I put Clutch of the Undercity in there as a pain bounce and also a tutor for Silent Arbiter/Lodestone/Metamorph. Not sure if it is better than Fabricate tbh.
The lightning coils are in there for the Sharuum combo. Each time she comes into play with a Metamorph or the original in the grave, one of them dies. Repeat a million times and next upkeep you blow out a million 3/1 haste elementals. Even without the combo you only have to pay that casting cost once and it will do the rest on its own. No need to play around it. Plus Coils are more resilient to removal than Disciple.
The Bident might work as targeted removal just like the Spear. Just testing both of them right now. I have tested no other draw effects but I fear without artifact lands and a good chance of nothing but Vedalken on the field, that artifact-based draw might not be as good as I want.
Good call on the Canonists I totally missed that.
Since I'm thinking about it, this deck does two things badly and one well:
1. It creature tutors to find answers to what is on the field, like Pod, only not as good.
2. It uses lord effects and Cavern of Souls, like tribal or Merfolk, only not as good.
3. It ramps like Green and poops out hell-monsters. It does this well.
I guess it also has an infinite token combo rammed in there too.
As for the white, it's for Colonnade activations but originally for Vault of the Archangel activations. The white also helps me play a T1 Judge, just in case I have a weird land situation or awkward mulligan. Of it doesn't work out I can revert to UB with ease but as it is now I can include Canonists in the side.
I have been having some luck on MTGO with this list. I have been playing MUD in legacy for years and wanted to do something similar in Modern. I originally tried to do exactly what MUD does and try to lock the board down with Lodestone Golem type effects and Chalice of the Void. In my testing the lack of Sol lands or reliable ways to make 4+ mana on turn 2 hurts that strategy. If you are on the draw Lodestone and Chalice don't do nearly enough, because your opponent has likely played anything you wanted to stop or delay. That being said I think Chalice should be in the board for burn and other aggressive strategies.
I think you have to run some number of Spellskite main as this deck is soft to fast aggro / combo strategies game one. You also want to have various answers to a wide field and ways to recur them.
So thinking of that and taking my Legacy experience into consideration this is the list I came up with. It has answers to most of the field and has several different paths to victory; U beats, man land beats, infect, I even won a game using only Staff of Nin and recurring Contagion Engine with Master Transmuter.
If you haven't tried Master Transmuter yet, she is an all-star. Being able to recur Engine, Staff (to get rid of a 2 toughness creature), Spine of Ish Sah, and Sundering Titan is amazing. It also adds another protection type spell as you can return a targeted artifact to your hand and immediately put it back into play. And EOTing a Blightsteel Colossus is always a ton of fun. It does die to Lightning Bolt and Path to Exile but it dodges Abrupt Decay.
Vedalken Engineer seems to be under rated on this thread. People kill you mana dorks and while Chief Engineer is very good and a great blocker, it is still very reliant on you having a multitude of creatures on the field to be truly useful; where as VE produces 2 on its own. VE also taps for colored mana that can be used on artifact abilities, which is awesome for Master.
Phyrexia's Core is in there for some added protection from exile effects, since the deck runs both Academy Ruins and Buried Ruin for graveyard recursion. It also has some play against aggro strategies.
Faerie Conclave is my replacement for Mishra's factory, because the flying is a real plus and it gets pumps from Grand Architect. I have been able to close a few games out with them after board wipes.
Halimar Depths is for some deck manipulation. If I had more shuffle effects I could see going up on their number and reducing Conclave to 3. But I am not sure I want to run fetches as Bloodmoon then becomes a serious issue.
Both Depths and Conclave are in the deck as substitute one drops. Both are strong and nothing has felt wrong so far in testing.
Once I figure out my board I will post it as well.
My experience in Modern is not as vast as it is in Legacy so if I made any big mistakes let me know. I can say that I have not settled on a board yet, and need to test against POD some more but from the 20 odd games I have jammed on MTGO I think this Archetype has some real potential. If anyone has any questions in regards to card choices or anything let me know.
I have been having some luck on MTGO with this list. I have been playing MUD in legacy for years and wanted to do something similar in Modern. I originally tried to do exactly what MUD does and try to lock the board down with Lodestone Golem type effects and Chalice of the Void. In my testing the lack of Sol lands or reliable ways to make 4+ mana on turn 2 hurts that strategy. If you are on the draw Lodestone and Chalice don't do nearly enough, because your opponent has likely played anything you wanted to stop or delay. That being said I think Chalice should be in the board for burn and other aggressive strategies.
I think you have to run some number of Spellskite main as this deck is soft to fast aggro / combo strategies game one. You also want to have various answers to a wide field and ways to recur them.
So thinking of that and taking my Legacy experience into consideration this is the list I came up with. It has answers to most of the field and has several different paths to victory; U beats, man land beats, infect, I even won a game using only Staff of Nin and recurring Contagion Engine with Master Transmuter.
If you haven't tried Master Transmuter yet, she is an all-star. Being able to recur Engine, Staff (to get rid of a 2 toughness creature), Spine of Ish Sah, and Sundering Titan is amazing. It also adds another protection type spell as you can return a targeted artifact to your hand and immediately put it back into play. And EOTing a Blightsteel Colossus is always a ton of fun. It does die to Lightning Bolt and Path to Exile but it dodges Abrupt Decay.
Vedalken Engineer seems to be under rated on this thread. People kill you mana dorks and while Chief Engineer is very good and a great blocker, it is still very reliant on you having a multitude of creatures on the field to be truly useful; where as VE produces 2 on its own. VE also taps for colored mana that can be used on artifact abilities, which is awesome for Master.
Phyrexia's Core is in there for some added protection from exile effects, since the deck runs both Academy Ruins and Buried Ruin for graveyard recursion. It also has some play against aggro strategies.
Faerie Conclave is my replacement for Mishra's factory, because the flying is a real plus and it gets pumps from Grand Architect. I have been able to close a few games out with them after board wipes.
Halimar Depths is for some deck manipulation. If I had more shuffle effects I could see going up on their number and reducing Conclave to 3. But I am not sure I want to run fetches as Bloodmoon then becomes a serious issue.
Both Depths and Conclave are in the deck as substitute one drops. Both are strong and nothing has felt wrong so far in testing.
Once I figure out my board I will post it as well.
My experience in Modern is not as vast as it is in Legacy so if I made any big mistakes let me know. I can say that I have not settled on a board yet, and need to test against POD some more but from the 20 odd games I have jammed on MTGO I think this Archetype has some real potential. If anyone has any questions in regards to card choices or anything let me know.
I briefly thought about Trinket Mage and the Tron package. However Trinket Mage and other low cost artifacts aren't really contributing to the overall goal of the deck, in my view. The Tron mana base is great, but unlike the Posts base in Legacy where you only need two lands of 10-12 lands to see benefit, you have to see 3 different land. Which you then have to devote more slots to cards to help you assemble the lands or just hope to natural draw the combo. In that case I would rather have utility lands rather than cross my fingers.
