Are you missing Smuggler's Copter in your build, FANAttIC? The list looks really interesting.
Personally, I feel like it is a very strong card in the deck (playing the Zac Elsik version).
A more general question: Is Throne of the God-Pharaoh only a card you always side out for Game 2/3?
Oh wow, haven't noticed he skipped on Copters. This is so bad
Copter playset is probably THE reason to play this deck for me and wouldn't recommend going without it.
Throne is good as proactive threat in game 1 and fine as another dmg source vs decks with Verdict or Ensnaring Bridge, no need for overextending and a way to cross the finish line without attacking. I was sceptical at first too.
I tested against Affinity this whole week. That looks like great matchup for us. Anybody agrees or is my testing statistical anomaly?
Affinity is decent for us. We have a bunch of flyers we don't mind trading with, and ballista is a heavy blowout. Unanswered steel overseer turn 2 is how we lose to this deck in my experience.
Ravager is also problematic if we don't have enough blockers and a Ballista to ping whatever they want to put the counters on. Same goes for Plating. At least sideboarding is easy as Lodestones are useless against them.
Basilisk Collar and/or Hangarback are nice against Ravager, with or without Ballista.
Lodestone is useless but so is Etched Champion from their side
All in all, playing against Affinity with this deck is much nicer than using my other Islands.dec.
Concerning bad matchups, Merfolk is not the easiest if Ballista is not drawn, and Eldrazi Tron and Tron are usually problematic.
I haven't played against a lot of other decks.
Once Nexus is a creature it can produce mana for Myr superion : you can play myr on turn 3 if you played etherium sculptor and blinkmoth Nexus on turn 2. So it's more like you have 12 ways of playing Myr in your deck. (Sculptor and Nexus count as 1/2)
Signal pest and master of etherium are better together, obviously. Personnaly I wouldn't play pest without master.
As weird as this sounds, signal pest is actually more a mid-lategame card: pest is quite bad when played on turn 1 (we can't crew copter with it, we can't really use the battlecry effect because there is a 100% chance it's going to attack alone on turn 2). However pest starts being good after turn 3, and that's when judge's familiar starts getting weaker.
If you can play turn 1 wanderer - turn 2 engineer/sculptor and then play multiple signal pests, that's really the best opener you can get. Signal pest is also the only way to play a huge master of etherium on turn 2. But it's not really likely to happen...
Pest t1 still works fine with engineer t2 and pest can try to crew copter if throne is out. Also if you play gift pest is a great target to be reanimated.
Pest t1 still works fine with engineer t2 and pest can try to crew copter if throne is out. Also if you play gift pest is a great target to be reanimated.
My point is : on turn 1 and 2, mausoleum wanderer and judge's familiar are strictly better cards than signal pest in any case. After that, I don't know.
Ok but if you are strictly talking t1-2 sage is even better because it sets up your next 4 turns potentially. I don't think you can look at a card for only it's value in t1-2 when analyzing it.
Hey
Final point - the forum / page should be called Blue Steel. It's what people know the deck as, and I tried to do a search for it. Obviously, I didn't find it! Was lucky to spot Grand Architect post at all!
I figured I'd weigh in here on this as a modern mod and active reader/semiactive poster of the thread. While Blue steel maybe more iconic the thread it self isn't focused just on blue steel but rather focuses on many grand architect builds thus will probably stay just grand architect for now.
Fourth Lodestone is missing since I couldn't find one on time. A friend forgot to bring me back Gift so that was out also.
"Creature enhancing package": Collar, Bident and 2 Swords, is here to use all of those doofuses (8 birds, 8 2-mana accelerators and 4 Nexus) and make them relevant in the later game. The rest is more or less standard.
R1 vs Junk
I had everything, random creatures + 2 Lodestones + Ballista for Confidant + both Swords. The problem was he drew all four Lingering Souls and he grinded me out after 30 min. If any sword was pro-white or second Ballista or Ruins came of the top...
