Tezzeret Agent of Bolas control or UBx Whir is Prison/Combo/Toolbox deck that uses Tezzeret Agent of Bolas as the glue for such a unique assortment of archetypes all in one deck. The deck is now better known as Tezzerator. Tezzerator previously referred to Legacy and Vintage Tezzeret decks featuring Tezzeret the Seeker but many players have adapted the usage to Modern now.
Since 2014 the deck has evolved greatly. A multitude of new cards have been released or unbanned changing the direction of the deck from the previous style of UBx tapout control to Prison/Combo.
Why should I want to play Tezzerator/UBx Whir?
This deck has it all. It features elements of control, prison, combo and toolbox strategies while being highly adaptable to your metagame.
It is a combo deck Thopter Foundry and Sword of the Meek combo together making every 1 mana into a 1/1 blue flying thopter token and 1 life. Once banned due to the near unwinnable board state it presents, comboing for only a single turn has the ability to grind an opponent into a concession.
It is a toolbox strategy
Use the power of Whir on Invention to get any artifact you need at instant speed augmented by Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas's ability to dig 5 deep for artifacts.
This deck will reward you for understanding the metagame and knowing your opponents deck inside and out. Like many Prison and Toolbox strategies, finding the correct balance of disrupting your opponent and forwarding your victory condition can be a difficult task. However once you learn the deck it is powerful enough to play with the best decks in the format.
Why would I play an artifact deck that isn't Affinity/Lantern/KCI when everyone in the room has artifact hate?
Hate cards can slow us down but the deck has enough flexibility to go either through or around the hate cards. Stony Silence does not stop 5/5 creatures from smashing in. Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas's ultimate doesn't care about Stony Silence and neither does Ensnaring Bridge. As long as you are prepared to know which hate cards to play around you can adapt your strategy to beat them. Whir of Invention allows us to save our most valuable lock pieces by tutoring Welding Jar or Spellskite on to the battlefield in response to point removal like Abrupt Decay, Maelstrom Pulse and Ancient Grudge. Mass destruction like Shatterstorm and Vandalblast can be challenging but thankfully the more expensive answers have fallen away as Modern becomes faster and faster.
Gameplan
When you are playing a competitive game of magic there are exactly 2 ways to play. You are either playing to win the game or you are playing to not lose the game. This deck is very much the latter. You spend most of the early turns setting up a lock or otherwise creating a board state which is either impossible or very difficult for you opponent to kill you through. Then you can swiftly end the game with a Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas ultimate, 5/5 creatures with haste or Thopter/Sword combo. Tezzeret’s ability to rapidly switch from a defensive card advantage engine to a threat gives this deck a way to finish the game before the opponent can find outs.
Card Choices
Tezzeret Agent of Bolas - Let's be honest, we are handicapping ourselves by playing mostly artifacts. This is one the primary reasons that we do it. In a deck engineered to play him, Tezzeret Agent of Bolas is the most powerful planeswalker ever printed. A quick read of his abilities makes it clear that this guy is powerful. Play 2-4.
Tezzeret, the Seeker - Outside of niche builds Tezzeret, the Seeker rarely sees play due to his restrictive 5 mana cost. However since the
306.4, 704.5j
This is where the Planeswalker Uniqueness Rule would be if I had one. But it's gone. All planeswalkers are now legendary! The real fun is way down in 704.5j, which was the rule describing the state-based action of the Planeswalker Uniqueness Rule. That's awfully early in the list of state-based actions, so when I removed it, a lot of rules had to be renumbered and every reference to those rules had to be updated.
Liliana of the Veil - As if this queen needs any explanation. Many of the lists that are more control oriented play 2-3 copies of her for the same reason that GBx decks do. She is powerful and creates synergies. For us that means Sword of the Meek and Ensnaring Bridge. LotV usually comes at the cost of some utility lands due to her double black casting cost and it is difficult to run her alongside a Crucible of Worlds/Ghost Quarter package or alongside Whir of Invention. If you opt to play neither of these options, strongly consider playing LotV.
Jace, the Mind Sculptor - Wizards HQ finally unleashed the most fearsome planeswalker card ever printed into the modern card pool. The card is inherently very powerful and becomes near unbeatable when your opponent can't attack it with creatures (Ensnaring Bridge).
Fatal Push - I think black mages have waited long enough for their premium 1 mana removal. Since its printing it has become a staple of every black deck in Modern. If you are in the market for removal play this card over any of the other 2 mana options.
Collective Brutality - This card is capable of much more than it reads. Sure, discarding your Sword of the Meek for value is great. But what about emptying your hand for that follow up Ensnaring Bridge while taking the opponents answer at the same time? It also acts as removal and discard that doesn't get hit by your Chalice of the Void. Sometimes the drain for 2 is enough to put your opponent into lethal range with a Tezzeret ultimate. An All-Star in most Tezzeret builds. Play 2-3.
Damnation - Sometimes creatures just need to be dead. Many lists play very few to zero creatures to support Ensnaring Bridge, making Damnation 1 sided. It is a great catch up card but 4 mana is a lot. Damnation usually makes the 75 but it's quantity and position are determined by the meta.
Whir of Invention – IS the focal point of almost every build now. Although comparable to Chord of Calling there are some key differences. The improvise mechanic does not allow us to tap blue artifacts to pay for its cost. This is hardly an issue since the only blue artifact we have interest in playing is Thopter Foundry. Getting Whir of Invention to X=2 or higher can be daunting but thankfully efficient 0-1 cost artifacts makes it possible. Below is a list of tricks possible with a Whir of Invention
Opponent would like to short cut to combat - Once you have entered the Begin Combat Step but before entering Declare Attackers Whir for X=3 and put Ensnaring Bridge into play. Without instant speed interaction they are likely to be unable to attack this turn.
Opponent casts an artifact removal spell - Whir for either X=0 or X=2 to get Welding Jar or Spellskite to effectively counter the removal spell. Flashing in Spellskite also allows for redirection of a Cryptic Command bounce or Boggles auras.
Valakut player points 18 damage at your face - Whir for X=2 to get Spellskite and redirect all triggers to Spellskite. Paying only 12 life and keeping you alive in many situations. You can also Whir for X=4 and get Witchbane Orb effectively countering all triggers.
Short 1 mana for Tezzeret or Infinite combo – End of turn you can Whir for X=0 to get Mox Opal or Darksteel Citadel to meet your mana requirements for next turn.
Opponent has 2 Verdant Catacombs in play and passes the turn - Whir for X=1. Chances are likely they just let it resolve. Once they do that you put Pithing Needle into play naming Verdant Catacombs. They don't get to respond to the Pithing Needle and you have set them back 2 lands.
Opponent casts any cascade card, cascade trigger - Whir for X=0 and put a Chalice of the Void into play countering whatever suspend card they wish to cascade into.
Opponent taps out for a cascade spell - Whir for X=2 and put Dampening Sphere into play. This makes the Cascade card cost 1 which they can't pay for if they tapped out. This can also work against combo decks like Ad Nausem which require multiple spells and sources of mana to go off in the same turn
Opponent casts Cryptic Command to bounce your Ensnaring Bridge - Whir for ANOTHER Ensnaring Bridge. :] or a Spellskite.
I am sure there are many more tricks but this is a short list of the most unique and profitable interactions Whir of Invention can create for you.
Thirst for Knowledge - This card was restricted in Vintage until 2015. Possibly the most efficient instant speed card advantage effect in the game. However this card has fallen out of favor in most decks because 3 mana and card advantage doesn't work well with an Ensnaring Bridge strategy.
Serum Vision - Serum Visions is the definition of what makes a card exceedingly medium. We play it for the same reason most other blue decks do. It finds the cards we need when we need them the most efficiently.
Ideas Unbound - Allows for extremely fast combo hands by digging 3 deep for the combo as early as turn 2 while looting away Sword of the Meek. It also ensures that you won't have a clogged hand while attempting to lock out combat with an Ensnaring Bridge.
Ancient Stirrings - Playing Ancient Stirrings requires a greater slant towards green in the main deck and less reliance on finding Thopter Foundry off the top of your deck. It also fails to find the decks most powerful plays in Whir of Invention and Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas. However if finding your toolbox artifacts seems more valuable to you than the power plays consider splashing for this card.
Ensnaring Bridge - This is our crutch. This is how we keep up in the fast paced world that is Modern. Many games revolve around a turn 3 Ensnaring Bridge. It defends our life total and our Planeswalkers. It allows us to play an unconventional game of magic by almost entirely locking out the combat step and gaining virtual card advantage by ignoring most creatures our opponents play. Playing the correct amount of Ensnaring Bridges can be tricky. Play 4 and risk having too many 3+ drops stuck in your hand when you cast the first one. Play too few and you don't find it when you need it. For this reason, lists play 2-3 and tutor/defend them with Whir of Invention.
Thopter Foundry/Sword of the Meek - Free wins are free. Sometimes we can just end the game by curving into the combo turns 2-3 and grinding our opponent out over the next few turns. Other times we can set up a lock and then win within a couple turns of assembling the combo. Whir of Invention allows you to find the combo consistently and at instant speed. Always run 4 copies of Thopter Foundry but you only need to see 1 Sword of the Meek over the course of the entire game since the combo can begin from the graveyard. Often times, once the combo is assembled your hand is irrelevant and you spend every turn gaining life and creating thopters.
The combo is weak to graveyard hate and Stony Silence. If you expect either try to have an alternate win condition in games 2-3 by trimming the number of combo pieces but never all of them.
Time Seive - Time Seive allows you to go nearly infinite with Thopter/Sword once you have 5 mana. Make 5 thopters, gain 5 life, take an extra turn. The only reason this isn't infinite is because you run out of cards in your deck. But if you play Academy Ruins you can sacrifice an extra artifact to Time Seive or Thopter Foundry that you can put on top of deck every turn with Academy Ruins being truly infinite. Thopter/Sword is typically enough to win the game on its own but there are niche situations where you may want to be playing this third piece.
Krark-Clan Ironworks - Similar to Time Sieve this also lets you go infinite. Sacrifice 1 thopter to get 2 mana, making 2 thopters, repeat. This allows you to make infinite thopters and gain infinite life immediately, but unlike Time Sieve you will not get the opportunity to attack before passing the turn. This is typically a better third combo piece for finishing the game but also has the highest liability of getting stuck in your hand.
Mox Opal - What can be said about this card that hasn't already been said? It is a Mox. We are not affinity throwing a hand full of artifacts on the table turn 1 so 4 copies is dangerous. However 1-2 are free and incredibly powerful. Play a minimum of 1. Typically you play at least 3 if you have Darksteel Citadels or Mishra's Baubles.
Pentad Prism - Pentad Prism Creates for some crazy powerful Whir of Invention improvise plays. The turn you play a Pentad Prism it is even +1 for Whir of Invention, the next turn it is +3. It also allows for T3 Tezzeret and accelerates your mana development long enough to empty your hand for Ensnaring Bridge. Pentad Prism also creates mana of any color making a sideboard splash easier and Engineered Explosives more powerful. However it comes with the terrible downside of doing actual nothing a large percentage of time. If you don’t plan to play the long game and can afford some air in your deck, this card will pay dividends for you, otherwise avoid it for other cheap artifacts.