No Phyrexian Metamorph is a hold over from my Legacy MUD list. When you get to copy a Tarmogoyf or a Stone Forge Mystic (to get Batterskull / I know SFM isn't Modern legal but still) its amazing, and in this deck I sure it would be amazing to copy a Grand Architect or a Staff of Nin. But copying any of the threats in the deck would likely be win more. I could be wrong but I don't know if Meta deserves a main board slot.
Though I did just realize that you can do a Modern version of the Metalworker combo in Modern, using Grand Architect, Staff of Domination, and Pili-Pala. You could use Fabricate to help set it up too but then you probably have a different deck. For those not in the know, you make infinite mana, infinite life, draw your whole deck and tap their team down. You typically draw until you find a Blightsteel Colossus and Lightning Greaves, play, equip, swing, win.
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I am worried about dying to combo with that build Chibi, I am not sure we are fast enough... people are mostly running black for thoughtseize and access to efficient removal to not die I do like the decks redundancy though. I would really love me some haste though.
I'd kinda want actually card draw rather than riddlesmith, there isn't even that many artifacts in the deck its mostly ramp.
I have been playing a u/b Heartless Architect deck for several months now and been having a lot of luck with it. Occasionally you will get an awkward hand with multiple Heartless or both Academy Ruins, but that's not too common and can usually be played through no problem. Most of the time it plays turn 3/4 wurmcoils, but has other lines of play like the sphinx summoner chains, locking out opponents with golems, and metamorphing architects to pump everything. It has natural meta hate with Spellskites and Lodestone Golems in the main which is always a plus.
I would not run less than 4 Spellskites. They are definitely the MVP of the deck. They are incredibly easy to play and throw a wrench in almost everyone's game plan and hold removal off of other cards. With Academy Ruins they get ridiculous.
Duplicant is the only cmc 6+ Treasure Mage target that I have found to be good and reliable enough to stand by Wurmcoil Engine. He helps us to interact with the opponents board and gets better with Phyrexian Metamorph and Academy Ruins. I have not tried Platinum Angel yet, but I could see it being a good sideboard card against certain decks.
Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas is absolutely amazing. He draws an extra (relevant) card every turn or turns something (like a Darksteel Citadel) into a 5/5. His ult wins games and is easy to pull off. He cleans up board stalls or gets me back from behind like no other. That being said, I would not play more than 2.
I was not a fan of Etherium Sculptor until I gave him a shot. Yes, he might not be the best top deck, but he helps enable some ridiculous plays, and more importantly: he adds consistency. Sculptor is the mini Heartless Summoning in the same way that Chief Engineer is a mini Grand Architect, which I have yet to try playing with. (I am sure there is a spot for Chief Engineer, probably as a 2-of, but the list is really tight and I have to do some rearranging to fit him in)
Some cards I think are worth testing: Chief Engineer: for obvious reasons Platinum Angel: as discussed through the rest of this thread Lightning Greaves: good protection, but probably outclassed by Spellskite Solemn Simulacrum: helps fight the occasional Blood Moon, but more importantly just a high value card that can be a good speed bump versus aggro decks like zoo. Swan Song: Could be cool tech with extra Heartless Summonings, but also relevant against Terminus, Path to Exile, and all of the sideboard artifact hate cards.
I have been playing a u/b Heartless Architect deck for several months now and been having a lot of luck with it. Occasionally you will get an awkward hand with multiple Heartless or both Academy Ruins, but that's not too common and can usually be played through no problem. Most of the time it plays turn 3/4 wurmcoils, but has other lines of play like the sphinx summoner chains, locking out opponents with golems, and metamorphing architects to pump everything. It has natural meta hate with Spellskites and Lodestone Golems in the main which is always a plus.
I would not run less than 4 Spellskites. They are definitely the MVP of the deck. They are incredibly easy to play and throw a wrench in almost everyone's game plan and hold removal off of other cards. With Academy Ruins they get ridiculous.
Duplicant is the only cmc 6+ Treasure Mage target that I have found to be good and reliable enough to stand by Wurmcoil Engine. He helps us to interact with the opponents board and gets better with Phyrexian Metamorph and Academy Ruins. I have not tried Platinum Angel yet, but I could see it being a good sideboard card against certain decks.
Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas is absolutely amazing. He draws an extra (relevant) card every turn or turns something (like a Darksteel Citadel) into a 5/5. His ult wins games and is easy to pull off. He cleans up board stalls or gets me back from behind like no other. That being said, I would not play more than 2.
I was not a fan of Etherium Sculptor until I gave him a shot. Yes, he might not be the best top deck, but he helps enable some ridiculous plays, and more importantly: he adds consistency. Sculptor is the mini Heartless Summoning in the same way that Chief Engineer is a mini Grand Architect, which I have yet to try playing with. (I am sure there is a spot for Chief Engineer, probably as a 2-of, but the list is really tight and I have to do some rearranging to fit him in)
Some cards I think are worth testing: Chief Engineer: for obvious reasons Platinum Angel: as discussed through the rest of this thread Lightning Greaves: good protection, but probably outclassed by Spellskite Solemn Simulacrum: helps fight the occasional Blood Moon, but more importantly just a high value card that can be a good speed bump versus aggro decks like zoo. Swan Song: Could be cool tech with extra Heartless Summonings, but also relevant against Terminus, Path to Exile, and all of the sideboard artifact hate cards.
That Swan Song interaction doesn't work unless you counter one of your own spells for whatever reason.
If anything, I wonder how Heartless Summoning stacks up against the Chief Engineer versions already discussed. Engineer seems faster and more explosive: A turn 3 Wurmcoil off of Judge's Familiar, Chief Engineer and Spellskite/Etherium Sculptor is frightening for a lot of fair decks. He also has profitable interactions with Grand Architect by getting bigger and making more mana, but is way more vulnerable, and eats your combat steps in order to be fully functional as opposed to the blanket -1/-1. I wonder which way the damage output leans on average.
I don't know that an Architect/Engineer/Heartless mix is the way to go though, since you start sacrificing threat slots for enablers.
The Swan Song would be to counter extra Heartless Summonings, turning them into 2/2 blue flyers with the added bonus of also being able to counter several of the cards that are good against this deck. That being said, I think it's a little too cute and adding a card to get rid of a dead card seems counterproductive.
The way I see Heartless Summoning is that it is an extremely powerful enabler that is much harder to remove and most of the time opponents will just let it resolve and sit there not bothering to try getting rid of it. The Chief Engineer Heartless-less route seems much more fragile to me. Modern is full of removal and it would be easy to get your engineer or even your 1 drop shot down in response to casting your Spellskite/Etherium Sculptor turn two and then, unless you have turn 3 Architect, you are set back several turns with a few weenies in play. Heartless also can power out turn 3 Wurmcoils pretty regularly with the added benefit of the Treasure Mage tutor on turn 3 so you don't need to have the Wurmcoil in hand or you can search for a different fatty if necessary.
