes you will see a Shattering Spree, but this is unlikely due to Goblins' mana issues. Drop Tezz for Cabal Theropy and you should be good to go. Needles may be used against Æther Vial, but do not bring in Revoker as 2 CMC is too slow. Name Æther Vial with Theropy if there is not one in play. Watch the Vial carefully. If they keep the counters for a turn, they may be planning on bringing someone in to block or EOT. Use Theropy before attacking, and name the worst goblin they could vial in.
Merfolk Fish - Strongly favorible:
Affinity is a deck that Fish is simply terribly equipped to deal with. We run no Islands, none of our spells are that powerful by themselves, and we are much faster than Fish. Standstill turn 2 can be annoying, but just ignore it if that happens. Besides, many builds are moving away from Standstill.
Bring in Pithing Needle/Revoker/Nature's Claim over Tezz for game 2.
Burn - Favorible:
The whole idea of Burn is to cast 6 spells to deal 20 damage in the first 6 turns of the game. The wole idea of Affinity is to cast 6 spells and swing for 5 per turn in the first 4 turns in the game. The simple truth about the matchup is that we are noticably faster. Not an assured win, but smart play and decent luck should bring it through for you.
Bring in Nature's Claim over Tezz for game 2.
Aggro Bant - Unfavorible:Although the build determins the exact matchup strength, in our case it determins how much we will wanna commit suicide before the game is over. Bant has bigger and more powerful creatures, Tygon Preditor, Jitte and friends (if Excalibur build), Progen (if NO build), and Kitaki off the sb (if Zenith build, and sometimes other builds). Meekstone can help here, since almost every creature they have will only swing once, but thats about all you have. Play as hard and as fgast as you can and hope for the best.
Bring in Nature's Claim game 2, what you take out depends on your build, but I usually leave Tezz in as he is our best wincon game 2 vs Zenith
Level 1 Judge
Currently Playing:
W Death and Taxes
BGR ScapeWish Nic Fit
BGR Punishing Nic Fit
4 Cranial Plating
3 Springleaf Drum
Artifact Creatures
4 Arcbound Ravager
2 Etched Champion
4 Frogmite
4 Memnite
4 Myr Enforcer
2 Ornithopter
4 Signal Pest
1 Darksteel Citadel
Creatures
4 Disciple of the Vault
Instants
4 Galvanic Blast
Legendary Artifacts
3 Mox Opal
Sorceries
4 Thoughtcast
Artifact Lands
4 Great Furnace
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
Lands
1 Blinkmoth Nexus
3 Pithing Needle
3 Relic of Progenitus
3 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Engineered Plague
3 Thoughtseize
Here is my current decklist:
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Ornithopter
3 Signal Pest
3 Etched Champion
3 Master of Etherium
2 Frogmite
Other Creatures (4)
4 Disciple of the Vault
Planeswalkers (3)
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
Artifacts/Equipment (4)
4 Cranial Plating
4 Thoughtcast
2 Galvanic Blast
2 Fling
Manabase (22)
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
4 Great Furnace
3 Mox Opal
3 Springleaf Drum
2 Glimmervoid
2 Ancient Den
3 Pithing Needle
3 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Cabal Therapy
3 Engineered Plague
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Nihil Spellbomb
I don't run Darksteel Citadel as I like to assure I always have the colors I need. If I am finding turn 1 wastelands too much to handle then I may change my mind but as of now I would prefer a turn 1 wastelanded ancient den than a turn 2 wastelanded seat of the synod.
I am testing Fling. I know it has been tested and determined not ideal but I love the explosiveness and am a red player at heart. I loved winning turn 2 on the play like this:
Initial 7: Seat of the Synod, Ornithopter, Mox Opal, Springleaf Drum, Frogmite, Cranial plating, Great Furnace.
Turn 1: Seat of the Synod, Ornithopter, Mox Opal, Springleaf Drum, Frogmite, Cranial plating, go ... "Wow," he says, "good draw?"
Opponent turn 1: City of Brass, go.
Turn 2: Draw (Thoughtcast), Great Furnace, Thoughtcast (Ornithopter, Fling), Ornithopter, Equip Plating to Frogmite, swing for 10 with Frogmite, Fling Frogmite for 10.
Opponent was playing TES (ready to go off next turn) and dominated me the next two games but that first one was fun. Ethersworn Canonist is now my best friend.
Glimmervoid, MoE and Tezz are probably not core right now. I don't know why the pros aren't running him but they must. I just don't lose a game that he lands in.
Frogmite probably is core.
Standard: UWR
Modern: RDW, Twin
Legacy: I am 3 Candelabra of Tawnos from being able to build almost any tier 1 or 1.5 deck. Here are the ones I care about right now:
-Aggro: UWR/RUB/WUB/RUG/UR Delver; Affinity; Burn
-Control: Stoneblade; UWr Miracles; UB Tezzeret
-Combo: Hive Mind; Combo Elves; Omni Tell; T.E.S.
Vintage: Grixis Painter
EDH: Rith, the Awakener
I'm going to start testing a list like the current top ones... Maybe I will Lear why there is no Tezz.