Pithing Needle - A great catch all for cards that may be difficult to answer. Many lists play 1 in the main to bail them out of otherwise precarious situations. Playing a second copy in sideboard is often correct in metas where you expect to see cards you otherwise can’t beat. Such as Planeswalkers and Oblivion Stone.
Relic of Progenitus/Nihil Spellbomb/Tormod's Crypt - Great ways to develop a quick artifact count and destroy enemy graveyards without sacrificing consistency. Play at least 1 in the main and play as many as 3 after sideboard if you expect graveyard strategies to be prevalent. Relic of Progenitus is typically better unless you need to play it and blow it up with exactly 1 mana. You can usually play around exiling your own Sword of the Meek easy enough.
Engineered Explosives - EE can be dangerous because it could destroy a fair number of our own permanents. However its raw power and flexibility can persuade some players to play it in their 75.
Trading Post - Costs 4 mana to do nothing in many matches, but the matches where it is good it can take over a game. In slower games you can cycle expired Pentad Prisms, additional Mox Opals, Sword of the Meek or redundant lock pieces for new cards. It is common to have Ensnaring Bridge in play and have Whir of Invention be the last card in your hand. When you have neither of the combo pieces you still need a way to generate value with your [card]Whir of Invention[card] and [card]Trading Post[card] is the best option under the cost of 4.
Executioner's Capsule - An artifact Doom Blade. It seems some play but black creatures are everywhere and are likely the ones you want to be killing.
Expedition Map - A solid artifact but increases in power based on the number of utility lands you play. Very synergistic with Crucible of Worlds builds.
Welding Jar - A great way to defend your artifacts from point removal. A zero mana way to enable improvise and defend our most vital artifacts is something we are happy to play.
Chalice of the Void - Playing 4 Chalice of the Void is a tempting offer in a format as fast and efficient as Modern but the deck needs other 1 mana cards for its game plan to function effectively. The best way to play Chalice of the Void is split it between the main deck and sideboard.
Mishra's Bauble - Checks all the boxes for being an effective card in a Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas deck. Enabling faster Whir of Inventions, and Mox Opals while cycling for a new card later in the game. Mishra's Bauble allows you to inflate your artifact count without having to pay sub optimal cards. It functions as an Opt when paired with fetch lands and allows you to get hell bent for Ensnaring Bridge faster.
Dampening Sphere - The latest hotness. Gives us game against our two most difficult matchups Storm and Tron. Plat at least 2 in the 75.
Most lists play as few creatures as possible to blank all the removal the opponents are likely to be playing. Creatures are usually a plan B sideboard or have a spell like effect attached to them. You can even sac the Sword of the Meek to Sai, play an artifact to get a thopter and bring back the sword. Every artifact you cast now reads: Kicker: 1U Draw a card if you want it to with a Sword of the Meek in play.
Sai, Master Thopterist – This card has the potential to be a very powerful play out of the sideboard. Allows the deck to go wide and create thopters very quickly even with a Stony Silence on the battlefield. You can even sac the Sword of the Meek to Sai, play an artifact to get a thopter and bring back the sword. Every artifact you cast now reads: Kicker: 1U Draw a card if you want it to with a Sword of the Meek in play.
Glint-Nest Crane - The 1/3 flying body can be surprisingly relevant against 2 power creatures, Affinity's flying army and Infect. However when it is not relevant it still digs 4 deep for artifacts. Glint-Nest Crane gets significantly better when playing Darksteel Citadels to help hit land drops. Spending 2 mana to find an artifact can be dangerous when trying to empty your hand for an Ensnaring Bridge however you can choose to find nothing.
Spellskite - Spellskite would be the easiest auto include in this deck if he wasn't a magnet for creature removal. Despite that many players play 1-2. Post board your opponent will take out a lot of spot removal and Spellskite gets much better.
Herald of Anguish - A good hand can play this monster on turn 3. Any Pentad Prism hand with 4 lands can play him on turn 4. Post board after an opponent has taken out some removal Herald of Anguish can destroy them by gutting their hand and picking off their creatures while smashing for 5 in the air.
Trinket Mage - Commonly seen in U-Tron lists as a value generating tutor. However since the introduction of Whir of Invention this card has been largely replaced.
Trophy Mage - Has interesting utility in versions that play multiple 3 cmc artifacts but it is ultimately worse than Whir of Invention most of the time.
Scrap Trawler - More commonly seen in KCI decks but could have use in a hybridized Tezzerator/KCI deck.
Darkslick Shores - Play 4 copies. Fastlands are very powerful and in our deck it provides all the colors we need painlessly on the turns we need the colors most. The only reason to not play 4x would be for 3+ color splashes.
Polluted Delta - Play 4 copies. Fetches are the best lands in the game for a reason. Wildly flexible and help us play around Blood Moon and trigger revolt.
Any blue fetch land - Sometimes you need more than 4 ways to fetch Island and Watery Grave.
Watery Grave - Play as many as expect to want to play against an opponent who is disrupting your mana base. For most Tezzeret builds that number is 3.
Island/Swamp - Play as few as possible without getting punished for it. Normally this is 2 Island and 1 Swamp. In Whir of Invention lists an argument can be made for the 3rd Island over the Swamp.
Creeping Tar Pit - 3 power unblockable on a land is very powerful for chipping at opponents or assassinating Planeswalkers. However running such few creatures leaves it very susceptible to being removed. Also can't get under an Ensnaring Bridge.
Academy Ruins - Extremely powerful at combating grindy decks and punishes decks that want to dismantle your deck 1 piece at a time. Gets better the slower the meta is and gets better when you play fewer graveyard hate pieces.
Inventor's Fair - The last land that could tutor cards in Modern got banned. Eye of Ugin. Clearly that is not why it got banned but that didn't help its case either. Gaining incremental life and turning a flooded mane base into an artifact of your choice is very powerful. Despite its legendary status some lists try to squeeze in 2 copies.
Darksteel Citadel - Before Whir of Invention was printed Tezzeret decks had the flexibility to play more colorless lands. Not playing 4 copies of Darksteel Citadel was objectively wrong. It allows Tezzeret to dig for lands and frees up non-artifact spell slots. Plus indestructible 5/5 lands can beat just about everything but a Path to Exile or a Dismember. However it has to compete for a limited number of spots now and you can't jam 4 without sacrificing power elsewhere.
Ghost Quarter - Ghost Quarter has a powerful interaction alongside Crucible of Worlds. Ghost Quarter can also be bounced off a Darksteel Citadel to turn it into a basic land. Ghost Quarter attempts to destroy the land and then search for a basic. The land doesn't get destroyed because of the indestructible clause but Ghost Quarter still completes the remainder of the text. Often one of our better tools for disrupting big mana decks but tends to be worse than the colorless lands it is competing with.
Field of Ruins - A side grade to Ghost Quarter. Useful when you need to maintain your lands but still interact with your opponent’s mana base. However it can't be bounced off your Darksteel Citadels because it needs to be an opponent’s land.
Glimmervoid/Spire of Industry - Playing upwards of 13 artifacts that can be cast on turn 1 makes these cards consistent enough to be played in decks that are splashing a 3rd color from the sideboard. Typically you don't want these cards as multiples in you opening hand but you would like to see 1 by turn 3.
Sunken Ruins - Helps cast sideboard Damnation while still fetching islands. The more BB cost cards you play the better this gets.
Negate - It protects you from most mass artifact destruction as well as countering cards you otherwise can't beat like Oblivion Stone, Karn Liberated, Scapeshift, Ad Nauseum etc. Also has applications against decks like Burn and Lantern. The points of life loss from Countersquall don't matter enough to warrant its use over negate.
Damnation - Outstanding magic card, but it exists in our deck mostly to help out against midrange decks and Eldrazi. Damnation is excellent at catching up from behind when Ensnaring Bridge is unreliable. 1-2 copies in the 75
Collective Brutality - I like to refer to this card as blacks Cryptic Command. This card does everything at a reasonable cost. It is a significant liability when counter spell decks are in the meta, but otherwise you should be trying to squeeze this card into your list.
Ghost Quarter - Whether it be the 4th Ghost Quarter for your Crucible of Worlds lock or the 1st copy to beat up Affinty and stall Scapeshift playing 1 in the sideboard can be considered valuable.
Chalice of the Void - There are some games where playing a Chalice of the Void is just lights out for your opponent. That is when you bring it in. You could play only 1 or as many as 3. 2 seems to be the best sideboard configuration for finding it without diluting your own effective 1 drops.
Herald of Anguish - More details on this guy in the creatures section, but it can be unstoppable against grindy decks post board if they took out too much of their removal or the removal they have can't interact with him. 1-3 copies can be played if your sideboard strategy involves leaving in Pentad Prism.
Witchbane Orb - Hexproof is great when there is a lot of Scapeshift or Burn in your meta although it is a bit slow. 1 copy is often right in the sideboard because it can be a complete blow out.
Padeem, Consul of Innovation - Again, excellent for dismantling midrange decks or anything that wants to go long. It protects all of your artifacts while drawing you an additional card every turn.
Surgical Extraction - Surgical Extraction gets better as you play more hand disruption but is serviceable on its own with Ghost Quarter lock to further deny your opponent.
Spellskite - Mentioned in the creatures section. Whenever Spellskite doesn't make the main deck 1 or 2 copies are preferred in the sideboard to help fight through artifact point removal once they board out removal spells.
Echoing Truth - It is not great but it deals with pesky permanents for a turn. Works great to bounce a Stony Silence and combo out. Usually the turn and a half with the combo is enough to win. Also makes dead hand disruption live in the late game by bouncing a permanent and then stripping it from their hand.
Unmoored Ego – This card attacks most of the decks this archetype has problems with. It can attack Tron lands, fast linear combo, dredge and sideboard cards we fear such as Stony Silence. It is highly recommend you play some number of these out of the sideboard.
Sideboard Splashes:
Green Abrupt Decay - General permanent destruction for hard to handle artifacts and enchantments. This has become a sideboard staple for the deck as a catch all answer to Stony Silence/Rest In Peace/Liliana of the Veil. Play at least 2.
Assassin’s Trophy – Allows us to catch more cards than Abrupt Decay such as Planeswalkers and Leylines. However the uncounterable clause and ramping your opponent are real downsides. If control is on the downswing, consider playing this card.
Red Crumble to Dust - Tron and Valakut decks can be difficult to beat and this is a big step in the right direction if you expect a lot of either.
Ghirapur Aether Grid - Great for picking apart decks with lots of X/1's or shooting down Planeswalkers. It can also be alternate win condition against Stony Silence.
Blood Moon - Did someone say that want to reach maximum greediness? Play Blood Moon! Very difficult to get a 3 color mana base to function with Blood Moon in play but various mana rocks can alleviate that pressure.
Faithless Looting – Possibly the best enabler for a graveyard combo deck that plays Ensnaring Bridge but the optimal solution for its use in tezzerator is yet to be found.
White
Ethersworn Cantonist - Great hate against other Turbo Xerox decks like Grixis Death's Shadow and Storm.