The -1/-1 can be relevant by making Spellskites vulnerable to a single bolt or by bringing a single Architect in range of cards like Izzet Charm but generally you are able to play multiple Skites or Academy Ruins can always do some work. Also Architects can pump them back up to 4 toughness.
The only other downside to Heartless is that the deck can just durdle around without much board presence for the first few turns until an explosive turn 3/4, but I have found that it has such strong mid and late games making that not a problem.
@VariousBoots - Your U creature count seems low for full Architect utilization. I would try Chief Engineer in the spot. Because after you pump a mana into Architect to make one of your artifact creatures U you are only netting one mana which is the same effect as Chief. Overall your deck looks really similar to a standard deck I used to play. I am curious what you find after more testing, but ultimately I found that there were too many competing elements to the deck. I also still question how good Lodestone Golem really is coming down on turn 3+ in modern, in my experience it hasn't done amounted to much as my opponent has played a lot of their power cards by that point.
@Narvuntien - The Revokers and Skites are there for combo. The 4th of each being in the board. I have also been toying with Leyline of Sanctity in the board, Grafdigger's Cage, Torpor Orb, and/or [card]Tormod's Crypt[/card}. Cage is what I am leaning towards for POD and Orb hurts me as well. Haven't played against Storm yet, but Skite and Revoker are good against Twin and Leyline could fill the Storm / Jund hate roles. Just need to do some more testing. I will also being testing the Familiars soon as well, to see how much more I can get out and how early I can constantly do it.
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I have never found myself to be short on blue creatures for Architect. I almost never need more than 2-4 mana, with the occasional 5-6 to play my threats and with Architect, Treasure Mage, Etherium Sculptor, Sphinx Summoner, Phyrexian Metamorph, and the ability to add net 1 with turning artifacts blue, I always have the mana available. Chief, as I said before, is definitely worth testing, but I don't think he would be a replacement for Architect, since the ability is significantly less powerful and lacks the ability to pump artifact creatures, which is relevant. Also, chief isn't as good at playing with Vedalken Shackles which I highly recommend to anyone playing with this archetype. Lodestone Golem turn 3 or even turn 4 on the play is relevant because of modern's "turn 4 rule". It sets Splinter Twin back a turn, holds off Supreme Verdict and other sweeps, holds off Liliana of the Veil turn 3 on the play, and overall makes it harder for opponents to interact with your deck. Playing multiples or Metamorphing them is even better. They also are a large body that can put pressure on an opponent and has the ability to trade with relevant creatures like goyf.
I have an idea... the problem with the deck is we need either need draw or deck manipulation. Being able to sometimes tutor turn three is too slow. Since we can't stick our first threat until turn 4. Then half the time you just draw dorks and don't get anywhere, it needs some kind of card velocity we can't rely on top decks like a Rock deck can.
What about ichor wellspring + Perilous Research? I haven't tested it yet it just came to me while I was lying in bed last night. I will probably have a go at the Transmuter version but I do love just having all the cloneswith metamorph. I'd definitely run shackles with research since you can steal and sac to draw.
I'm running Lightning Greaves over Spellskites since I can't afford them at the moment. I haven't put together a sideboard yet, any suggestions would be welcome.
You might have an easier time with the mythic mana engine (mana dorks + lotus cobra) instead of master of etherium and grand architect. Spellskite is awesome in a build as you can use it to convoke more out and protects you myr superion. White and green gives you access to chord and steelshapers gift (chord x=2 for an instant speed 5/6? PLEEEEASE!). In addition to swords you also have access to the all powerful Lightning Greaves and Basilisk collar which are easily convoked or cast to boost your existing creature base.
I have an idea... the problem with the deck is we need either need draw or deck manipulation. Being able to sometimes tutor turn three is too slow. Since we can't stick our first threat until turn 4. Then half the time you just draw dorks and don't get anywhere, it needs some kind of card velocity we can't rely on top decks like a Rock deck can.
What about ichor wellspring + Perilous Research? I haven't tested it yet it just came to me while I was lying in bed last night. I will probably have a go at the Transmuter version but I do love just having all the cloneswith metamorph. I'd definitely run shackles with research since you can steal and sac to draw.
I run Ichor Wellspring in my Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas control deck as my primary draw engine. It works nicely with Phyrexia's Core and would be amazing with Transmuter. Now though you have me moving in a different direction, because Ensoul Artifact also happens to be awesome with Ichor Wellspring. I don't know if the list would see sit in this thread but I'll see where my brewing takes me.
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@Narvuntien: I can't speak for Chibi's list or any of the other mono blue lists, but in my list I run 4 Serum Visions for early card draw. Also having the ability to "sometimes tutor turn three" is fine, because a lot of times you can play your threat that turn. If not, holding turn 4 Wurmcoil Engine over someone's head isn't too shabby and our tutors also double as stallers and threats. Ichor Wellspring/Perilous Research doesn't fit well in this archetype because turns 2 and 3 are the most important of your game. You almost always want to be playing something else turn 2 like Heartless Summoning, Etherium Sculptor, or a hardcasted Spellskite. I know you can play Wellspring turn 2 alongside a Chief Engineer and a 1 drop or even just cast it on turn 2, but drawing 1 seems worse than any of the alternative, more explosive, plays. Turn 3 needs to be where you start to make an impact on the board. You need to be either dropping 1 or more threats or setting up for a game changing turn 4, not simply drawing cards. Perilous Research could double as a way to save Wurmcoils from path/terminus, but I think that because it can't be played on turn 1, you would have to change these decks significantly to make it worth it.
@BusMcRider: I'm glad to see you picking up the Heartless Architect. You won't be disappointed, it's a blast to play. As far as comments go, I do have a few
1. I like that you are taking the turn 1 discard spell route. I've always thought it could be good and I mainboarded a few Duress in my standard build a few years ago, but I've never given it the time or energy to really test it in modern. Definitely let me know how well they perform.
2. I understand not having the funds for Skites. They are pricey and I was lucky to have them 3 of them left over from when I played a similar build in standard. That being said, I would advise you to start working on acquiring them because they do a lot more than keeping removal off of other creatures. They also slow down Zoo, make Splinter Twin's life difficult, wreck Bogles, keep you alive against Burn, push back Scapeshifts combo a few turns, stand in front of Etched Champions and steal the counters from Arcbound Ravager's modular, and more. They are a versatile way to throw a wrench in almost every deck's game plan. Also they are a zero mana investment off of Heartless.
3. Let me know what you think of Platinum Angel. I am probably going to drop a Trinket Mage from the sideboard to play 1 Angel. I think it could be good in some match-ups, but I feel like I would usually want a Wurmcoil or a Duplicant. I'll be interested to hear how the Angel plays out.