Game 2 was turn 2 Stony Silence (expected them but not respected enough since they are mostly 2-ofs).
0:2
R2 vs Eldrazi Tron
Turn 3 Karn, Turn 4 Ulamog...
Well then.
Game 2 was mull into nonRejection hand and I died horribly to monsters.
0:2
Fun, Fun!
R3 vs Company Spirits
I threw too much stuff under 2 Geist of Saint Trafts, which slowed me down and she got me with flyers.
Game 2 was easy win with Lodestone equipped with Sword of Fire&Ice
Game 3 was explosion of random artifacts. She locked my Copter and Ballista but Lodestone and Wurmcoil don't care for Stony Silence.
2:1
R4 vs Monoblue Ninjas
8 Birds is great when opponent is trying to play 1-drop into Deep Hours, then Ballista showed up.
Game 2 was almost turn 2 win: opp Island flyer, me Island go, him Island attack switch with Ninja of the Deep Hours (got Dismembered), me turn 2 Chalice on 1
2:0
R5 vs UW Spirits
Both games I drew brutally, it felt like cheating (Lodestone + Ballista and Bident + Sword of Feast&Famine (draw a lot and untap to play everything)).
2:0
Good decks destroyed me while random decks without removal had no chance. That is not great resume for it.
In the end, I need pro-white sword, fourth Rejection for sure, "package" was great and I need to test more different matchups.
@ Master of Etherium
I dropped them since they annoy me (not enough power for this deck).
@ Birds
8 seems to me is the right number. We need to get going, they power up second turn Engineer, they protect our guys from counterspells and some removal and they are part of the best openings we could have. There is always Copter loot in their future if not needed.
@ Swords of x&y
As mentioned in the report, drew both against Lingering Souls while none is pro-white and then Stony resolved the next game. They did nothing against Tron and almost singlehandedly destroyed next 3 blue creature decks (just what happens when I play Merfolk in Legacy against D&T). Obviously bad against white decks, because Stony is coming to ruin Copter and Swords while making Ballista overcosted vanilla dude. Stony is the reason to have Master of Etherium, but mostly the only one.
Swords are really clunky with their 3 mana cost and 2 mana equip but that isn't the case in this deck. When they cost 2 mana and 0 equip, perspectives change. I did lived the dream of Bird into Sculptor into Architect for turn 3 cast/equip/attack with Bird protection, it was glorious.
@ Ensoul Artifact
That could be a "solution" to Stony problem but it would go against white deck, and Path to Exile is still there.
@ Copter
4 of SC, Ballista and Architect are the reason I like this deck, so there is no chance I would remove any.
I've been playing the deck in paper and online, mostly casual. A friend suggested a couple Cranial Plating to be more aggro. I added a couple Darksteel Citadel to up the artifact count. It's been great almost always a +4 or +5 when I cast it. A couple hits adds up quickly and we can equip to a bunch of flyers.
Yesterday i went 4-0, beating esper control/tokens, u/w control, tezzeret thopter foundry, merfolk (with red splash for lightning bolt)
Signal pests continued to pull their weight. They contribute to give me more percentage points of nut draws. By being free with sculptor on turn two they can be free mana with enginner. And they just push my aggro. For exemple yesterday i got a draw with turn one wanderer, turn two engineer, convoke into triple pest! The game ended quickly. Turning our dorky little vedalkens into powerful attacker is very valuable.
I also cut scrap trawlers from the sideboard. Instead, when in need for value, i opt to bring in trinket mages plus hangarback walker. I realised the mages are the value i need vs more removal heavy decks.
The seven drop were very good. Battlesphere has great synergy with masters and pests, and gift is always so powerful.
How is god Pharoah's gift for those that have tried it? Is it another win-more card or is it really good to land?
In short, is it worth running over anything at all?
Private Mod Note
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When the task spilled over into undeath, he stopped calling it his life's work.