How many artifacts is too many? How many artifacts are too few? How often does Tezzeret miss on his +1? If he hits was it even worth it? What about Glint-Nest Crane?
This is the most difficult aspect of building this deck. Too many artifacts and you are playing cards that are likely worse than your average card since you are selecting cards from a smaller population. Too few artifacts and Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas doesn't function well and neither does Whir of Invention or Glint-Nest Crane. Even if you have enough artifacts, you want to make sure they have an impact on the game. Let's use the graph of Glint-Nest Cranes probability of hitting an artifact as our baseline: Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas would have a similar graph for his +1 ability except with a sharper initial curve due to digging 1 card deeper. The hard part is picking a percentage number that you deem to be a fair amount of variance. In magic, I would say an 80% success rate is reasonable but feel free to choose any number you want and shoot for that number. Generally speaking 17 is the absolute lowest threshold and these variants can't afford to play Mox Opal. 22 is likely the best number to be playing including Mox Opal. Since Mox Opal is exceptionally powerful and integral to the mana base the best solution is 19-21 artifacts plus at least 2 Mox Opal. If you want to play 4 Mox Opal I would suggest 25 artifacts that can be put into play by the turn you want Mox Opal to be active. Be careful of too many 2-3 cmc cards because you can only cast one of each on curve.
As you add more artifacts to the deck your chances of successful Tezzeret hits begin increasing less and the artifacts you are playing get progressively worse. Therefore every artifact you add to the deck is worse than the previous one. Don't play too many!
Manabase Construction
Lands are a much more important part of building Tezzerator than most decks. Normally it is as easy as fetches/shocks/basics and 1-3 utility lands. Artifacts get the best utility lands in Modern as well as some of the best mana fixing. Therefore when constructing a mana base you need to account for a few variables other decks do not. For example:
With 90% confidence:
Casting Whir of Invention on 3 requires ~ 22 Sources that generate blue
Pentad Prism on 2 requires ~ 13 of once color and 13 of another and 20 total that generate colors
Liliana of the Veil on 3 requires ~ 19 black
Consistent 4 mana on 4 requires ~ 24 sources
Trying to accomplish all of this while playing a bunch of utility lands is unreasonable. This is why 3 color splashes playing Whir of Invention play very few to zero colorless lands now.
This combination meets all the requirements for casting our critical spells except for Whir of Invention. We could add more colored lands but we have artifacts that can generate colored mana as well:
These cards get us to 16 sources which is still 6 sources short of casting Whir of Invention but we only have 14 lands in our deck. This means we need to add 8 sources in order to cast Tezzerets and all but two of them should generate blue mana. That leaves only two slots to be filled out with utility lands. Any additional utility lands played past this point should be considered "spell lands" as they are taking the spot of a spell in your deck now.
Decklists
Want your deck list here? So don't we! Message racing089 with your list and results and we will post it here if you placed well at a larger event.
1) In addition to "why play this over affinity" I think the more prescient question is "why play this over lantern control?" You're an artifact based prison/control deck that usually needs to sit behind an ensnaring bridge to win. My answer to this has always been "because you want to cast Tezz AoB or make thopter tokens". I do not think there is a good competitive edge to this deck over lantern, but perhaps others are aware of what makes Tezz a superior choice in certain situations.
2) Why is Mox Opal important here? I have played the deck without it since day 1 - I am loathe to put money into that card as it is a perennial candidate for banning. But more to the point I have had issues getting metalcraft online for a turn 5 Inventor's Fair activation - nevermind a turn 2/3 opal use. Unless you're playing tonnes of jars/baubles and draw a citadel the odds this is online before turn 3 are extremely low - and once its turn 4+ what exactly do you need the mana for in this deck?
3) Pentad Prism vs Talismans - I was not impressed with prism myself but maybe time will vindicate the masses. I love that with talisman I can still IoK/Push t2, I love that it helps me cast whirs and lilianas when I open coloured+colourless lands, and I love that it insulates me against blood moons and mana denial. Pentad Prism is either fuelling a gamebreaking whir (bridge t3, crucible t3) or else its just a bad inconsistent talisman. DO you actually need t3 whir for 3? If that's your line for a bridge isn't your hand full anyways making it no different from casting spells t3 and then whirring for bridge t4?
4) Damnation. I thought consensus was more along the lines that this is a wasted slot in a bridge deck. It's expensive and clunky and non-bos with the lock that bridge sets. It's not like you can tutor the damnation so the odds you draw it in some situation where you don't have a bridge are actually lower than situations where you're sitting behind a bridge and draw this and cast it for negligible/no value.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern
* Esper Draw-Go
* Tezzeret Whir
* Blue Tron
1) In addition to "why play this over affinity" I think the more prescient question is "why play this over lantern control?" You're an artifact based prison/control deck that usually needs to sit behind an ensnaring bridge to win. My answer to this has always been "because you want to cast Tezz AoB or make thopter tokens". I do not think there is a good competitive edge to this deck over lantern, but perhaps others are aware of what makes Tezz a superior choice in certain situations.
2) Why is Mox Opal important here? I have played the deck without it since day 1 - I am loathe to put money into that card as it is a perennial candidate for banning. But more to the point I have had issues getting metalcraft online for a turn 5 Inventor's Fair activation - nevermind a turn 2/3 opal use. Unless you're playing tonnes of jars/baubles and draw a citadel the odds this is online before turn 3 are extremely low - and once its turn 4+ what exactly do you need the mana for in this deck?
3) Pentad Prism vs Talismans - I was not impressed with prism myself but maybe time will vindicate the masses. I love that with talisman I can still IoK/Push t2, I love that it helps me cast whirs and lilianas when I open coloured+colourless lands, and I love that it insulates me against blood moons and mana denial. Pentad Prism is either fuelling a gamebreaking whir (bridge t3, crucible t3) or else its just a bad inconsistent talisman. DO you actually need t3 whir for 3? If that's your line for a bridge isn't your hand full anyways making it no different from casting spells t3 and then whirring for bridge t4?
4) Damnation. I thought consensus was more along the lines that this is a wasted slot in a bridge deck. It's expensive and clunky and non-bos with the lock that bridge sets. It's not like you can tutor the damnation so the odds you draw it in some situation where you don't have a bridge are actually lower than situations where you're sitting behind a bridge and draw this and cast it for negligible/no value.
1.) Although they are similar, Lantern control needs Ensnaring Bridge to win a game where this deck may not. This deck has more flexibility and options when it comes to locks and winning the game.
2.) I take it you have not played with it in the deck since you don't want to spend out the money to get them. You are worried the card might get banned because it is very powerful. It functions as fuel for improvise early on, makes mana of any color later, can be found off Tezzeret and can occasionally come online turn 2 for powerful plays.
3.)Talisman and Dimir Signet have their upsides but they are each plus 1 for Whir of Invention where Pentad Prism is +3. Most lists are built around Whir now.
4.)Ensnaring Bridge is not a clean answer all the time. Imagine playing against Bant Eldrazi and they have a huge board stuck behind your Ensnaring Bridge. They can EE the bridge and come crashing through for lethal. Some decks like Fish can bounce the bridge and swing lethal. It is better to have diversified answers.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
U/B Tezzeret Control
Sultai Midrange
Anything Innovative
1) I've been playing Lantern for six months now. They have lots in common. I'll summarize my experience this way:
Lantern's engine is astonishingly (like, I mean it) consistent (itself) and reliable (in context). It sometimes struggles to close out games in a timely fashion. But it has very real, magic-transcending downsides: it is exhausting to play. You have to spend the full 50 minutes of each round making fast, game-making or game-breaking decisions every second move. Lastly, but such a real thing: you WILL get saltstorms from desperate or angry opponents.
Tezz's engine is a notch less reliable and consistent and kicks in a bit slower, but it wins in spectacular fashion fairly easily once you've made it this far. It turns the corner like not many decks. + People think you're awesome haha, which I can fully appreciate now, make new friends again, etc.
2) Opal. I thought exactly the same than you! "But if Opal is never online before T3, might as well run a Talisman" -- yes but no!! Opal costs 0 ; Talisman used your whole second turn's mana. And take note that we have a bajillion T2 plays to use that mana on anyways!
re: opal - I probably shouldn't have even mentioned price/ban fear as that's a red herring. My point was you don't have metalcraft reliably and by the time you do you don't need that mana. If you're playing it for whir improvise you might as well play mishra's bauble and cash out for a card after your whir rather than a useless mana.
re: talisman - it doesn't quite take your full t2. If you get off a push/IoK or cast a needle/relic/cage/spellbomb its effectively only cost you one mana. I have many times gone t1 discard t2 talisman push/discard t3 whir/tez which is ridiculously efficient. When people play prism do they just sit on it waiting to draw a whir? Or do you suck it up and use the mana for discard/tez if no whir presents itself? It seems like anytime you are not using it to whir its a bad talisman. The biggest upside would be more colours for explosives, but I'm not sold on explosives either as EE for 2 will wipe talismans/swords/foundries/cranes and EE for 3 wipes bridge/liliana. Yes we can sometimes play around it but sometimes you have to play your cards and then you draw an EE and go to nonbo town.
@BadMcFadden: I totally feel you on the power of T1 action into T2 Talisman + more action, it's been my bread and butter for years and it's truer than ever now that we have Fatal Push. The correct solution might be to combine this interactive ramping style with the explosiveness of Pentad Prism. I'll start testing with a split and see. Also, regarding your «Use liberally prism mana or not?» question, which I think is super legit, I'd also like to hear experimented prism-ers or, errrr, whir-ers on that topic. The same is true regarding cracking that Bauble or not (keep it around in case of Bridge / Opal / Whir, or cash in a card?). These are like really tough decisions to make and often game-changing. There should be some guidelines or smtg. But these are new cards we've just adopted, so there aren't (yet). We should collectively adress this.
@Rhandall: Krark-Klan Ironworks is on my radar too! It goes infinite with Thopter-Sword, but seems less dead than Time Sieve is when you don't have the combo to complement it. However it's more expensive so it's more risky to run along Bridge. I haven't tested it, but agree that it deserves some consideration. Please report back!
@Terraxxion: But is a singleton Fountain enough to swing the Tron match-up around? I doubt it, even though you have access to 5 virtual copies with Whir, they're too slow to come online and disrupt their regular lines of play, no? However the sacc'ing bit is interesting; leave it hang around for 2-3 turns, then sac to foundry to have effectively GQ'd 3 of their Tron pieces =) ...As for Valakut I suspect card still leaves them with a huge window within which to cast their Scapeshift and just sac the Islands for the kill. Worth it? Tell us more about your testing experience and results please!
@Reedy: Last time Zac Elsik showed up here, he was all over running Hangarback Walker as a 3-4 of. It's all we got! You got ahead, test and report
TO ALL: I'll mention that I've figured out a pretty efficient way to test cards, and think we would collectively benefit greatly from testing in such a way: instead of just throwing a couple of copies in there and having some kind of vague results down the road, I've began to:
1. Put the card that's being tested aside;
2. Draw my initial hand, minus one card;
3. Bring the tested card as seventh card in hand.
This way you get results, fast! Keep it up
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MODERN Blue Lantern, UBx Tezzerator. OLD SCHOOL 93/94 «The Pain Train» Black Sligh, Esper «Machine Gun» Artifacts, Jund «Psycho» Ponza-Disko.