4. Watch out for your manabase. Your first 3 turns are incredibly important and I have found that anything coming into play tapped is painful. I would advise against the scry lands and the manland because you want to be playing:
turn 1 Serum Visions/Discard Spell
turn 2 Heartless/Sculptor/Skite/Greaves
turn 3 Everything else
This leaves no room for anything to come into play tapped. It is sometimes alright if you play something tapped turn 1 if you don't have a Thoughtseize/IOK/Visions in your opener, but I think you will find that CIPT lands end up making for awkward turns that can lose you the game. Also, the deck doesn't really need Creeping Tar Pit because 9 times out of 10 we will win in a board stall anyway.
Color is relevant too. You want to maximize your ability for an explosive turn 3. Most of the best turn 3 plays are very color intensive (usually leaning towards blue) so be careful of how many non-blue sources you have. I used to play 2 Academy Ruins, 2 Buried Ruin, 1 Darksteel Citadel, and 1 Swamp but I dropped the Buried Ruins for color consistency. Some of these turn 3 plays and their color needs are:
(These are not all of the explosive turn 3 plays. Just what I could think of off the top of my head. If people think of more let me know. A list of possible lines of play is not a bad idea with all the options in these decks.) With Turn 2 Heartless UUU Architect + Treasure Mage find Wurmcoil/other 6 drop and cast it UUU Architect + Sculptor + Wumcoil/other 6 drop or some combination of Lodestone Golems/Metamorphs UUU Architect + Spellskite (turning blue) + Wurmcoil/other 6 drop 1UU Architect + Lodestone Golem + Metamorph UUB Sculptor + Sphinx Summoner chaining Metamorphs (2 life per Morph) 1UU Chief Engineer + Sculptor + Treasure Mage and/or 6 drop UUB Engineer + Summoner chaining Metamorphs (2 life per Morph) With Turn 2 Sculptor 1UU Architect + Metamorph (copying Sculptor) + Wurmcoil/other 6 drop 1UU Architect + Shackles (leaving 1 creature untapped to be able to activate Shackles) 1UU Architect + anything else in the deck (except 6s and Sphinxes)
Also I would probably lower your number of Darkslick Shores. They seem really good because of the emphasis on turns 1-3, but turn 4 is really important too because your enablers can be killed or you have a slower hand and drawing your 4th land drop and having it be a Darkslick hurts. A lot. I run 3 and I am probably going to drop the number down to 2.
5. Lastly, I would cut the 4th Lodestone Golem over the 4th Metamorph. Metamorph can be another Golem or anything else. It enables a lot of ridiculous plays and works great with Duplicant and Academy Ruins. I wish the legend rule was never changed, but even with that change they are still all-stars.
@weapon_omega: Seems intriguing, but also seems fragile and like a different deck completely. I would be interested in seeing the decklist, but I don't think it belongs in this thread.
Superion has been tested by a lot of people (let's be real, that's the first card everyone wanted to put in these decks) and it is really good when you can play it (or multiples off of Heartless) but it sits in your hand as a dead card more often than you'd like.
edit: I see that you did start your own thread for Mythic Engineer and I'll be sure to check that out.
I'm testing out a build with Engineers to see if they are a good addition to the Heartless builds. My changes were:
-1 Serum Visions
-1 Lodestone Golem
-1 Heartless Summoning (not sure if this was a good choice but the thought was that I would be replacing it with other enablers and be reducing the number of times I have awkward hands with multiple Heartless.
+3 Chief Engineer
I have an idea... the problem with the deck is we need either need draw or deck manipulation. Being able to sometimes tutor turn three is too slow. Since we can't stick our first threat until turn 4. Then half the time you just draw dorks and don't get anywhere, it needs some kind of card velocity we can't rely on top decks like a Rock deck can.
What about ichor wellspring + Perilous Research? I haven't tested it yet it just came to me while I was lying in bed last night. I will probably have a go at the Transmuter version but I do love just having all the cloneswith metamorph. I'd definitely run shackles with research since you can steal and sac to draw.
I run Ichor Wellspring in my Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas control deck as my primary draw engine. It works nicely with Phyrexia's Core and would be amazing with Transmuter. Now though you have me moving in a different direction, because Ensoul Artifact also happens to be awesome with Ichor Wellspring. I don't know if the list would see sit in this thread but I'll see where my brewing takes me.
I think that would likely be best as a different thread, since at that point you are looking more at a Tezzerator/March of the Machines type deck than Grand Architect wants to be.
Wow i'm glad to see a thread like this getting some attention. I have tried a few times to get a Modern MUD/Metal Worker/Grand Architect thread going in the past, and no one really seemed interested. I guess Chief Engineer got some people excited! Very cool though, this was a pet deck of mine for a while actually, but i stopped playing it a few months back. I guess i'm gonna have to get brewing again!
Back when i was playing the deck,i was using Kuldotha, and Lightning Greaves, to combo into Blightsteel. The deck had some pretty explosive finishes, but just didn't have the consistency i was looking for. There is definitely potential in some sort of Artifact Ramp deck here though.
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Wow i'm glad to see a thread like this getting some attention. I have tried a few times to get a Modern MUD/Metal Worker/Grand Architect thread going in the past, and no one really seemed interested. I guess Chief Engineer got some people excited! Very cool though, this was a pet deck of mine for a while actually, but i stopped playing it a few months back. I guess i'm gonna have to get brewing again!
Back when i was playing the deck,i was using Kuldotha, and Lightning Greaves, to combo into Blightsteel. The deck had some pretty explosive finishes, but just didn't have the consistency i was looking for. There is definitely potential in some sort of Artifact Ramp deck here though.
What I like about the current iterations is that against different decks, you have different lines, all of which stem from the same strategy. You can spam creatures and win off of Grand Architect and Metamorph army pumps (more effective than you might expect), you can spam creatures and ramp into some beastly thing (Inkwell Leviathan or Blightsteel Colossus), or you can spam creatures and chain Sphinx Summoner's into Phyrexian Metamorphs for a big flying army.
I think that deck short two crucial elements: consistent artifact-based card draw, and more interactive elements.
For card draw, Thoughtcast is good but slow since we don't vomit our hand as fast as Affinity, and Tezzeret AoB is decent and provides another threat, but doesn't interact directly with the central strategy. Furthermore, neither of them is an artifact. What we could really use is Baleful Strix to give us more gas and eat Goyfs/Nexi.
For interactive spells - Pod gets by because it can search out specific pieces, so it doesn't have to dedicate as many slots to them. Meanwhile, we can't just wish up an Architect, so our slots get eaten up. I recall some discussion on thingsExecutioner's Capsule with Trinket Mage, but that's just bending over backwards for it. An artifact Shriekmaw/Dark Hatchling would be lovely.
I agree. Trinket Mage/Capsule is great in Tezz Control and possibly in a SB Trinket Mage package (although I would rather play dismembers) but there is no maindeck space for that in these builds.
I used those as examples, but really, Hatchling wouldn't be playable in modern, and Shriekmaw has Evoke and evasion. Duplicant definitely does some work, but it's not the same. This is clearly seen by the fact that it only ever gets 1, maybe 2 slots in the deck. We just need more interactive cards because while our game plan is proactive, it's not like Storm where we can just ignore the opponent.