Decks
Standard: GBGB EnergyGB GRGR EnergyGR
Modern: RBUWAd NauseamRBUW GRGR TitanshiftGR UBLUE STEEEEEELU UR Storm U Turbo Turns
@Ace1. Might I see your current list? I saw your earlier one with 1 gift and 1 myr battlesphere. Just wondering how you make room for it all and if you upped the land count at all
After playing some more and going for another 4-0, i decided i liked gift as my big splashy artifact of choice. Myr Battlesphere is good but won't win you the game on unwinnable game states like gift does, and against most sweepers.
Also a few tweaks in the sideboard, added orbs of warding because hurkyl's recall is annoying, plus bonus points vs storm: they can't gift you or empty the warrens you or grapeshot you. A meta call of course.
Thanks for the thread and discussion. I bought the pieces for this deck about a week ago and have been running it in my local meta. With admittedly limited reps, here is what I've got and my choices so far:
The deck is what I wanted: fun to play with interesting choices. Potential to be explosive. Good game in the current meta. Not a Tier-1 pricetag. (I had a set of Walking Ballista already, so that helped.)
I played for a while using the 8-birds and 4-ofs for the rest of the creatures, plus the 2 Throne of the God-Pharaoh. The 1-drops were split 4 Wanderer / 2 Signal Pest / 2 Judge's
Lack of removal in G1 was really hurting me. I've decided to add my "removal package" -- Trinket Mage and Basilisk's Collar -- to the main deck. Sure it is slow and clunky to get the collar on a ballista, but if you can chump for a turn or two it really works out.
I wanted one big "payoff" for game 1. I'm working with Myr Battlesphere right now, the call being that I'm more likely to see Path to Exile than a bunch of Wraths.
To make room, I dropped 1 bird (and converted the other to a Judge's Familiar), 1 Lodestone Golem and 1 Chief Engineer.
Dropping a 2-mana ramp was a hard choice. The Engineer lost out because a) he can't be ramped himself with either method (other Engineers or the Architect); b) his ramp effect doesn't stack; c) he's not buffed by the Master; d) he doesn't grow the Master's base power/toughness.
Throne is really great. Getting one out early makes such a huge difference in almost every matchup, esp. if you are racing.
Some people have cut the Master of Etherium, but in my (limited) experience that's not the way to go. Yes it is a 3-mana card, but just a single blue. It can be ramped by either means and it plays well with the Architect. More on the battlefield is just better. And, perhaps most important to how things play out for me, they buff the Smuggler's Copter. The looting plus evasive damage early and often is a lot of pressure. Unanswered 'scooters are a big problem, making them a 4/4 or a 5/5 just adds to the pressure. The Architect has to spend a mana to buff them; the Master does it all the time.
I liked the Signal Pest a lot, it is an artifact, but a few things make it get the axe for me. a) It is not blue, and can't be used to 2-CMC ramp with Architect; b) doesn't crew copter by itself; and c) can't tax an opponent's spells.
7 1-drop tax spells that can crew the 'scooter helps out much more often than I would have thought. Yes the Golem is a tax all the time but it got the cut down to 3-of because its base cost is so much higher. Yes you can ramp it in often, but it is often competing with other cards as a turn 3 or 4 play. I sideboard in the Thorn of Amythest when I need more tax. And when I need more, I usually need it faster as well.
Those are my thoughts; comments welcome. The deck is going to FNM tomorrow, hopefully I can give a report.
FNM was very fun, went 3-2. Sideboard is a different than the first list I posted; didn't have a Wurmcoil on hand and was expecting a little more control. It turned out to be the right choice; didn't face any Eldrazi, so the Unified Will over Ceremonious Rejection worked out.