Level 1 Judge
Currently Playing:
W Death and Taxes
BGR ScapeWish Nic Fit
BGR Punishing Nic Fit
What are the late trends and changes? How popular is the deck? What are the most common hate against us? Card options to combat such hate. What are the decks strong sides, and how to pilot etc.
Regarding Tez 2.0, people need to give it some more time. I'm positive it will become an all-star in affinity. Its pretty much tailor-made for this archetype.
Whether or not it belongs in the "traditional" aggro style or a newer control build with FOW remains to be explored.
The way I see it right now, it probably belongs more to the latter as it (the deck) will have options and opportunity to protect Tez before activating his ultimate. The drawback is that it will lose its trademark explosiveness and high-speed aggressive play.
In order for the control build to function as it wants to, I "fear" the deck needs a total restructure. Meaning that staples like Ravager and Disciple might need to get booted. I'm not saying it will, but the possibility should be open.
Just my ramblings. Thoughts?
having some copies of Galvanic Blast also helps you out against opposing Planeswalkers which I've found quite helpful.
Level 1 Judge
Currently Playing:
W Death and Taxes
BGR ScapeWish Nic Fit
BGR Punishing Nic Fit
If its okay, you can include that vid I posted in the past forums on the Affinity player who top 8-ed recently in the SCG legacy open who ran the tezz-less build.
Cite the wrong and right plays he did too, to help new players get the hang of how affinity should be played.
I'll keep my eyes out for other affinity-plays.
Also add the erayo/Glimpse affinity decklists.
Even if most of us go against it, we can't deny that it has won top 8's in the past.
Level 1 Judge
Currently Playing:
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BGR Punishing Nic Fit
Or Daze, Spell Pierce, etc. Also, Chalice @ 1 kills the entire deck. I dont like it, but if you give me any proof it is viable I'll add it. I don't want to just support random varient build because there are far to many. Legacy Tempered Steel, Ravager Combo, and Meek decks (the versions without counterbalance) are just a few examples of tier 2-3 decks that could claim to fall under Affinity.
I don't mean to be offensive to anyone, but if you want a variant included here, show me it is established competitive. The developing forum is one below developed.
Level 1 Judge
Currently Playing:
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BGR ScapeWish Nic Fit
BGR Punishing Nic Fit
Galvanic Blast is good. It's a bolt but does 33% more damage. Shrapnel was used as a way to win in Vial, but I dont think Modern Affinity needs it. Each non-artifact we run weakens the synergy, so they need to be good. Shrapnel used to be, but Blast is better and I don't think we need 8 burn spells. It may depend though, what's your list?
PS: I wanted a new name for the deck in recognition that it is not Vial Affinity, but just Affinity is an archtype and a mechanic, not a deck. What do you think of it?
Level 1 Judge
Currently Playing:
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BGR ScapeWish Nic Fit
BGR Punishing Nic Fit
I thought it was pretty commonly accepted to be called Ravager Affinity or Raffinity? (honest question, I have no clue really!)
-Glimmervoid may look good but i think its worth running den or tree because glimmervoid cannot be sacced and mox opal is already included for virtually the same ability plus is an artifact
-Galvanic blast scares me especially since theres a playset in your deck and the only draw you have is thoughtcast. What worries me most is the color fixing involved, i feel that drawing these early game sucks because it might screw your T1 or drawing them late game still leaves you open after you dealt some damage
-If it were up to me i'd switch the galvanic blast for 2-3 MoE which hits harder and gives the artifact critters a boost, it also is the prime candidate for removal which allows you to guess the opponents play easily. The last slot i feel should be for another springleaf drum which matches the amount of creatures you would now have.
Just my 2 cents
People have different names for this deck, vial affinity died after vial became a SB option but ravager affinity still stands as well as plain old affinity
I'm not certain of Galvanic over MoE, I will do a lot of Galvanic testing before my next major tournament (April 12th!), but for now I posted it that may because those are the builds that place. Kinda hard to argue with that.
On the name... I like it I feel that this version has the potential to be more than any previous ones (especially if the Tezz builds work out), so I wanted a new name. Idc if you guys don't want to use it, but I've signed up in tournaments with Modern Affinity as my deck name
Level 1 Judge
Currently Playing:
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BGR ScapeWish Nic Fit
BGR Punishing Nic Fit
I see that often which is why i run a tree of tales over glimmervoid and another den for the other glimmervoid, the tree of tales plus other color fixers is used for green artifact hate such as Tel-jilad justice, etc and for combos which i often face i run den for canonist
Edit: concerning the MoE, I run it because if i drop it, i will know 95% of the time what my opponents will do, and thats very powerful when you can guess their move and find a way to screw them over, with galvanic blast they remain unpredictable, I think the reason why other decks place with galvanic is because they run etched champion which i think serves its own purpose but cannot be compared with MoE because both have unique aspects that make them both special
I just wanted to give a heads up on a rules clarification in case anyone runs it as a sideboard answer in a tournament. Nature's Claim would not be an effective answer to Null Rod. Null Rod shuts off all artifact abilities, including mana abilities, which means the only way to pay for it would be if you have a glimmervoid in play. Null Rod shuts off all your artifact lands, mox, and drums.