I don't really know how to explain it any better.
Ok my opinion on the deck (I have 5 versions of the deck proxied up) is that it has at least three problems and you can build your deck to solve one of the three but you only make the other ones worse.
1. Velocity
2. Consistency
3. Interaction.
1. Velocity. you need blue creatures and you need maximum enablers to power out the artifacts as fast as possible to get to winning quickly.
2. Consistency. Need to be able to find your enablers and tutor your win cons.
3. Interaction. Need to stop your opponents goldfishing you turn 4 and perhaps there is a 4th problem that is resiliency but I'll call it interaction you have to protect your threats.
The solution might be to be suboptimal in some of these area's to get a deck that is fast (but not as fast as it could be), Consistent (but not as consistent as it could be) and can deal with an opponent.
I am kinda committed to working out what the best GA deck is even if it isn't super competitive since it is my favourite card in all of magic (closely followed by birthing pod which I can play if I want to be more serious)
I've been considering Dakra Mystic instead of Judge's Familiar since it provides another turn 1 blue creature for Architect/Engineer, but has substantial draw potential. I find that typically, if we come out quickly, we can stabilize against "fair" decks, so I figure the simultaneous draw isn't going to suck, except against Twin. That being said, I don't have any at the moment to test with.
I used those as examples, but really, Hatchling wouldn't be playable in modern, and Shriekmaw has Evoke and evasion. Duplicant definitely does some work, but it's not the same. This is clearly seen by the fact that it only ever gets 1, maybe 2 slots in the deck. We just need more interactive cards because while our game plan is proactive, it's not like Storm where we can just ignore the opponent.
I don't really know how to explain it any better.
I was saying Duplicant is better for 2 reasons. First, it has no restrictions on it's removal like the non-black clause in each of your examples. And second, it is an artifact creature with CMC 6 and therefore fits perfectly into the deck's game plan.
Also, the reason only 1 or 2 get played in most lists is because of the shear number of tutors and various other draw spells. I play 1 mainboard with 5 tutors that can find him. That effectively gives me 6 copies of Duplicant, and the tutors can all be copied by Metamorphs making them each reusable. Serum Visions and Tezz can both dig when it's necessary. I almost never want Duplicant in my starting hand, but I never have trouble finding him if I need him.
Ok my opinion on the deck (I have 5 versions of the deck proxied up) is that it has at least three problems and you can build your deck to solve one of the three but you only make the other ones worse.
1. Velocity. you need blue creatures and you need maximum enablers to power out the artifacts as fast as possible to get to winning quickly.
2. Consistency. Need to be able to find your enablers and tutor your win cons.
3. Interaction. Need to stop your opponents goldfishing you turn 4 and perhaps there is a 4th problem that is resiliency but I'll call it interaction you have to protect your threats.
I think that if you keep working with the deck, you'll find that it can achieve all of these much better than you think. I'll respond from the point of view of my Heartless builds because I don't have any experience with the non-Heartless lists yet: 1. Velocity: Turn 3 bombs or Sphinx chains are not uncommon and turn 4 happen consistently. If you don't have the turn 3 hand you will still be putting pressure on them by playing other relevant aritfacts/creatures that turn. This deck is actually quite fast. It's not aggro, but it's strong midrange. (honestly aggro has always been my easiest matchup after Bogles) 2. Consistency: In the lists I've been playing/the lists I'm testing I run 10-12 enablers, 5 tutors (with Metamorphs that can double as more tutors as I stated above), and 5-6 draw/dig spells. I find very few consistency issues in this deck. It's true that you don't run the same line of play every game, but the deck is flexible and can drop power onto the field in a lot of different ways. 3. Interaction: This is one I used to have a lot of issues with. I had a deck that just tried to aggro/midrange goldfish beatdown the opponent and it was awesome when they didn't do anything about it. But when they did, I lost. Since then, my lists have evolved to run 1 Duplicant, 3-4 Lodestone Golem, 4 Spellskite, and 2 Vedalken Shackles. Duplicant is great. He exiles any creature at sorcery speed and then sticks around. He can be tutored, copied, recurred, and pumped. Lodestone Golem does not interact with the opponents board, but it interacts with their game plan. He pushes back that "goldfishing turn 4" at least 1 turn on his own and in multiples pushes that back even further. He also has a large body and can be tutored, copied, recurred, and pumped. Spellskite is amazing. He instant speed interacts with the opponents spells and can be a wall. Skite single-handedly shuts down several strategies until answered and can be tutored, copied, recurred, pumped, and is free with heartless. Vedalken Shackles is instant speed interaction with the opponents board and can be copied and recurred. I suggest Shackles to anyone playing Architect.
Also in my sideboard there are several hate artifacts alongside dismembers and discard spells if more interaction is necessary.
Note: I am not trying to push this deck through as format breaking or even tier 1, but I do think that it deserves a lot more credit than it gets.
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The lightning coils are in there for the Sharuum combo. Each time she comes into play with a Metamorph or the original in the grave, one of them dies. Repeat a million times and next upkeep you blow out a million 3/1 haste elementals. Even without the combo you only have to pay that casting cost once and it will do the rest on its own. No need to play around it. Plus Coils are more resilient to removal than Disciple.
The Bident might work as targeted removal just like the Spear. Just testing both of them right now. I have tested no other draw effects but I fear without artifact lands and a good chance of nothing but Vedalken on the field, that artifact-based draw might not be as good as I want.
Good call on the Canonists I totally missed that.
Since I'm thinking about it, this deck does two things badly and one well:
1. It creature tutors to find answers to what is on the field, like Pod, only not as good.
2. It uses lord effects and Cavern of Souls, like tribal or Merfolk, only not as good.
3. It ramps like Green and poops out hell-monsters. It does this well.
I guess it also has an infinite token combo rammed in there too.
As for the white, it's for Colonnade activations but originally for Vault of the Archangel activations. The white also helps me play a T1 Judge, just in case I have a weird land situation or awkward mulligan. Of it doesn't work out I can revert to UB with ease but as it is now I can include Canonists in the side.
Any luck testing it?
I think you have to run some number of Spellskite main as this deck is soft to fast aggro / combo strategies game one. You also want to have various answers to a wide field and ways to recur them.
So thinking of that and taking my Legacy experience into consideration this is the list I came up with. It has answers to most of the field and has several different paths to victory; U beats, man land beats, infect, I even won a game using only Staff of Nin and recurring Contagion Engine with Master Transmuter.
If you haven't tried Master Transmuter yet, she is an all-star. Being able to recur Engine, Staff (to get rid of a 2 toughness creature), Spine of Ish Sah, and Sundering Titan is amazing. It also adds another protection type spell as you can return a targeted artifact to your hand and immediately put it back into play. And EOTing a Blightsteel Colossus is always a ton of fun. It does die to Lightning Bolt and Path to Exile but it dodges Abrupt Decay.