LOSS: Slivers and Merfolk
WIN: Lantern Control, UW Control and Blue Moon
There were a lot of all-stars in the evening, used every card in the sideboard except the graveyard hate. Winning with Throne of the God-Pharaoh through Ensnaring Bridge was particularly rewarding. Won multiple games with Smuggler's Copter.
The Slivers and Merfolk felt very unwinnable game 1, and the sideboard was very little help. Maybe the Aethersphere Harvester would have helped a bit but I never drew it. I'm thinking a couple of Dismember in the sideboard would help.
Harvester probably isn't enough vs Merfolk since there is no blocking, most likely. As attacker it demands time and other creature just to be dealt with Snag/Dismember or Harbinger.
Quick Ratchet Bomb on 2 might be the answer, or well played Dismember inside of combat, but it is not a good matchup.
You can try your own Ensnaring Bridge since Fish has no answer to it (other than Ceremonious Rejection and Echoing Truth) or quick assembling of Collar and Ballista. Or ignore the matchup and focus on more played decks.
i used to play grand architect decks when i got into modern years ago and just picked up this since it is way more viable with the new additions ( ballista, copter, wanderer) ... anyways, ive noticed the deck is at its best with a throne out... i feel like 3 copies might be the right number??? anyone tried that? i know the odds of drawing two are real, but we have copter to loot away anyways...
+1 for master of etherium, not sold on trinket package, but its not bad for sure. kinda want more thorns than 2 SB also in the matches where prison is the game plan...
This looks close to my list since I am also on Collar-Trinket-Hangarback package in the main.
Personally, I feel like it is a very strong card in the deck (playing the Zac Elsik version).
A more general question: Is Throne of the God-Pharaoh only a card you always side out for Game 2/3?
Copter playset is probably THE reason to play this deck for me and wouldn't recommend going without it.
Throne is good as proactive threat in game 1 and fine as another dmg source vs decks with Verdict or Ensnaring Bridge, no need for overextending and a way to cross the finish line without attacking. I was sceptical at first too.
I tested against Affinity this whole week. That looks like great matchup for us. Anybody agrees or is my testing statistical anomaly?
WBG Elves WBG
Cheeri0s
EDH:
RG Omnath, Locus of Rage RG || GWUB Atraxa, Praetors' Voice GWUB
R Zo-Zu the Punisher R || WU Brago, King Eternal WU
UB Gisa and Geralf UB || BGW Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW
Lodestone is useless but so is Etched Champion from their side
All in all, playing against Affinity with this deck is much nicer than using my other Islands.dec.
I haven't played against a lot of other decks.
Pest t1 still works fine with engineer t2 and pest can try to crew copter if throne is out. Also if you play gift pest is a great target to be reanimated.
Ok but if you are strictly talking t1-2 sage is even better because it sets up your next 4 turns potentially. I don't think you can look at a card for only it's value in t1-2 when analyzing it.
I figured I'd weigh in here on this as a modern mod and active reader/semiactive poster of the thread. While Blue steel maybe more iconic the thread it self isn't focused just on blue steel but rather focuses on many grand architect builds thus will probably stay just grand architect for now.
Ulka
I brought this:
15 Island
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
1 Academy Ruins
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1 Cavern of Souls
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Judge's Familiar
4 Walking Ballista
4 Smuggler's Copter
4 Chief Engineer
4 Etherium Sculptor
4 Grand Architect
3 Lodestone Golem
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Bident of Thassa
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
2 Throne of the God-Pharaoh
2 Trinket Mage
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Hangarback Walker
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Batterskull
3 Ceremonious Rejection
3 Thorn of Amethyst
2 Dismember
Fourth Lodestone is missing since I couldn't find one on time. A friend forgot to bring me back Gift so that was out also.
"Creature enhancing package": Collar, Bident and 2 Swords, is here to use all of those doofuses (8 birds, 8 2-mana accelerators and 4 Nexus) and make them relevant in the later game. The rest is more or less standard.