@BadMcFadden: I find it really important that Mox Opal can fix for blue mana even if it isn't very reliable on turns 1 and 2. Stretching for the third blue or second black can be difficult running multiple utility lands. It is most comparable to a Darksteel Citadel than say Mishra's Bauble.
On using Pentad Prism. Yes I use it very proactively. If you don't have a Whir of Invention in hand I use to accelerate out Tezzeret or to help empty my hand for Ensnaring Bridge. Pentad Prism still allows you to got T1 action, T2 Prism and 1 mana action. The only time Talisman is better is when you think you are going to use it 3 or more times over the course of the game for mana and by that point you should have hit your land drops or locked out the board. Multiple Pentad Prisms and no Whir of Invention can be awkward so it might be correct have a 3/1 split but Pentad Prism is surely the more powerful option.
@MeleeQc: List looks great!. As you mentioned the only card I am not a fan of is the Time Seive. It is win-more. There are very few games where you make 4+ Thopters a turn and don't win. It would be a fine 1 of if it did anything by itself but it already needs the combo assembled to be helpful.
@Terraxxion: It would appear that you and I have come to a lot of the same conclusions in testing. Is there anything more you have to say about Quicksilver Fountain? That is not a card I had considered testing but with Whir of Invention it may be able to act as our on demand Blood Moon. Although not as good as Blood Moon but unlike Blood Moon it is one sided because you have to turn non-islands into islands. Meaning that you can't force your own Watery Grave off black.
Also you mention sacrificing it to Thopter Foundry. I had to go back and re-read the card but you are right that is a very powerful interaction keeping them locked under those islands for the rest of the game. Admittedly I have an irrational hated for Tron and will likely be testing one myself now. If it is powerful enough it may be playable in the Crucible of Worlds slot freeing up space for more utility lands.
Haven't posted in a while, but wanted to show what I'm currently using as in most of the testing i haven't seen many trying to use vehicles, though I've been having pretty good luck with them so far, as they are already good on their own, but with tezz - they just always have their effects. im torn between heart of kiran since its so nice with tezz - and aethersphere harvester to get some inconsequential lifegain when I don't have thopter/sword on and lower crew cost.
I'm using crane instead of whir in this version since it relies less on the thopter/sword to win and can also crew the copters. The scrap trawlers are a little win more since they work very well with the combo to let me go infinite with 2 opals, or just be a fake necropotence with mishras bauble, and just value with welding jar. most of the time it just crews heart, or dies and gets me a thopter foundry back. the 1 of hope of ghirapur is in there to slow down noncreature decks, can perma silence with academy ruins and tezz, or with scrap trawler and sword combo till I can close the game out.
As for the sideboard most of it is pretty straight forward i think, the time sieve keeps getting swapped around between cranial plating, time sieve, and aethersphere harvester, and the extra bridge in the side is for if iI'm actually facing a creature and removal heavy deck and feel i need it, its usually brought in with the spellskites to help protect it, but the 2 and 2 welding jars in the main are usually enough.
Mostly looking for opinions and suggestions on it but ive been having a pretty good time with it, and have been doing fairly well at least at modern events at the lgs.
I usually only crack Mishra's when I have no action in hand for my next turn or else have a surplus of mana for Whir/targets for tezz. They are very good Tezz animate targets.
I regularly burn Pentad counters the turn I cast it. You have to plan several turns ahead with this deck so just know what you need your mana for the most. The potential to explode for 3 mana on turn 3-5 is much more important than 1 additional mana every turn after 2. Hitting the combo or bridge/crucible/(and in my case Bottled Cloister) turns 3-5 is the priority of this deck. Also, as has been discussed ad nauseam, we dump our hand by turn 5 and top deck terribly so additional mana for the rest of the game is much less important than getting our lock a turn earlier. In conclusion, talisman is better if you're running a midrange deck, but Pentad is much better in the Whir toolbox/bridge deck.
I don't run hangarback or ballista, but ballista has tested as the better card most the time because pinging threatening creatures/PWs is usually more important than a redundant source of thopter tokens.
To add to the Pentad Prism discussion and esp. the liberal use of the mana, Using the first mana is not really an issue, especially if you already have 2 blue sources. If you have a third blue source in hand, I often have on turn 2 cast prism for 2 and then cast sword/thopter foundry with the mana in order to whir for the missing piece the following turn, and untap with the combo.
It basically comes down to "will I have 3 blue sources even if I spend the prism mana now?"
Also I posted a list in the previous primer using Cryptic Command and am still testing a few copies. I think the card can be pretty nutty in certain circumstances but still more testing to determine if it is really that great.
I think Herald of Anguish is amazing and 3 sideboard is what I am testing now. Might be 4 in the future as it has always put in hella work when it comes in. Dodging Path to exile and terminate is huge so I won't be mainboarding it but no other removal being played right now deals with it. The typical plan is game 2 combo out, anguish in; game 3 combo in anguish out. It lets you mind game a bit.
Best case scenario you play it turn 3 on the play, and it shuts off a tron piece. any other time it seems like it doesn't help as I don't think you can whir for it consistently on turn 3, and past turn 4 they will be able to either assemble tron or have an extra land they can let become an island first. Basically I think it might be too slow to really help the deck not get murdered by tron.
The primer seems to imply that Ashiok does something against decks with Leyline of Sanctity. It's worth noting that if the opponent has Leyline Ashiok can't uptick, and thus will never reach her ultimate. She's not the sort of card I'd want to use against Leyline.
The primer seems to imply that Ashiok does something against decks with Leyline of Sanctity. It's worth noting that if the opponent has Leyline Ashiok can't uptick, and thus will never reach her ultimate. She's not the sort of card I'd want to use against Leyline.
You are 100% correct. That has been removed.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
U/B Tezzeret Control
Sultai Midrange
Anything Innovative
@Kunkstar7 specifically Whir of Invention. It helps you hit the UUU cost. Coincidentally people started running Herald of Anguish in the sideboard, and it ramps you 3 mana toward Herald.
If you're not running Whir, the benefit over Talisman is mostly lost.
@Kunkstar7 specifically Whir of Invention. It helps you hit the UUU cost. Coincidentally people started running Herald of Anguish in the sideboard, and it ramps you 3 mana toward Herald.
If you're not running Whir, the benefit over Talisman is mostly lost.
Don't forget that it ramps you 3 towards Whir as well.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Playing UX Mana Denial until Modern gets the answers it needs.
WUBRG Humans BRW Mardu Pyromancer UW UW "Control" UR Blue Moon
After some testing of fountain, I want to say its maindeckable? It turns out its great in a lot more match-ups than tron, and helps a lot against Bant Eldrazi if you can get it to resolve.
It affecting basics is something I looked over originally but it is very relevant. It's slower than bloodmoon but it has taken my opponent off the colors to actually cast ancient grudge or shatterstorm and break out of the bridge lock multiple times.
@ParAsit_e
The mana base is strained as it is playing utility lands and hitting triple U. If you are playing the Whir version I think the only slight G splash you do is one shock for abrupt decay.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Last Updated: 11/11/2018
Tezzeret Agent of Bolas control or UBx Whir is Prison/Combo/Toolbox deck that uses Tezzeret Agent of Bolas as the glue for such a unique assortment of archetypes all in one deck. The deck is now better known as Tezzerator. Tezzerator previously referred to Legacy and Vintage Tezzeret decks featuring Tezzeret the Seeker but many players have adapted the usage to Modern now.
The deck first burst onto the Modern scene at GP Kobe in 2014 with now hall of fame player Shota Yassoka piloting the deck to a top 16 finish.
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
3 Liliana of the Veil
Creature
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Spellskite
Sorcery
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Damnation
Instant
4 Thirst for Knowledge
2 Smother
1 Go for the Throat
1 Doom Blade
1 Slaughter Pact
4 Dimir Signet
3 Talisman of Dominance
2 Mox Opal
2 Torpor Orb
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Pithing Needle
1 Batterskull
4 Darksteel Citadel
Land
4 Mutavault
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
4 Darkslick Shores
3 River of Tears
2 Creeping Tar Pit
60 Cards
2 Duress
2 Negate
2 Sower of Temptation
2 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror
1 Consume the Meek
2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
2 Flashfreeze
Since 2014 the deck has evolved greatly. A multitude of new cards have been released or unbanned changing the direction of the deck from the previous style of UBx tapout control to Prison/Combo.
Ben Scarsella 1st place IN
1 Breeding Pool
4 Darkslick Shores
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Flooded Strand
3 Ghost Quarter
1 Inventors' Fair
2 Island
4 Polluted Delta
2 River of Tears
1 Sunken Ruins
1 Swamp
2 Watery Grave
Spells
2 Fatal Push
2 Collective Brutality
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Whir of Invention
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Executioner's Capsule
2 Mox Opal
1 Nihil Spellbomb
4 Pentad Prism
1 Pithing Needle
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Sword of the Meek
2 Thopter Foundry
1 Trading Post
2 Welding Jar
Planeswalkers
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Collective Brutality
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Herald of Anguish
1 Pithing Needle
2 Surgical Extraction
3 Thoughtseize
1 Witchbane Orb
Thomas Bauer 1st place DE
1 Academy Ruins
4 Darkslick Shores
3 Darksteel Citadel
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Inventors' Fair
3 Island
4 Polluted Delta
2 Swamp
3 Watery Grave
Spells
2 Collective Brutality
1 Damnation
2 Fatal Push
4 Whir of Invention
4 Glint-Nest Crane
2 Spellskite
Artifacts
2 Chalice of the Void
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Mox Opal
4 Pentad Prism
1 Pithing Needle
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Sword of the Meek
3 Thopter Foundry
1 Time Sieve
1 Welding Jar
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
1 Curse of Death's Hold
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Hurkyl's Recall
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Padeem, Consul of Innovation
1 Pithing Needle
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Wurmcoil Engine
Why should I want to play Tezzerator/UBx Whir?
This deck has it all. It features elements of control, prison, combo and toolbox strategies while being highly adaptable to your metagame.
It is a combo deck
Thopter Foundry and Sword of the Meek combo together making every 1 mana into a 1/1 blue flying thopter token and 1 life. Once banned due to the near unwinnable board state it presents, comboing for only a single turn has the ability to grind an opponent into a concession.
It is a prison deck
Ensnaring Bridge, Pithing Needle, Chalice of the Void, Nihil Spellbomb and Crucible of Worlds. Lock out combat and begin to dismantle your opponent’s strategy piece by piece. Attack their lands, their spells, their hand and even their activated abilities.
It is a toolbox strategy
Use the power of Whir on Invention to get any artifact you need at instant speed augmented by Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas's ability to dig 5 deep for artifacts.
It is a control deck
Liliana of the Veil, Fatal Push, Collective Brutality, Inquisition of Kozelik and Damnation are a proven winning combination in Modern. This deck can utilize these tools in a combo shell to provide for a unique gameplay experience compared to that of the GBx decks.