Vedalken Engineer seems to be under rated on this thread. People kill you mana dorks and while Chief Engineer is very good and a great blocker, it is still very reliant on you having a multitude of creatures on the field to be truly useful; where as VE produces 2 on its own. VE also taps for colored mana that can be used on artifact abilities, which is awesome for Master.
Phyrexia's Core is in there for some added protection from exile effects, since the deck runs both Academy Ruins and Buried Ruin for graveyard recursion. It also has some play against aggro strategies.
Faerie Conclave is my replacement for Mishra's factory, because the flying is a real plus and it gets pumps from Grand Architect. I have been able to close a few games out with them after board wipes.
Halimar Depths is for some deck manipulation. If I had more shuffle effects I could see going up on their number and reducing Conclave to 3. But I am not sure I want to run fetches as Bloodmoon then becomes a serious issue.
Both Depths and Conclave are in the deck as substitute one drops. Both are strong and nothing has felt wrong so far in testing.
Once I figure out my board I will post it as well.
My experience in Modern is not as vast as it is in Legacy so if I made any big mistakes let me know. I can say that I have not settled on a board yet, and need to test against POD some more but from the 20 odd games I have jammed on MTGO I think this Archetype has some real potential. If anyone has any questions in regards to card choices or anything let me know.
3 Chief Engineer
3 Etherium Sculptor
3 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Spellskite
4 Vedalken Engineer
4 Grand Architect
4 Treasure Mage
4 Master Transmuter
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Platinum Angel
1 Sundering Titan
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Batterskull
1 Contagion Engine
1 Staff of Nin
1 Spine of Ish Sah
Lands:23
1 Academy Ruins
2 Buried Ruin
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Faerie Conclave
2 Halimar Depths
8 Island
2 Phyrexia's Core
Interesting build, I'm curious what your experience against various decks have been.
Have you considered Trinket Mage? And if so, what would you think of UrzaTron + Expedition Map?
Also, no love for Phyrexian Metamorph?
No Phyrexian Metamorph is a hold over from my Legacy MUD list. When you get to copy a Tarmogoyf or a Stone Forge Mystic (to get Batterskull / I know SFM isn't Modern legal but still) its amazing, and in this deck I sure it would be amazing to copy a Grand Architect or a Staff of Nin. But copying any of the threats in the deck would likely be win more. I could be wrong but I don't know if Meta deserves a main board slot.
Though I did just realize that you can do a Modern version of the Metalworker combo in Modern, using Grand Architect, Staff of Domination, and Pili-Pala. You could use Fabricate to help set it up too but then you probably have a different deck. For those not in the know, you make infinite mana, infinite life, draw your whole deck and tap their team down. You typically draw until you find a Blightsteel Colossus and Lightning Greaves, play, equip, swing, win.
I'd kinda want actually card draw rather than riddlesmith, there isn't even that many artifacts in the deck its mostly ramp.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
Here's my current list:
2 Etherium Sculptor
4 Grand Architect
4 Spellskite
4 Lodestone Golem
4 Phyrexian Metamorph
2 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Duplicant
3 Treasure Mage
2 Sphinx Summoner
4 Heartless Summoning
2 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2 Vedalken Shackles
4 Serum Visions
1 Darksteel Citadel
3 Darkslick Shores
3 Drowned Catacomb
4 Watery Grave
8 Island
1 Swamp
3 Trinket Mage
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Pithing Needle
4 Dismember
3 Duress
1 Appetite for Brains
I would not run less than 4 Spellskites. They are definitely the MVP of the deck. They are incredibly easy to play and throw a wrench in almost everyone's game plan and hold removal off of other cards. With Academy Ruins they get ridiculous.
Duplicant is the only cmc 6+ Treasure Mage target that I have found to be good and reliable enough to stand by Wurmcoil Engine. He helps us to interact with the opponents board and gets better with Phyrexian Metamorph and Academy Ruins. I have not tried Platinum Angel yet, but I could see it being a good sideboard card against certain decks.
Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas is absolutely amazing. He draws an extra (relevant) card every turn or turns something (like a Darksteel Citadel) into a 5/5. His ult wins games and is easy to pull off. He cleans up board stalls or gets me back from behind like no other. That being said, I would not play more than 2.
I was not a fan of Etherium Sculptor until I gave him a shot. Yes, he might not be the best top deck, but he helps enable some ridiculous plays, and more importantly: he adds consistency. Sculptor is the mini Heartless Summoning in the same way that Chief Engineer is a mini Grand Architect, which I have yet to try playing with. (I am sure there is a spot for Chief Engineer, probably as a 2-of, but the list is really tight and I have to do some rearranging to fit him in)
Vedalken Shackles is a great way to interact with the opponent and it does major work. It can steal threats and stop combos. Also, it can double as repeatable removal for Dark Confidant, Vendilion Clique, Snapcaster Mage, and other annoying cards with 1 toughness while Heartless Summoning is in play.
Some cards I think are worth testing:
Chief Engineer: for obvious reasons
Platinum Angel: as discussed through the rest of this thread
Lightning Greaves: good protection, but probably outclassed by Spellskite
Solemn Simulacrum: helps fight the occasional Blood Moon, but more importantly just a high value card that can be a good speed bump versus aggro decks like zoo.
Swan Song: Could be cool tech with extra Heartless Summonings, but also relevant against Terminus, Path to Exile, and all of the sideboard artifact hate cards.
That Swan Song interaction doesn't work unless you counter one of your own spells for whatever reason.
If anything, I wonder how Heartless Summoning stacks up against the Chief Engineer versions already discussed. Engineer seems faster and more explosive: A turn 3 Wurmcoil off of Judge's Familiar, Chief Engineer and Spellskite/Etherium Sculptor is frightening for a lot of fair decks. He also has profitable interactions with Grand Architect by getting bigger and making more mana, but is way more vulnerable, and eats your combat steps in order to be fully functional as opposed to the blanket -1/-1. I wonder which way the damage output leans on average.
I don't know that an Architect/Engineer/Heartless mix is the way to go though, since you start sacrificing threat slots for enablers.
The way I see Heartless Summoning is that it is an extremely powerful enabler that is much harder to remove and most of the time opponents will just let it resolve and sit there not bothering to try getting rid of it. The Chief Engineer Heartless-less route seems much more fragile to me. Modern is full of removal and it would be easy to get your engineer or even your 1 drop shot down in response to casting your Spellskite/Etherium Sculptor turn two and then, unless you have turn 3 Architect, you are set back several turns with a few weenies in play. Heartless also can power out turn 3 Wurmcoils pretty regularly with the added benefit of the Treasure Mage tutor on turn 3 so you don't need to have the Wurmcoil in hand or you can search for a different fatty if necessary.
The -1/-1 can be relevant by making Spellskites vulnerable to a single bolt or by bringing a single Architect in range of cards like Izzet Charm but generally you are able to play multiple Skites or Academy Ruins can always do some work. Also Architects can pump them back up to 4 toughness.
The only other downside to Heartless is that the deck can just durdle around without much board presence for the first few turns until an explosive turn 3/4, but I have found that it has such strong mid and late games making that not a problem.