R1 vs Junk
I had everything, random creatures + 2 Lodestones + Ballista for Confidant + both Swords. The problem was he drew all four Lingering Souls and he grinded me out after 30 min. If any sword was pro-white or second Ballista or Ruins came of the top...
Game 2 was turn 2 Stony Silence (expected them but not respected enough since they are mostly 2-ofs).
0:2
R2 vs Eldrazi Tron
Turn 3 Karn, Turn 4 Ulamog...
Well then.
Game 2 was mull into nonRejection hand and I died horribly to monsters.
0:2
Fun, Fun!
R3 vs Company Spirits
I threw too much stuff under 2 Geist of Saint Trafts, which slowed me down and she got me with flyers.
Game 2 was easy win with Lodestone equipped with Sword of Fire&Ice
Game 3 was explosion of random artifacts. She locked my Copter and Ballista but Lodestone and Wurmcoil don't care for Stony Silence.
2:1
R4 vs Monoblue Ninjas
8 Birds is great when opponent is trying to play 1-drop into Deep Hours, then Ballista showed up.
Game 2 was almost turn 2 win: opp Island flyer, me Island go, him Island attack switch with Ninja of the Deep Hours (got Dismembered), me turn 2 Chalice on 1
2:0
R5 vs UW Spirits
Both games I drew brutally, it felt like cheating (Lodestone + Ballista and Bident + Sword of Feast&Famine (draw a lot and untap to play everything)).
2:0
Good decks destroyed me while random decks without removal had no chance. That is not great resume for it.
In the end, I need pro-white sword, fourth Rejection for sure, "package" was great and I need to test more different matchups.
I dropped them since they annoy me (not enough power for this deck).
@ Birds
8 seems to me is the right number. We need to get going, they power up second turn Engineer, they protect our guys from counterspells and some removal and they are part of the best openings we could have. There is always Copter loot in their future if not needed.
@ Swords of x&y
As mentioned in the report, drew both against Lingering Souls while none is pro-white and then Stony resolved the next game. They did nothing against Tron and almost singlehandedly destroyed next 3 blue creature decks (just what happens when I play Merfolk in Legacy against D&T). Obviously bad against white decks, because Stony is coming to ruin Copter and Swords while making Ballista overcosted vanilla dude. Stony is the reason to have Master of Etherium, but mostly the only one.
Swords are really clunky with their 3 mana cost and 2 mana equip but that isn't the case in this deck. When they cost 2 mana and 0 equip, perspectives change. I did lived the dream of Bird into Sculptor into Architect for turn 3 cast/equip/attack with Bird protection, it was glorious.
@ Ensoul Artifact
That could be a "solution" to Stony problem but it would go against white deck, and Path to Exile is still there.
@ Copter
4 of SC, Ballista and Architect are the reason I like this deck, so there is no chance I would remove any.
Just a thought.
4 mausoleum wanderer
4 signal pest
4 chief engineer
4 etherium sculptor
4 walking ballista
4 grand architect
2 master of etherium
4 lodestone golem
artifacts: 7
4 smuggler's copter
2 throne of the god-pharaoh
1 gift of the god-pharaoh
lands: 22
4 blinkmoth nexus
1 academy ruins
1 cavern of souls
1 Oboro, palace in the clouds
15 island
1 hangarback walker
1 grafdigger's cage
1 relic of progenitus
1 basilisk collar
1 pithing needle
2 thorn of amethyst
2 quicksilver fountain
2 mindlock orb
2 trinket mage
2 echoing truth
Yesterday i went 4-0, beating esper control/tokens, u/w control, tezzeret thopter foundry, merfolk (with red splash for lightning bolt)
Signal pests continued to pull their weight. They contribute to give me more percentage points of nut draws. By being free with sculptor on turn two they can be free mana with enginner. And they just push my aggro. For exemple yesterday i got a draw with turn one wanderer, turn two engineer, convoke into triple pest! The game ended quickly. Turning our dorky little vedalkens into powerful attacker is very valuable.