This deck will reward you for understanding the metagame and knowing your opponents deck inside and out. Like many Prison and Toolbox strategies, finding the correct balance of disrupting your opponent and forwarding your victory condition can be a difficult task. However once you learn the deck it is powerful enough to play with the best decks in the format.
Why would I play an artifact deck that isn't Affinity/Lantern/KCI when everyone in the room has artifact hate?
Hate cards can slow us down but the deck has enough flexibility to go either through or around the hate cards. Stony Silence does not stop 5/5 creatures from smashing in. Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas's ultimate doesn't care about Stony Silence and neither does Ensnaring Bridge. As long as you are prepared to know which hate cards to play around you can adapt your strategy to beat them. Whir of Invention allows us to save our most valuable lock pieces by tutoring Welding Jar or Spellskite on to the battlefield in response to point removal like Abrupt Decay, Maelstrom Pulse and Ancient Grudge. Mass destruction like Shatterstorm and Vandalblast can be challenging but thankfully the more expensive answers have fallen away as Modern becomes faster and faster.
Gameplan
When you are playing a competitive game of magic there are exactly 2 ways to play. You are either playing to win the game or you are playing to not lose the game. This deck is very much the latter. You spend most of the early turns setting up a lock or otherwise creating a board state which is either impossible or very difficult for you opponent to kill you through. Then you can swiftly end the game with a Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas ultimate, 5/5 creatures with haste or Thopter/Sword combo. Tezzeret’s ability to rapidly switch from a defensive card advantage engine to a threat gives this deck a way to finish the game before the opponent can find outs.
Card Choices
Tezzeret Agent of Bolas - Let's be honest, we are handicapping ourselves by playing mostly artifacts. This is one the primary reasons that we do it. In a deck engineered to play him, Tezzeret Agent of Bolas is the most powerful planeswalker ever printed. A quick read of his abilities makes it clear that this guy is powerful. Play 2-4.
Tezzeret, the Seeker - Outside of niche builds Tezzeret, the Seeker rarely sees play due to his restrictive 5 mana cost. However since the
This is where the Planeswalker Uniqueness Rule would be if I had one. But it's gone. All planeswalkers are now legendary! The real fun is way down in 704.5j, which was the rule describing the state-based action of the Planeswalker Uniqueness Rule. That's awfully early in the list of state-based actions, so when I removed it, a lot of rules had to be renumbered and every reference to those rules had to be updated.
Liliana of the Veil - As if this queen needs any explanation. Many of the lists that are more control oriented play 2-3 copies of her for the same reason that GBx decks do. She is powerful and creates synergies. For us that means Sword of the Meek and Ensnaring Bridge. LotV usually comes at the cost of some utility lands due to her double black casting cost and it is difficult to run her alongside a Crucible of Worlds/Ghost Quarter package or alongside Whir of Invention. If you opt to play neither of these options, strongly consider playing LotV.
Ashiok Nightmare Weaver - Who?! Ashiok is rarely played anymore. However in the correct meta's it is another card that can win from behind an Ensnaring Bridge with a Stony Silence in play.
Jace, the Mind Sculptor - Wizards HQ finally unleashed the most fearsome planeswalker card ever printed into the modern card pool. The card is inherently very powerful and becomes near unbeatable when your opponent can't attack it with creatures (Ensnaring Bridge).
Fatal Push - I think black mages have waited long enough for their premium 1 mana removal. Since its printing it has become a staple of every black deck in Modern. If you are in the market for removal play this card over any of the other 2 mana options.
Go For the Throat/Doom Blade/Victim of Night/Smother/Dismember/Cast Down - These are your 2 cmc removal options. Typically played in addition to Fatal Push when you want to play a significant amount of removal.
Collective Brutality - This card is capable of much more than it reads. Sure, discarding your Sword of the Meek for value is great. But what about emptying your hand for that follow up Ensnaring Bridge while taking the opponents answer at the same time? It also acts as removal and discard that doesn't get hit by your Chalice of the Void. Sometimes the drain for 2 is enough to put your opponent into lethal range with a Tezzeret ultimate. An All-Star in most Tezzeret builds. Play 2-3.
Thoughtseize/Inquisition of Kozelik - Hand disruption can be powerful when followed by an Ensnaring Bridge or another powerful play like Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas. Stripping hate cards post board and clearing the path in game 1.
Damnation - Sometimes creatures just need to be dead. Many lists play very few to zero creatures to support Ensnaring Bridge, making Damnation 1 sided. It is a great catch up card but 4 mana is a lot. Damnation usually makes the 75 but it's quantity and position are determined by the meta.
Whir of Invention – IS the focal point of almost every build now. Although comparable to Chord of Calling there are some key differences. The improvise mechanic does not allow us to tap blue artifacts to pay for its cost. This is hardly an issue since the only blue artifact we have interest in playing is Thopter Foundry. Getting Whir of Invention to X=2 or higher can be daunting but thankfully efficient 0-1 cost artifacts makes it possible. Below is a list of tricks possible with a Whir of Invention
Opponent casts a spell with activated abilities - Whir for X=1 and put Pithing Needle into play naming the card they just cast effectively countering it. Works great against opposing Planeswalkers, Scavenging Ooze, Qasali Pridemage, Engineered Explosives, Oblivion Stone, Arcbound Ravager etc.
Opponent would like to short cut to combat - Once you have entered the Begin Combat Step but before entering Declare Attackers Whir for X=3 and put Ensnaring Bridge into play. Without instant speed interaction they are likely to be unable to attack this turn.
Opponent casts an artifact removal spell - Whir for either X=0 or X=2 to get Welding Jar or Spellskite to effectively counter the removal spell. Flashing in Spellskite also allows for redirection of a Cryptic Command bounce or Boggles auras.
Opponent attempts to interact with their graveyard - Whir for X=1 to get Nihil Spellbomb/Relic of Progentius/Grafdigger's Cage to stop what they are doing.
Valakut player points 18 damage at your face - Whir for X=2 to get Spellskite and redirect all triggers to Spellskite. Paying only 12 life and keeping you alive in many situations. You can also Whir for X=4 and get Witchbane Orb effectively countering all triggers.
Short 1 mana for Tezzeret or Infinite combo – End of turn you can Whir for X=0 to get Mox Opal or Darksteel Citadel to meet your mana requirements for next turn.
Opponent has 2 Verdant Catacombs in play and passes the turn - Whir for X=1. Chances are likely they just let it resolve. Once they do that you put Pithing Needle into play naming Verdant Catacombs. They don't get to respond to the Pithing Needle and you have set them back 2 lands.
Opponent casts any cascade card, cascade trigger - Whir for X=0 and put a Chalice of the Void into play countering whatever suspend card they wish to cascade into.
Opponent taps out for a cascade spell - Whir for X=2 and put Dampening Sphere into play. This makes the Cascade card cost 1 which they can't pay for if they tapped out. This can also work against combo decks like Ad Nausem which require multiple spells and sources of mana to go off in the same turn
Opponent casts Cryptic Command to bounce your Ensnaring Bridge - Whir for ANOTHER Ensnaring Bridge. :] or a Spellskite.
I am sure there are many more tricks but this is a short list of the most unique and profitable interactions Whir of Invention can create for you.
Thirst for Knowledge - This card was restricted in Vintage until 2015. Possibly the most efficient instant speed card advantage effect in the game. However this card has fallen out of favor in most decks because 3 mana and card advantage doesn't work well with an Ensnaring Bridge strategy.
Serum Vision - Serum Visions is the definition of what makes a card exceedingly medium. We play it for the same reason most other blue decks do. It finds the cards we need when we need them the most efficiently.
Ideas Unbound - Allows for extremely fast combo hands by digging 3 deep for the combo as early as turn 2 while looting away Sword of the Meek. It also ensures that you won't have a clogged hand while attempting to lock out combat with an Ensnaring Bridge.
Ancient Stirrings - Playing Ancient Stirrings requires a greater slant towards green in the main deck and less reliance on finding Thopter Foundry off the top of your deck. It also fails to find the decks most powerful plays in Whir of Invention and Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas. However if finding your toolbox artifacts seems more valuable to you than the power plays consider splashing for this card.
Ensnaring Bridge - This is our crutch. This is how we keep up in the fast paced world that is Modern. Many games revolve around a turn 3 Ensnaring Bridge. It defends our life total and our Planeswalkers. It allows us to play an unconventional game of magic by almost entirely locking out the combat step and gaining virtual card advantage by ignoring most creatures our opponents play. Playing the correct amount of Ensnaring Bridges can be tricky. Play 4 and risk having too many 3+ drops stuck in your hand when you cast the first one. Play too few and you don't find it when you need it. For this reason, lists play 2-3 and tutor/defend them with Whir of Invention.
Thopter Foundry/Sword of the Meek - Free wins are free. Sometimes we can just end the game by curving into the combo turns 2-3 and grinding our opponent out over the next few turns. Other times we can set up a lock and then win within a couple turns of assembling the combo. Whir of Invention allows you to find the combo consistently and at instant speed. Always run 4 copies of Thopter Foundry but you only need to see 1 Sword of the Meek over the course of the entire game since the combo can begin from the graveyard. Often times, once the combo is assembled your hand is irrelevant and you spend every turn gaining life and creating thopters.
The combo is weak to graveyard hate and Stony Silence. If you expect either try to have an alternate win condition in games 2-3 by trimming the number of combo pieces but never all of them.
Time Seive - Time Seive allows you to go nearly infinite with Thopter/Sword once you have 5 mana. Make 5 thopters, gain 5 life, take an extra turn. The only reason this isn't infinite is because you run out of cards in your deck. But if you play Academy Ruins you can sacrifice an extra artifact to Time Seive or Thopter Foundry that you can put on top of deck every turn with Academy Ruins being truly infinite. Thopter/Sword is typically enough to win the game on its own but there are niche situations where you may want to be playing this third piece.
Krark-Clan Ironworks - Similar to Time Sieve this also lets you go infinite. Sacrifice 1 thopter to get 2 mana, making 2 thopters, repeat. This allows you to make infinite thopters and gain infinite life immediately, but unlike Time Sieve you will not get the opportunity to attack before passing the turn. This is typically a better third combo piece for finishing the game but also has the highest liability of getting stuck in your hand.
Mox Opal - What can be said about this card that hasn't already been said? It is a Mox. We are not affinity throwing a hand full of artifacts on the table turn 1 so 4 copies is dangerous. However 1-2 are free and incredibly powerful. Play a minimum of 1. Typically you play at least 3 if you have Darksteel Citadels or Mishra's Baubles.
Pentad Prism - Pentad Prism Creates for some crazy powerful Whir of Invention improvise plays. The turn you play a Pentad Prism it is even +1 for Whir of Invention, the next turn it is +3. It also allows for T3 Tezzeret and accelerates your mana development long enough to empty your hand for Ensnaring Bridge. Pentad Prism also creates mana of any color making a sideboard splash easier and Engineered Explosives more powerful. However it comes with the terrible downside of doing actual nothing a large percentage of time. If you don’t plan to play the long game and can afford some air in your deck, this card will pay dividends for you, otherwise avoid it for other cheap artifacts.