@Narvuntien - The Revokers and Skites are there for combo. The 4th of each being in the board. I have also been toying with Leyline of Sanctity in the board, Grafdigger's Cage, Torpor Orb, and/or [card]Tormod's Crypt[/card}. Cage is what I am leaning towards for POD and Orb hurts me as well. Haven't played against Storm yet, but Skite and Revoker are good against Twin and Leyline could fill the Storm / Jund hate roles. Just need to do some more testing. I will also being testing the Familiars soon as well, to see how much more I can get out and how early I can constantly do it.
Lodestone Golem turn 3 or even turn 4 on the play is relevant because of modern's "turn 4 rule". It sets Splinter Twin back a turn, holds off Supreme Verdict and other sweeps, holds off Liliana of the Veil turn 3 on the play, and overall makes it harder for opponents to interact with your deck. Playing multiples or Metamorphing them is even better. They also are a large body that can put pressure on an opponent and has the ability to trade with relevant creatures like goyf.
What about ichor wellspring + Perilous Research? I haven't tested it yet it just came to me while I was lying in bed last night. I will probably have a go at the Transmuter version but I do love just having all the cloneswith metamorph. I'd definitely run shackles with research since you can steal and sac to draw.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
1x Swamp
4x Underground River
4x Watery Grave
4x Darkslick Shores
3x Temple of Deceit
1x Creeping Tar Pit
1x Buried Ruin
1x Academy Ruins
1x Tectonic Edge
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4x Treasure Mage
4x Grand Architect
4x Lodestone Golem
3x Phyrexian Metamorph
2x Sphinx Summoner
2x Wurmcoil Engine
1x Duplicant
1x Platinum Angel
2x Inquisition of Kozilek
4x Lightning Greaves
4x Heartless Summoning
I'm running Lightning Greaves over Spellskites since I can't afford them at the moment. I haven't put together a sideboard yet, any suggestions would be welcome.
I run Ichor Wellspring in my Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas control deck as my primary draw engine. It works nicely with Phyrexia's Core and would be amazing with Transmuter. Now though you have me moving in a different direction, because Ensoul Artifact also happens to be awesome with Ichor Wellspring. I don't know if the list would see sit in this thread but I'll see where my brewing takes me.
@Narvuntien: I can't speak for Chibi's list or any of the other mono blue lists, but in my list I run 4 Serum Visions for early card draw. Also having the ability to "sometimes tutor turn three" is fine, because a lot of times you can play your threat that turn. If not, holding turn 4 Wurmcoil Engine over someone's head isn't too shabby and our tutors also double as stallers and threats.
Ichor Wellspring/Perilous Research doesn't fit well in this archetype because turns 2 and 3 are the most important of your game. You almost always want to be playing something else turn 2 like Heartless Summoning, Etherium Sculptor, or a hardcasted Spellskite. I know you can play Wellspring turn 2 alongside a Chief Engineer and a 1 drop or even just cast it on turn 2, but drawing 1 seems worse than any of the alternative, more explosive, plays. Turn 3 needs to be where you start to make an impact on the board. You need to be either dropping 1 or more threats or setting up for a game changing turn 4, not simply drawing cards. Perilous Research could double as a way to save Wurmcoils from path/terminus, but I think that because it can't be played on turn 1, you would have to change these decks significantly to make it worth it.
@BusMcRider: I'm glad to see you picking up the Heartless Architect. You won't be disappointed, it's a blast to play. As far as comments go, I do have a few
1. I like that you are taking the turn 1 discard spell route. I've always thought it could be good and I mainboarded a few Duress in my standard build a few years ago, but I've never given it the time or energy to really test it in modern. Definitely let me know how well they perform.
2. I understand not having the funds for Skites. They are pricey and I was lucky to have them 3 of them left over from when I played a similar build in standard. That being said, I would advise you to start working on acquiring them because they do a lot more than keeping removal off of other creatures. They also slow down Zoo, make Splinter Twin's life difficult, wreck Bogles, keep you alive against Burn, push back Scapeshifts combo a few turns, stand in front of Etched Champions and steal the counters from Arcbound Ravager's modular, and more. They are a versatile way to throw a wrench in almost every deck's game plan. Also they are a zero mana investment off of Heartless.
3. Let me know what you think of Platinum Angel. I am probably going to drop a Trinket Mage from the sideboard to play 1 Angel. I think it could be good in some match-ups, but I feel like I would usually want a Wurmcoil or a Duplicant. I'll be interested to hear how the Angel plays out.
4. Watch out for your manabase. Your first 3 turns are incredibly important and I have found that anything coming into play tapped is painful. I would advise against the scry lands and the manland because you want to be playing:
turn 1 Serum Visions/Discard Spell
turn 2 Heartless/Sculptor/Skite/Greaves
turn 3 Everything else
This leaves no room for anything to come into play tapped. It is sometimes alright if you play something tapped turn 1 if you don't have a Thoughtseize/IOK/Visions in your opener, but I think you will find that CIPT lands end up making for awkward turns that can lose you the game. Also, the deck doesn't really need Creeping Tar Pit because 9 times out of 10 we will win in a board stall anyway.
Color is relevant too. You want to maximize your ability for an explosive turn 3. Most of the best turn 3 plays are very color intensive (usually leaning towards blue) so be careful of how many non-blue sources you have. I used to play 2 Academy Ruins, 2 Buried Ruin, 1 Darksteel Citadel, and 1 Swamp but I dropped the Buried Ruins for color consistency. Some of these turn 3 plays and their color needs are:
(These are not all of the explosive turn 3 plays. Just what I could think of off the top of my head. If people think of more let me know. A list of possible lines of play is not a bad idea with all the options in these decks.)
With Turn 2 Heartless
UUU Architect + Treasure Mage find Wurmcoil/other 6 drop and cast it
UUU Architect + Sculptor + Wumcoil/other 6 drop or some combination of Lodestone Golems/Metamorphs
UUU Architect + Spellskite (turning blue) + Wurmcoil/other 6 drop
1UU Architect + Lodestone Golem + Metamorph
UUB Sculptor + Sphinx Summoner chaining Metamorphs (2 life per Morph)
1UU Chief Engineer + Sculptor + Treasure Mage and/or 6 drop
UUB Engineer + Summoner chaining Metamorphs (2 life per Morph)
With Turn 2 Sculptor
1UU Architect + Metamorph (copying Sculptor) + Wurmcoil/other 6 drop
1UU Architect + Shackles (leaving 1 creature untapped to be able to activate Shackles)
1UU Architect + anything else in the deck (except 6s and Sphinxes)
Also I would probably lower your number of Darkslick Shores. They seem really good because of the emphasis on turns 1-3, but turn 4 is really important too because your enablers can be killed or you have a slower hand and drawing your 4th land drop and having it be a Darkslick hurts. A lot. I run 3 and I am probably going to drop the number down to 2.