You can always float mana you know... but yes, you are correct. Also, there are a few reason that I have 3 Needles on my SB. They are (in order): Null Rod, Null Rod, Trinosphere, Null rod
I don't see null rods... like ever. The issue with them is they are useless vs basically anyone else, and its hard to justify too many coppies of a sb card that has no use vs any deck but one, unless its a weakness of your deck.
Why run a Tree and a Den, instead of two voids? voids produce both colors.
I think a three mana bait is a bit much for this deck. I prefer Etched Champion to MoE for three main reasons:
1) They cant do anything about it
2) It blocks anyone
3) It has the ultimate evasion
All this is summed up in "protection from all colors". That is just soooo amazing.
Level 1 Judge
Currently Playing:
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BGR ScapeWish Nic Fit
BGR Punishing Nic Fit
It's chill. Anything else you noticed like that?
Also, I'm making a "cards to watch out for"... Trinosphere, Null Rod, shattering spree, EE, what else?
Level 1 Judge
Currently Playing:
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BGR ScapeWish Nic Fit
BGR Punishing Nic Fit
I like the name Affinity or Ravager Affinity. I would name the thread:
[ Deck] Affinity (Post MBS)
Just my 2 cents.
I love the primer so far. The history is interesting and should get new players excited about this deck. Great job!
Here are the cards that are in all 3 of the recent high-placing decks (Except I put in 4 cranial plating because that one dude must be crazy):
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Signal Pest
4 Frogmite
3 Myr Enforcer
3 Memnite
2 Ornithopter
4 Disciple of the Vault
Other Spells (8)
4 Thoughtcast
4 Cranial Plating
Mana Base (15)
3 Mox Opal
3 Springleaf Drum
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
1 Darksteel Citadel
That should probably be the 47 card "base" or "core" deck with Tezz builds usually putting him in for Myr Enforcer.
You can then talk about choices for the other 13 cards that can finish out your build including 4-8 more lands based on your curve and inclusion of red, more of the already included artifact creatures, Etched Champion, Galvanic Blast and MoE.
One more thing:
How can people not feel MoE is awesome? 'Goyf is considered the greatest creature ever and typically comes down Turn 2 as a 2/3 or 3/4 and can grow to a max of 8/9 (although about 6/7 is more typical). MoE can easily come down turn 2 as a 5/5 lord and can easily grow to a 9/9 or 10/10 in a couple turns in this deck. He does cost 1 more but creating 3 mana on turn 2 is common in this deck. The only other downside to him is that he is susceptible to artifact removal. He is just always a 'deal with him now or lose the game' card for my opponents and that means that they aren't dealing with my other artifacts that can probably win me the game too.
Standard: UWR
Modern: RDW, Twin
Legacy: I am 3 Candelabra of Tawnos from being able to build almost any tier 1 or 1.5 deck. Here are the ones I care about right now:
-Aggro: UWR/RUB/WUB/RUG/UR Delver; Affinity; Burn
-Control: Stoneblade; UWr Miracles; UB Tezzeret
-Combo: Hive Mind; Combo Elves; Omni Tell; T.E.S.
Vintage: Grixis Painter
EDH: Rith, the Awakener
a matter of perspective i suppose, i on one hand prefer the "true" all in swarm where its pretty much dropping threats after threats and just beating face with it. Sure you have a etched champion t3 or t2 if you're lucky but you also need plating to make it do serious damage and im not about to give my opponents the time to figure out how to deal with champion
Glavanic Blasts also give you a little unpredictability. Affinity typically has no other instants, making us play/do things only on our turns. This gives our opponents "breathing" room. If you watched the vid I posted in the other forums where the affinity player had two Galvanic Blasts in hand, if he only used it correctly he would have won. He would have gotten 7th or maybe even 6th place had be used his Galvanic Blasts effectively as REMOVAL instead of in-the-face damage.
As for MoE, I removed mine to make space for Signal Pests and to be able to bump my Etched Champion count to 4. I did this because I often found myself wishing MoE was Etched when I drew him in a lot of situations. He's a built in Crainial Plating, but I was seldom are able to swing with it because he's so often chump-blocked all day by 1/1's or something. He often remains untapped for this reason and serves as a blocker most of the time.
He also eats removal way too easily compared to the other 3 to cast (Etched Champion.)
I'd rather have Etched than MoE in so many situations because he usually just ends the game more often than MoE does.
MoE gives you stayability, Etched gives you a win-con.
I am also trying an unconventional and experimental build where Meekstones are mainboard. Meekstone just overachieves whenever he's needed and I think we board him in more matchups compared to matchups where we don't use him. It also makes sideboarding easier since I have three cards that are an auto-remove if my opponent doesn't have creatures above 2 power. In my deck, MoE just isn't required.
This is just experimentation though. Purely for research/analysis purposes.
:symw::symb:Steel Wb Weenie