Pithing Needle - A great catch all for cards that may be difficult to answer. Many lists play 1 in the main to bail them out of otherwise precarious situations. Playing a second copy in sideboard is often correct in metas where you expect to see cards you otherwise can’t beat. Such as Planeswalkers and Oblivion Stone.
Sorcerers Spyglass - See Pithing Needle ^. However this can get around your Chalice of the Void.
Relic of Progenitus/Nihil Spellbomb/Tormod's Crypt - Great ways to develop a quick artifact count and destroy enemy graveyards without sacrificing consistency. Play at least 1 in the main and play as many as 3 after sideboard if you expect graveyard strategies to be prevalent. Relic of Progenitus is typically better unless you need to play it and blow it up with exactly 1 mana. You can usually play around exiling your own Sword of the Meek easy enough.
Engineered Explosives - EE can be dangerous because it could destroy a fair number of our own permanents. However its raw power and flexibility can persuade some players to play it in their 75.
Ratchet Bomb - Similar to Engineered Explosives but it is less flexible and slower. However you can use Whir of Invention to fetch it unlike Engineered Explosives.
Trading Post - Costs 4 mana to do nothing in many matches, but the matches where it is good it can take over a game. In slower games you can cycle expired Pentad Prisms, additional Mox Opals, Sword of the Meek or redundant lock pieces for new cards. It is common to have Ensnaring Bridge in play and have Whir of Invention be the last card in your hand. When you have neither of the combo pieces you still need a way to generate value with your [card]Whir of Invention[card] and [card]Trading Post[card] is the best option under the cost of 4.
Executioner's Capsule - An artifact Doom Blade. It seems some play but black creatures are everywhere and are likely the ones you want to be killing.
Crucible of Worlds - Crucible of Worlds paired with Ghost Quarter is slow but can be an effective win condition against greedy or grindy opponents. Previously didn't see play due to inconsistency but Whir of Invention allows you to play only 1 Crucible of Worlds and find it in the games where you need it most.
Expedition Map - A solid artifact but increases in power based on the number of utility lands you play. Very synergistic with Crucible of Worlds builds.
Welding Jar - A great way to defend your artifacts from point removal. A zero mana way to enable improvise and defend our most vital artifacts is something we are happy to play.
Chalice of the Void - Playing 4 Chalice of the Void is a tempting offer in a format as fast and efficient as Modern but the deck needs other 1 mana cards for its game plan to function effectively. The best way to play Chalice of the Void is split it between the main deck and sideboard.
Mishra's Bauble - Checks all the boxes for being an effective card in a Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas deck. Enabling faster Whir of Inventions, and Mox Opals while cycling for a new card later in the game. Mishra's Bauble allows you to inflate your artifact count without having to pay sub optimal cards. It functions as an Opt when paired with fetch lands and allows you to get hell bent for Ensnaring Bridge faster.
Bottled Cloister - A value play at 4 cmc. However unlike Trading Post this card works very well behind an Ensnaring Bridge and against hand disruption.
Dampening Sphere - The latest hotness. Gives us game against our two most difficult matchups Storm and Tron. Plat at least 2 in the 75.
Most lists play as few creatures as possible to blank all the removal the opponents are likely to be playing. Creatures are usually a plan B sideboard or have a spell like effect attached to them. You can even sac the Sword of the Meek to Sai, play an artifact to get a thopter and bring back the sword. Every artifact you cast now reads: Kicker: 1U Draw a card if you want it to with a Sword of the Meek in play.
Sai, Master Thopterist – This card has the potential to be a very powerful play out of the sideboard. Allows the deck to go wide and create thopters very quickly even with a Stony Silence on the battlefield. You can even sac the Sword of the Meek to Sai, play an artifact to get a thopter and bring back the sword. Every artifact you cast now reads: Kicker: 1U Draw a card if you want it to with a Sword of the Meek in play.
Glint-Nest Crane - The 1/3 flying body can be surprisingly relevant against 2 power creatures, Affinity's flying army and Infect. However when it is not relevant it still digs 4 deep for artifacts. Glint-Nest Crane gets significantly better when playing Darksteel Citadels to help hit land drops. Spending 2 mana to find an artifact can be dangerous when trying to empty your hand for an Ensnaring Bridge however you can choose to find nothing.
Spellskite - Spellskite would be the easiest auto include in this deck if he wasn't a magnet for creature removal. Despite that many players play 1-2. Post board your opponent will take out a lot of spot removal and Spellskite gets much better.
Herald of Anguish - A good hand can play this monster on turn 3. Any Pentad Prism hand with 4 lands can play him on turn 4. Post board after an opponent has taken out some removal Herald of Anguish can destroy them by gutting their hand and picking off their creatures while smashing for 5 in the air.
Trinket Mage - Commonly seen in U-Tron lists as a value generating tutor. However since the introduction of Whir of Invention this card has been largely replaced.
Trophy Mage - Has interesting utility in versions that play multiple 3 cmc artifacts but it is ultimately worse than Whir of Invention most of the time.
Scrap Trawler - More commonly seen in KCI decks but could have use in a hybridized Tezzerator/KCI deck.
Darkslick Shores - Play 4 copies. Fastlands are very powerful and in our deck it provides all the colors we need painlessly on the turns we need the colors most. The only reason to not play 4x would be for 3+ color splashes.
Polluted Delta - Play 4 copies. Fetches are the best lands in the game for a reason. Wildly flexible and help us play around Blood Moon and trigger revolt.
Any blue fetch land - Sometimes you need more than 4 ways to fetch Island and Watery Grave.
Watery Grave - Play as many as expect to want to play against an opponent who is disrupting your mana base. For most Tezzeret builds that number is 3.
Island/Swamp - Play as few as possible without getting punished for it. Normally this is 2 Island and 1 Swamp. In Whir of Invention lists an argument can be made for the 3rd Island over the Swamp.
Creeping Tar Pit - 3 power unblockable on a land is very powerful for chipping at opponents or assassinating Planeswalkers. However running such few creatures leaves it very susceptible to being removed. Also can't get under an Ensnaring Bridge.
Academy Ruins - Extremely powerful at combating grindy decks and punishes decks that want to dismantle your deck 1 piece at a time. Gets better the slower the meta is and gets better when you play fewer graveyard hate pieces.
Inventor's Fair - The last land that could tutor cards in Modern got banned. Eye of Ugin. Clearly that is not why it got banned but that didn't help its case either. Gaining incremental life and turning a flooded mane base into an artifact of your choice is very powerful. Despite its legendary status some lists try to squeeze in 2 copies.
Darksteel Citadel - Before Whir of Invention was printed Tezzeret decks had the flexibility to play more colorless lands. Not playing 4 copies of Darksteel Citadel was objectively wrong. It allows Tezzeret to dig for lands and frees up non-artifact spell slots. Plus indestructible 5/5 lands can beat just about everything but a Path to Exile or a Dismember. However it has to compete for a limited number of spots now and you can't jam 4 without sacrificing power elsewhere.
Ghost Quarter - Ghost Quarter has a powerful interaction alongside Crucible of Worlds. Ghost Quarter can also be bounced off a Darksteel Citadel to turn it into a basic land. Ghost Quarter attempts to destroy the land and then search for a basic. The land doesn't get destroyed because of the indestructible clause but Ghost Quarter still completes the remainder of the text. Often one of our better tools for disrupting big mana decks but tends to be worse than the colorless lands it is competing with.
Field of Ruins - A side grade to Ghost Quarter. Useful when you need to maintain your lands but still interact with your opponent’s mana base. However it can't be bounced off your Darksteel Citadels because it needs to be an opponent’s land.
Glimmervoid/Spire of Industry - Playing upwards of 13 artifacts that can be cast on turn 1 makes these cards consistent enough to be played in decks that are splashing a 3rd color from the sideboard. Typically you don't want these cards as multiples in you opening hand but you would like to see 1 by turn 3.
Sunken Ruins - Helps cast sideboard Damnation while still fetching islands. The more BB cost cards you play the better this gets.
Negate - It protects you from most mass artifact destruction as well as countering cards you otherwise can't beat like Oblivion Stone, Karn Liberated, Scapeshift, Ad Nauseum etc. Also has applications against decks like Burn and Lantern. The points of life loss from Countersquall don't matter enough to warrant its use over negate.
Flaying Tendrils - The exile clause is more relevant against decks like Counters Company than the scry 1 from Drown in Sorrow. Being able to mop up tokens, affinity creatures, Kitchen Finks, Voice of Resurgence and even Geist of Saint Traft have earned this card 1-2 spots. This is the go to anti-affinity tech alongside Damnation since Hurkyl's Recall doesn't seem to pull its weight.
Damnation - Outstanding magic card, but it exists in our deck mostly to help out against midrange decks and Eldrazi. Damnation is excellent at catching up from behind when Ensnaring Bridge is unreliable. 1-2 copies in the 75
Collective Brutality - I like to refer to this card as blacks Cryptic Command. This card does everything at a reasonable cost. It is a significant liability when counter spell decks are in the meta, but otherwise you should be trying to squeeze this card into your list.
Grafdigger's Cage - When you want to beat Dredge/Counters Company/Reanimator/Storm and mean it. Unlike Relic of Progenitus and Nihil Spellbomb this is a permanent answer.
Ghost Quarter - Whether it be the 4th Ghost Quarter for your Crucible of Worlds lock or the 1st copy to beat up Affinty and stall Scapeshift playing 1 in the sideboard can be considered valuable.
Chalice of the Void - There are some games where playing a Chalice of the Void is just lights out for your opponent. That is when you bring it in. You could play only 1 or as many as 3. 2 seems to be the best sideboard configuration for finding it without diluting your own effective 1 drops.
Herald of Anguish - More details on this guy in the creatures section, but it can be unstoppable against grindy decks post board if they took out too much of their removal or the removal they have can't interact with him. 1-3 copies can be played if your sideboard strategy involves leaving in Pentad Prism.
Witchbane Orb - Hexproof is great when there is a lot of Scapeshift or Burn in your meta although it is a bit slow. 1 copy is often right in the sideboard because it can be a complete blow out.
Padeem, Consul of Innovation - Again, excellent for dismantling midrange decks or anything that wants to go long. It protects all of your artifacts while drawing you an additional card every turn.
Surgical Extraction - Surgical Extraction gets better as you play more hand disruption but is serviceable on its own with Ghost Quarter lock to further deny your opponent.
Spellskite - Mentioned in the creatures section. Whenever Spellskite doesn't make the main deck 1 or 2 copies are preferred in the sideboard to help fight through artifact point removal once they board out removal spells.
Echoing Truth - It is not great but it deals with pesky permanents for a turn. Works great to bounce a Stony Silence and combo out. Usually the turn and a half with the combo is enough to win. Also makes dead hand disruption live in the late game by bouncing a permanent and then stripping it from their hand.
Unmoored Ego – This card attacks most of the decks this archetype has problems with. It can attack Tron lands, fast linear combo, dredge and sideboard cards we fear such as Stony Silence. It is highly recommend you play some number of these out of the sideboard.