5. Lastly, I would cut the 4th Lodestone Golem over the 4th Metamorph. Metamorph can be another Golem or anything else. It enables a lot of ridiculous plays and works great with Duplicant and Academy Ruins. I wish the legend rule was never changed, but even with that change they are still all-stars.
@weapon_omega: Seems intriguing, but also seems fragile and like a different deck completely. I would be interested in seeing the decklist, but I don't think it belongs in this thread.
Superion has been tested by a lot of people (let's be real, that's the first card everyone wanted to put in these decks) and it is really good when you can play it (or multiples off of Heartless) but it sits in your hand as a dead card more often than you'd like.
edit: I see that you did start your own thread for Mythic Engineer and I'll be sure to check that out.
I'm testing out a build with Engineers to see if they are a good addition to the Heartless builds. My changes were:
-1 Serum Visions
-1 Lodestone Golem
-1 Heartless Summoning (not sure if this was a good choice but the thought was that I would be replacing it with other enablers and be reducing the number of times I have awkward hands with multiple Heartless.
+3 Chief Engineer
2 Etherium Sculptor
3 Chief Engineer
4 Grand Architect
4 Spellskite
3 Lodestone Golem
4 Phyrexian Metamorph
2 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Duplicant
3 Treasure Mage
2 Sphinx Summoner
2 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2 Vedalken Shackles
3 Serum Visions
2 Academy Ruins
1 Darksteel Citadel
3 Darkslick Shores
3 Drowned Catacomb
4 Watery Grave
8 Island
1 Swamp
2 Trinket Mage
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Pithing Needle
1 Platinum Angel
4 Dismember
3 Duress
1 Appetite for Brains
I think that would likely be best as a different thread, since at that point you are looking more at a Tezzerator/March of the Machines type deck than Grand Architect wants to be.
Back when i was playing the deck,i was using Kuldotha, and Lightning Greaves, to combo into Blightsteel. The deck had some pretty explosive finishes, but just didn't have the consistency i was looking for. There is definitely potential in some sort of Artifact Ramp deck here though.
What I like about the current iterations is that against different decks, you have different lines, all of which stem from the same strategy. You can spam creatures and win off of Grand Architect and Metamorph army pumps (more effective than you might expect), you can spam creatures and ramp into some beastly thing (Inkwell Leviathan or Blightsteel Colossus), or you can spam creatures and chain Sphinx Summoner's into Phyrexian Metamorphs for a big flying army.
I think that deck short two crucial elements: consistent artifact-based card draw, and more interactive elements.
We already have a better version in Duplicant. And his friends Treasure Mage and Sphinx Summoner make sure you can find him if you need him.
I agree. Trinket Mage/Capsule is great in Tezz Control and possibly in a SB Trinket Mage package (although I would rather play dismembers) but there is no maindeck space for that in these builds.
I used those as examples, but really, Hatchling wouldn't be playable in modern, and Shriekmaw has Evoke and evasion. Duplicant definitely does some work, but it's not the same. This is clearly seen by the fact that it only ever gets 1, maybe 2 slots in the deck. We just need more interactive cards because while our game plan is proactive, it's not like Storm where we can just ignore the opponent.
I don't really know how to explain it any better.
However the thoughtsieze takes up my serum visions slot and without other card draw :S... There is Spine of Ish Sha pair with phyrexia's core or trading post (as I do in my casual deck) or perilous research or transmuter and you can just blow stuff up repeatedly
Ok my opinion on the deck (I have 5 versions of the deck proxied up) is that it has at least three problems and you can build your deck to solve one of the three but you only make the other ones worse.
1. Velocity
2. Consistency
3. Interaction.
1. Velocity. you need blue creatures and you need maximum enablers to power out the artifacts as fast as possible to get to winning quickly.
2. Consistency. Need to be able to find your enablers and tutor your win cons.
3. Interaction. Need to stop your opponents goldfishing you turn 4 and perhaps there is a 4th problem that is resiliency but I'll call it interaction you have to protect your threats.
The solution might be to be suboptimal in some of these area's to get a deck that is fast (but not as fast as it could be), Consistent (but not as consistent as it could be) and can deal with an opponent.
I am kinda committed to working out what the best GA deck is even if it isn't super competitive since it is my favourite card in all of magic (closely followed by birthing pod which I can play if I want to be more serious)
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
I really wish Baleful Strix was Modern legal. :/
I was saying Duplicant is better for 2 reasons. First, it has no restrictions on it's removal like the non-black clause in each of your examples. And second, it is an artifact creature with CMC 6 and therefore fits perfectly into the deck's game plan.
Also, the reason only 1 or 2 get played in most lists is because of the shear number of tutors and various other draw spells. I play 1 mainboard with 5 tutors that can find him. That effectively gives me 6 copies of Duplicant, and the tutors can all be copied by Metamorphs making them each reusable. Serum Visions and Tezz can both dig when it's necessary. I almost never want Duplicant in my starting hand, but I never have trouble finding him if I need him.
I think that if you keep working with the deck, you'll find that it can achieve all of these much better than you think. I'll respond from the point of view of my Heartless builds because I don't have any experience with the non-Heartless lists yet:
1. Velocity: Turn 3 bombs or Sphinx chains are not uncommon and turn 4 happen consistently. If you don't have the turn 3 hand you will still be putting pressure on them by playing other relevant aritfacts/creatures that turn. This deck is actually quite fast. It's not aggro, but it's strong midrange. (honestly aggro has always been my easiest matchup after Bogles)
2. Consistency: In the lists I've been playing/the lists I'm testing I run 10-12 enablers, 5 tutors (with Metamorphs that can double as more tutors as I stated above), and 5-6 draw/dig spells. I find very few consistency issues in this deck. It's true that you don't run the same line of play every game, but the deck is flexible and can drop power onto the field in a lot of different ways.
3. Interaction: This is one I used to have a lot of issues with. I had a deck that just tried to aggro/midrange goldfish beatdown the opponent and it was awesome when they didn't do anything about it. But when they did, I lost. Since then, my lists have evolved to run 1 Duplicant, 3-4 Lodestone Golem, 4 Spellskite, and 2 Vedalken Shackles.
Duplicant is great. He exiles any creature at sorcery speed and then sticks around. He can be tutored, copied, recurred, and pumped.
Lodestone Golem does not interact with the opponents board, but it interacts with their game plan. He pushes back that "goldfishing turn 4" at least 1 turn on his own and in multiples pushes that back even further. He also has a large body and can be tutored, copied, recurred, and pumped.
Spellskite is amazing. He instant speed interacts with the opponents spells and can be a wall. Skite single-handedly shuts down several strategies until answered and can be tutored, copied, recurred, pumped, and is free with heartless.
Vedalken Shackles is instant speed interaction with the opponents board and can be copied and recurred. I suggest Shackles to anyone playing Architect.
Also in my sideboard there are several hate artifacts alongside dismembers and discard spells if more interaction is necessary.
Note: I am not trying to push this deck through as format breaking or even tier 1, but I do think that it deserves a lot more credit than it gets.