I also cut scrap trawlers from the sideboard. Instead, when in need for value, i opt to bring in trinket mages plus hangarback walker. I realised the mages are the value i need vs more removal heavy decks.
The seven drop were very good. Battlesphere has great synergy with masters and pests, and gift is always so powerful.
In short, is it worth running over anything at all?
Decks
Standard:
GBGB EnergyGB
GRGR EnergyGR
Modern:
RBUWAd NauseamRBUW
GRGR TitanshiftGR
UBLUE STEEEEEELU
UR StormU Turbo Turns4 mausoleum wanderer
4 signal pest
4 chief engineer
4 etherium sculptor
4 walking ballista
4 grand architect
2 master of etherium
4 lodestone golem
4 smuggler's copter
2 throne of the god-pharaoh
2 gift of the god-pharaoh
lands: 22
4 blinkmoth nexus
1 academy ruins
1 cavern of souls
1 Oboro, palace in the clouds
15 island
1 hangarback walker
1 grafdigger's cage
1 relic of progenitus
1 basilisk collar
1 pithing needle
2 thorn of amethyst
1 torpor orb
1 quicksilver fountain
1 mindlock orb
1 orbs of warding
2 trinket mage
2 echoing truth
After playing some more and going for another 4-0, i decided i liked gift as my big splashy artifact of choice. Myr Battlesphere is good but won't win you the game on unwinnable game states like gift does, and against most sweepers.
Also a few tweaks in the sideboard, added orbs of warding because hurkyl's recall is annoying, plus bonus points vs storm: they can't gift you or empty the warrens you or grapeshot you. A meta call of course.
Those are my thoughts; comments welcome. The deck is going to FNM tomorrow, hopefully I can give a report.
1 Basilisk Collar
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
3 Chief Engineer
4 Etherium Sculptor
4 Grand Architect
16 Island
3 Judge's Familiar
3 Lodestone Golem
4 Master of Etherium
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
1 Myr Battlesphere
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
4 Smuggler's Copter
2 Throne of the God-Pharaoh
1 Trinket Mage
4 Walking Ballista
2 Ceremonious Rejection
1 God-Pharaoh's Gift
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Hangarback Walker
2 Negate
1 Pithing Needle
1 Relic of Progenitus
3 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Wurmcoil Engine
LOSS: Slivers and Merfolk
WIN: Lantern Control, UW Control and Blue Moon
There were a lot of all-stars in the evening, used every card in the sideboard except the graveyard hate. Winning with Throne of the God-Pharaoh through Ensnaring Bridge was particularly rewarding. Won multiple games with Smuggler's Copter.
The Slivers and Merfolk felt very unwinnable game 1, and the sideboard was very little help. Maybe the Aethersphere Harvester would have helped a bit but I never drew it. I'm thinking a couple of Dismember in the sideboard would help.
Other ideas vs aggro would be welcome!
1 Basilisk Collar
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
3 Chief Engineer
4 Etherium Sculptor
4 Grand Architect
16 Island
3 Judge's Familiar
3 Lodestone Golem
4 Master of Etherium
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
1 Myr Battlesphere
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
4 Smuggler's Copter
2 Throne of the God-Pharaoh
1 Trinket Mage
4 Walking Ballista
2 Unified Will
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Hangarback Walker
2 Negate
1 Pithing Needle
1 Relic of Progenitus
3 Thorn of Amethyst
Quick Ratchet Bomb on 2 might be the answer, or well played Dismember inside of combat, but it is not a good matchup.
You can try your own Ensnaring Bridge since Fish has no answer to it (other than Ceremonious Rejection and Echoing Truth) or quick assembling of Collar and Ballista. Or ignore the matchup and focus on more played decks.
+1 for master of etherium, not sold on trinket package, but its not bad for sure. kinda want more thorns than 2 SB also in the matches where prison is the game plan...