Sideboard Splashes:
Green
Abrupt Decay - General permanent destruction for hard to handle artifacts and enchantments. This has become a sideboard staple for the deck as a catch all answer to Stony Silence/Rest In Peace/Liliana of the Veil. Play at least 2.
Assassin’s Trophy – Allows us to catch more cards than Abrupt Decay such as Planeswalkers and Leylines. However the uncounterable clause and ramping your opponent are real downsides. If control is on the downswing, consider playing this card.
Red
Crumble to Dust - Tron and Valakut decks can be difficult to beat and this is a big step in the right direction if you expect a lot of either.
Ghirapur Aether Grid - Great for picking apart decks with lots of X/1's or shooting down Planeswalkers. It can also be alternate win condition against Stony Silence.
Blood Moon - Did someone say that want to reach maximum greediness? Play Blood Moon! Very difficult to get a 3 color mana base to function with Blood Moon in play but various mana rocks can alleviate that pressure.
Faithless Looting – Possibly the best enabler for a graveyard combo deck that plays Ensnaring Bridge but the optimal solution for its use in tezzerator is yet to be found.
White
Ethersworn Cantonist - Great hate against other Turbo Xerox decks like Grixis Death's Shadow and Storm.
Disenchant effects - Great for combating opposing Stony Silences or Rest In peace.
Deck Construction Rules and Guidelines
How many artifacts is too many? How many artifacts are too few? How often does Tezzeret miss on his +1? If he hits was it even worth it? What about Glint-Nest Crane?
This is the most difficult aspect of building this deck. Too many artifacts and you are playing cards that are likely worse than your average card since you are selecting cards from a smaller population. Too few artifacts and Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas doesn't function well and neither does Whir of Invention or Glint-Nest Crane. Even if you have enough artifacts, you want to make sure they have an impact on the game. Let's use the graph of Glint-Nest Cranes probability of hitting an artifact as our baseline:
Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas would have a similar graph for his +1 ability except with a sharper initial curve due to digging 1 card deeper. The hard part is picking a percentage number that you deem to be a fair amount of variance. In magic, I would say an 80% success rate is reasonable but feel free to choose any number you want and shoot for that number. Generally speaking 17 is the absolute lowest threshold and these variants can't afford to play Mox Opal. 22 is likely the best number to be playing including Mox Opal. Since Mox Opal is exceptionally powerful and integral to the mana base the best solution is 19-21 artifacts plus at least 2 Mox Opal. If you want to play 4 Mox Opal I would suggest 25 artifacts that can be put into play by the turn you want Mox Opal to be active. Be careful of too many 2-3 cmc cards because you can only cast one of each on curve.
As you add more artifacts to the deck your chances of successful Tezzeret hits begin increasing less and the artifacts you are playing get progressively worse. Therefore every artifact you add to the deck is worse than the previous one. Don't play too many!
Manabase Construction
Lands are a much more important part of building Tezzerator than most decks. Normally it is as easy as fetches/shocks/basics and 1-3 utility lands. Artifacts get the best utility lands in Modern as well as some of the best mana fixing. Therefore when constructing a mana base you need to account for a few variables other decks do not. For example:
With 90% confidence:
Casting Whir of Invention on 3 requires ~ 22 Sources that generate blue
Pentad Prism on 2 requires ~ 13 of once color and 13 of another and 20 total that generate colors
Liliana of the Veil on 3 requires ~ 19 black
Consistent 4 mana on 4 requires ~ 24 sources
Trying to accomplish all of this while playing a bunch of utility lands is unreasonable. This is why 3 color splashes playing Whir of Invention play very few to zero colorless lands now.
4 - Darkslick Shores
4 - Polluted Delta
1 - Blue fetch land
3 - Watery Grave
1 - Island
1 - Swamp
This combination meets all the requirements for casting our critical spells except for Whir of Invention. We could add more colored lands but we have artifacts that can generate colored mana as well:
2+ - Mox Opal
These cards get us to 16 sources which is still 6 sources short of casting Whir of Invention but we only have 14 lands in our deck. This means we need to add 8 sources in order to cast Tezzerets and all but two of them should generate blue mana. That leaves only two slots to be filled out with utility lands. Any additional utility lands played past this point should be considered "spell lands" as they are taking the spot of a spell in your deck now.
Core Cards
2 - Tezzeret Agent of Bolas Minimum (Main or Side)
4 - Whir of Invention Minimum
2 - Thopter Foundry Minimum
1 - Sword of the Meek Minimum
2 - Ensnaring Bridge Minimum
1 - Pithing Needle/Sorcerers Spyglass Minimum
2 - Mox Opal Minimum
4 - Mishra's Bauble Minimum
Decklists
Want your deck list here? So don't we! Message racing089 with your list and results and we will post it here if you placed well at a larger event.
4 Whir of Invention
Sorceries:
2 Ancient Stirrings
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
Planeswalkers:
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
Artifacts:
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Witchbane Orb
2 Pithing Needle
2 Welding Jar
3 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Mox Opal
3 Pentad Prism
3 Sword of the Meek
4 Mishra's Bauble
4 Thopter Foundry
1 Academy Ruins
1 Breeding Pool
1 Inventors' Fair
1 River of Tears
1 Swamp
2 Island
2 Watery Grave
3 Spire of Industry
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Polluted Delta
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Collective Brutality
1 Herald of Anguish
2 Lost Legacy
1 Pithing Needle
1 Padeem, Consul of Innovation
1 Quicksilver Fountain
1 Trinisphere
1 Time Sieve
2 Nihil Spellbomb
Shinohara Gen with many great Tezzeret finishes.
1 Breeding Pool
4 Darkslick Shores
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Flooded Strand
3 Ghost Quarter
1 Inventors' Fair
2 Island
4 Polluted Delta
2 River of Tears
1 Sunken Ruins
1 Swamp
2 Watery Grave
Spells
2 Fatal Push
2 Collective Brutality
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Whir of Invention
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Executioner's Capsule
2 Mox Opal
1 Nihil Spellbomb
4 Pentad Prism
1 Pithing Needle
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Sword of the Meek
2 Thopter Foundry
1 Trading Post
2 Welding Jar
Planeswalkers
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Collective Brutality
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Herald of Anguish
1 Pithing Needle
2 Surgical Extraction
3 Thoughtseize
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Academy Ruins
4 Darkslick Shores
3 Darksteel Citadel
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Inventors' Fair
3 Island
4 Polluted Delta
2 Swamp
3 Watery Grave
Spells
2 Collective Brutality
1 Damnation
2 Fatal Push
4 Whir of Invention
4 Glint-Nest Crane
2 Spellskite
Artifacts
2 Chalice of the Void
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Mox Opal
4 Pentad Prism
1 Pithing Needle
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Sword of the Meek
3 Thopter Foundry
1 Time Sieve
1 Welding Jar
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
1 Curse of Death's Hold
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Hurkyl's Recall
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Padeem, Consul of Innovation
1 Pithing Needle
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Wurmcoil Engine
Additional Resources
Previous Primer
Gerry Thompson Video Series Featuring UB Tezzeret 4-7-17
Jon Goss MTGO Competitive League
NumotGaming playing Tezzerator
Playing against Grixis Death's Shadow
Sultai Midrange
Anything Innovative
MTGO/MTGA: Tyclone
My Primers ~ GWx Vizier Company ~ Knightfall ~ RG Eldrazi ~ Green's Sun's Zenith
More Brews ~ Modern Four Horsemen ~ Gitrog Dredge
1) In addition to "why play this over affinity" I think the more prescient question is "why play this over lantern control?" You're an artifact based prison/control deck that usually needs to sit behind an ensnaring bridge to win. My answer to this has always been "because you want to cast Tezz AoB or make thopter tokens". I do not think there is a good competitive edge to this deck over lantern, but perhaps others are aware of what makes Tezz a superior choice in certain situations.
2) Why is Mox Opal important here? I have played the deck without it since day 1 - I am loathe to put money into that card as it is a perennial candidate for banning. But more to the point I have had issues getting metalcraft online for a turn 5 Inventor's Fair activation - nevermind a turn 2/3 opal use. Unless you're playing tonnes of jars/baubles and draw a citadel the odds this is online before turn 3 are extremely low - and once its turn 4+ what exactly do you need the mana for in this deck?
3) Pentad Prism vs Talismans - I was not impressed with prism myself but maybe time will vindicate the masses. I love that with talisman I can still IoK/Push t2, I love that it helps me cast whirs and lilianas when I open coloured+colourless lands, and I love that it insulates me against blood moons and mana denial. Pentad Prism is either fuelling a gamebreaking whir (bridge t3, crucible t3) or else its just a bad inconsistent talisman. DO you actually need t3 whir for 3? If that's your line for a bridge isn't your hand full anyways making it no different from casting spells t3 and then whirring for bridge t4?
4) Damnation. I thought consensus was more along the lines that this is a wasted slot in a bridge deck. It's expensive and clunky and non-bos with the lock that bridge sets. It's not like you can tutor the damnation so the odds you draw it in some situation where you don't have a bridge are actually lower than situations where you're sitting behind a bridge and draw this and cast it for negligible/no value.
* Esper Draw-Go
* Tezzeret Whir
* Blue Tron
1.) Although they are similar, Lantern control needs Ensnaring Bridge to win a game where this deck may not. This deck has more flexibility and options when it comes to locks and winning the game.
2.) I take it you have not played with it in the deck since you don't want to spend out the money to get them. You are worried the card might get banned because it is very powerful. It functions as fuel for improvise early on, makes mana of any color later, can be found off Tezzeret and can occasionally come online turn 2 for powerful plays.
3.)Talisman and Dimir Signet have their upsides but they are each plus 1 for Whir of Invention where Pentad Prism is +3. Most lists are built around Whir now.
4.)Ensnaring Bridge is not a clean answer all the time. Imagine playing against Bant Eldrazi and they have a huge board stuck behind your Ensnaring Bridge. They can EE the bridge and come crashing through for lethal. Some decks like Fish can bounce the bridge and swing lethal. It is better to have diversified answers.
Sultai Midrange
Anything Innovative
1) I've been playing Lantern for six months now. They have lots in common. I'll summarize my experience this way:
Lantern's engine is astonishingly (like, I mean it) consistent (itself) and reliable (in context). It sometimes struggles to close out games in a timely fashion. But it has very real, magic-transcending downsides: it is exhausting to play. You have to spend the full 50 minutes of each round making fast, game-making or game-breaking decisions every second move. Lastly, but such a real thing: you WILL get saltstorms from desperate or angry opponents.
Tezz's engine is a notch less reliable and consistent and kicks in a bit slower, but it wins in spectacular fashion fairly easily once you've made it this far. It turns the corner like not many decks. + People think you're awesome haha, which I can fully appreciate now, make new friends again, etc.
2) Opal. I thought exactly the same than you! "But if Opal is never online before T3, might as well run a Talisman" -- yes but no!! Opal costs 0 ; Talisman used your whole second turn's mana. And take note that we have a bajillion T2 plays to use that mana on anyways!
OLD SCHOOL 93/94 «The Pain Train» Black Sligh, Esper «Machine Gun» Artifacts, Jund «Psycho» Ponza-Disko.
re: talisman - it doesn't quite take your full t2. If you get off a push/IoK or cast a needle/relic/cage/spellbomb its effectively only cost you one mana. I have many times gone t1 discard t2 talisman push/discard t3 whir/tez which is ridiculously efficient. When people play prism do they just sit on it waiting to draw a whir? Or do you suck it up and use the mana for discard/tez if no whir presents itself? It seems like anytime you are not using it to whir its a bad talisman. The biggest upside would be more colours for explosives, but I'm not sold on explosives either as EE for 2 will wipe talismans/swords/foundries/cranes and EE for 3 wipes bridge/liliana. Yes we can sometimes play around it but sometimes you have to play your cards and then you draw an EE and go to nonbo town.
For reference my list atm is roughly:
2 Mishra's Bauble
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Welding Jar
4 Talisman of Dominance
3 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Crucible of Worlds
3 Thopter Foundry
2 Sword of the Meek
Walkers (5)
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2 Liliana of the Veil
Interaction (10)
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
3 Fatal Push
1 Echoing Truth
2 Glint-Nest Crane
3 Whir of Invention
Land (23)
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Polluted Delta
2 Watery Grave
3 Island
2 Swamp
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Sunken Ruins
3 Ghost Quarter
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Academy Ruins
1 Inventor's Fair
1 Pithing Needle
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Grafdiggers Cage
1 Spellskite
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Tormod's Crypt
2 Damnation
2 Collective Brutality
2 Thoughtseize
1 Batterskull
Sideboard is a mess, havent really tinkered with it lately.
* Esper Draw-Go
* Tezzeret Whir
* Blue Tron
What about time sieve? Have you guys tried it or it feels like a win more card?
This is the list im about to try very soon!
Tezzeret Control
Planes (3)
3 Tezzeret, agent of bolas
Creatures (5)
4 glint-nest crane
1 spellskite
Spells (10)
4 whir of invention
1 damnation
3 inquisition of kozilek
2 collective brutality
Artifact (19)
1 welding jar
1 mox opal
1 engineered explosive
1 nihil spellbomb
1 pithing needle
1 executioner capsule
1 ratchet bomb
4 pentad prism
1 time sieve
2 thopter foundry
2 sword of the meek
1 crucible of worlds
2 ensnaring bridge
Lands (23)
4 darkslick shore
3 watery grave
3 island
2 swamp
4 polluted delta
1 academy ruins
1 inventor's fair
4 darksteel Citadel
1 ghost quarter
Side
1 relic of progenitus
1 pithing needle
1 grafdigger cage
2 fatal push
2 thoughtseize
2 surgical extraction
3 ghost quarter
2 Herald of anguish
1 witchbane orb
@BadMcFadden: I totally feel you on the power of T1 action into T2 Talisman + more action, it's been my bread and butter for years and it's truer than ever now that we have Fatal Push. The correct solution might be to combine this interactive ramping style with the explosiveness of Pentad Prism. I'll start testing with a split and see. Also, regarding your «Use liberally prism mana or not?» question, which I think is super legit, I'd also like to hear experimented prism-ers or, errrr, whir-ers on that topic. The same is true regarding cracking that Bauble or not (keep it around in case of Bridge / Opal / Whir, or cash in a card?). These are like really tough decisions to make and often game-changing. There should be some guidelines or smtg. But these are new cards we've just adopted, so there aren't (yet). We should collectively adress this.
@Rhandall: Krark-Klan Ironworks is on my radar too! It goes infinite with Thopter-Sword, but seems less dead than Time Sieve is when you don't have the combo to complement it. However it's more expensive so it's more risky to run along Bridge. I haven't tested it, but agree that it deserves some consideration. Please report back!
@Terraxxion: But is a singleton Fountain enough to swing the Tron match-up around? I doubt it, even though you have access to 5 virtual copies with Whir, they're too slow to come online and disrupt their regular lines of play, no? However the sacc'ing bit is interesting; leave it hang around for 2-3 turns, then sac to foundry to have effectively GQ'd 3 of their Tron pieces =) ...As for Valakut I suspect card still leaves them with a huge window within which to cast their Scapeshift and just sac the Islands for the kill. Worth it? Tell us more about your testing experience and results please!
@Reedy: Last time Zac Elsik showed up here, he was all over running Hangarback Walker as a 3-4 of. It's all we got! You got ahead, test and report
TO ALL: I'll mention that I've figured out a pretty efficient way to test cards, and think we would collectively benefit greatly from testing in such a way: instead of just throwing a couple of copies in there and having some kind of vague results down the road, I've began to:
1. Put the card that's being tested aside;
2. Draw my initial hand, minus one card;
3. Bring the tested card as seventh card in hand.
This way you get results, fast! Keep it up
OLD SCHOOL 93/94 «The Pain Train» Black Sligh, Esper «Machine Gun» Artifacts, Jund «Psycho» Ponza-Disko.
On using Pentad Prism. Yes I use it very proactively. If you don't have a Whir of Invention in hand I use to accelerate out Tezzeret or to help empty my hand for Ensnaring Bridge. Pentad Prism still allows you to got T1 action, T2 Prism and 1 mana action. The only time Talisman is better is when you think you are going to use it 3 or more times over the course of the game for mana and by that point you should have hit your land drops or locked out the board. Multiple Pentad Prisms and no Whir of Invention can be awkward so it might be correct have a 3/1 split but Pentad Prism is surely the more powerful option.
@MeleeQc: List looks great!. As you mentioned the only card I am not a fan of is the Time Seive. It is win-more. There are very few games where you make 4+ Thopters a turn and don't win. It would be a fine 1 of if it did anything by itself but it already needs the combo assembled to be helpful.
@Terraxxion: It would appear that you and I have come to a lot of the same conclusions in testing. Is there anything more you have to say about Quicksilver Fountain? That is not a card I had considered testing but with Whir of Invention it may be able to act as our on demand Blood Moon. Although not as good as Blood Moon but unlike Blood Moon it is one sided because you have to turn non-islands into islands. Meaning that you can't force your own Watery Grave off black.
Also you mention sacrificing it to Thopter Foundry. I had to go back and re-read the card but you are right that is a very powerful interaction keeping them locked under those islands for the rest of the game. Admittedly I have an irrational hated for Tron and will likely be testing one myself now. If it is powerful enough it may be playable in the Crucible of Worlds slot freeing up space for more utility lands.
Sultai Midrange
Anything Innovative
Hello Again,
Haven't posted in a while, but wanted to show what I'm currently using as in most of the testing i haven't seen many trying to use vehicles, though I've been having pretty good luck with them so far, as they are already good on their own, but with tezz - they just always have their effects. im torn between heart of kiran since its so nice with tezz - and aethersphere harvester to get some inconsequential lifegain when I don't have thopter/sword on and lower crew cost.
I'm using crane instead of whir in this version since it relies less on the thopter/sword to win and can also crew the copters. The scrap trawlers are a little win more since they work very well with the combo to let me go infinite with 2 opals, or just be a fake necropotence with mishras bauble, and just value with welding jar. most of the time it just crews heart, or dies and gets me a thopter foundry back. the 1 of hope of ghirapur is in there to slow down noncreature decks, can perma silence with academy ruins and tezz, or with scrap trawler and sword combo till I can close the game out.
As for the sideboard most of it is pretty straight forward i think, the time sieve keeps getting swapped around between cranial plating, time sieve, and aethersphere harvester, and the extra bridge in the side is for if iI'm actually facing a creature and removal heavy deck and feel i need it, its usually brought in with the spellskites to help protect it, but the 2 and 2 welding jars in the main are usually enough.
Mostly looking for opinions and suggestions on it but ive been having a pretty good time with it, and have been doing fairly well at least at modern events at the lgs.
1 Hope of Ghirapur
4 Glint-Nest Crane
2 Scrap Trawler
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
4 Fatal Push
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
2 Mishra's Bauble
3 Mox Opal
2 Welding Jar
1 Executioner's Capsule
1 Heart of Kiran
3 Smuggler's Copter
2 Sword of the Meek
3 Thopter Foundry
2 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Darkslick Shores
2 Darksteel Citadel
2 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Inventors' Fair
1 Island
4 Polluted Delta
1 Sunken Ruins
1 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Watery Grave
Side Deck
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Pithing Needle
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Echoing Truth
2 Spellskite
1 Time Sieve
1 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Lost Legacy
I regularly burn Pentad counters the turn I cast it. You have to plan several turns ahead with this deck so just know what you need your mana for the most. The potential to explode for 3 mana on turn 3-5 is much more important than 1 additional mana every turn after 2. Hitting the combo or bridge/crucible/(and in my case Bottled Cloister) turns 3-5 is the priority of this deck. Also, as has been discussed ad nauseam, we dump our hand by turn 5 and top deck terribly so additional mana for the rest of the game is much less important than getting our lock a turn earlier. In conclusion, talisman is better if you're running a midrange deck, but Pentad is much better in the Whir toolbox/bridge deck.
I don't run hangarback or ballista, but ballista has tested as the better card most the time because pinging threatening creatures/PWs is usually more important than a redundant source of thopter tokens.
It basically comes down to "will I have 3 blue sources even if I spend the prism mana now?"
Also I posted a list in the previous primer using Cryptic Command and am still testing a few copies. I think the card can be pretty nutty in certain circumstances but still more testing to determine if it is really that great.
I think Herald of Anguish is amazing and 3 sideboard is what I am testing now. Might be 4 in the future as it has always put in hella work when it comes in. Dodging Path to exile and terminate is huge so I won't be mainboarding it but no other removal being played right now deals with it. The typical plan is game 2 combo out, anguish in; game 3 combo in anguish out. It lets you mind game a bit.
Best case scenario you play it turn 3 on the play, and it shuts off a tron piece. any other time it seems like it doesn't help as I don't think you can whir for it consistently on turn 3, and past turn 4 they will be able to either assemble tron or have an extra land they can let become an island first. Basically I think it might be too slow to really help the deck not get murdered by tron.
Modern - GB Elves, UW Ojutai Control
Legacy - BWG Junk Stoneblade
Gay and Proud
#MakeAmericaGreatAgain
You are 100% correct. That has been removed.
Sultai Midrange
Anything Innovative
Modern: UB Tezzeret.
If you're not running Whir, the benefit over Talisman is mostly lost.
Don't forget that it ramps you 3 towards Whir as well.
WUBRG Humans
BRW Mardu Pyromancer
UW UW "Control"
UR Blue Moon
After some testing of fountain, I want to say its maindeckable? It turns out its great in a lot more match-ups than tron, and helps a lot against Bant Eldrazi if you can get it to resolve.
It affecting basics is something I looked over originally but it is very relevant. It's slower than bloodmoon but it has taken my opponent off the colors to actually cast ancient grudge or shatterstorm and break out of the bridge lock multiple times.
@ParAsit_e
The mana base is strained as it is playing utility lands and hitting triple U. If you are playing the Whir version I think the only slight G splash you do is one shock for abrupt decay.