Would love to spitball ideas on a Tezzeret deck. Obviously a lot more of the set needs to be spoiled, but this is just ideas. I think Tezzeret is extremely strong and would love to utilize it.
Fatal Push: This card works great with Tezzeret as you can sac a token which turns on Revolt and gives you mana for Tezzeret. Disallow: The card that helps us battle Emrakul style decks, and just a good general counterspell Reverse Engineer: Seems busted if we can enough artifacts, but tends to lend itself to more of a tapout control deck. Trophy Mage: This only finds 3-drops which is disappointing, not sure what best target is for this, maybe Cultivator's Caravan. Pacification Array: Helps stop Gideon a little, stops Emrakul, and is a cheap artifact. Probably a 1-of Industrial Tower: Seems real good, between this and the tokens off Tezzeret, should be an easy splash of a third color Yahenni's Expertise: Decent wrath, but depends on metagame Baral's Expertise: Seems decent, but being sorcery and 5 mana might make it too slow. Whir of Invention: seems extremely strong, but what is actually worth getting off of it Baral, Chief of Compliance: seems more of a SB card as you don't want to turn on opponents removal in G1
Kill conditions are very relevant in this kind of deck and nothing jumps out better than Marionette Master.
Regarding the cards that you mentioned: Fatal Push: I couldn't agree more. Disallow: Most of the time this is going to end up being no better than Cancel and potentially worse than Void Shatter. So I'd likely relegate it to the sideboard or even swap it out for something along the lines of Summary Dismissal which can be great versus Emrakul, the Promised End or even Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger. Reverse Engineer: While a draw 3 for potentially UU is great, I feel that Painful Truths is still a better choice as it comes down earlier and makes use of the mana from Tezzeret. Trophy Mage: While something to consider when we have the full set in front of us, there really isn't much that this can fetch right now that feels relevant/impactful short of a mana rock or a Pilgrim's Eye. Pacification Array: This definitely seems like something useful as a one of in grindy control matchups. Industrial Tower: While nice for mana fixing I feel that there are other lands that can do the splash better as we can avoid paying life if necessary or if we are unfortunate enough to not have an artifact out. Yahenni's Expertise: I completely agree. Baral's Expertise: While a huge tempo swing I do agree that it's too strong even though living the dream of bouncing your own stuff, playing the 4 mana expertise and effectively cascading into a 3 drop would be cool. Whir of Invention: Short of a toolbox deck I don't really see this being relevant. Baral, Chief of Compliance: I see no reason not to run him main-deck if we have enough spells or counters to make him useful.
My own view on the legendaries is that we are looking at the next Fate Reforged, in that there might be one or two that are Thalia, Heretic Cathar good, but the rest are going to be on Alesha, who smiles at death level. I went with a control build that looks like nothing I think anyone would probably expect, but I like the feel of it so far. The only problem is that the sweepers we got are outrageous on the wallet right now and the only budget option is a blue bounce spell.
My current Tez control deck list. I'm still working it out, but so far it seems to be pretty solid.
I'd have to say, I never thought I'd see the day where the deck actually got me playing Puzzleknots and Prophetic Prisms, but they don't die easily to removal, work with Improvise brilliantly, and act as targets for the new enchantment. Once more, even if they do blow up an artifact with the enchant on it, you get to play it again for more card advantage. Also, Tezzeret pairs well with the new demon since his +1 suddenly turns into 'give target creature -2/-2 until end of turn'. As for a third color splash I'm thinking green might be good for throwing in some Nissa, Vital Force for recursion and another option to beat the opponents face in, though Red does give access to Kozilek's Return if we end up having a lot of token decks running around in the coming standard. The primary reason I'm not running Heart of Kiran, btw, is because with Fatal Push and Ceremonious rejection in the format I don't think it's a good move to play it. You could put some in place of the demon, but the demon gives some extra modularity the deck severely lacks otherwise and works well at getting the opponent hellbent.
Also, this is literally UBx since with 4 prophetic prism and 4 of the new land you have enough rainbow power to go whatever third color you want without touching the mana base.
Edit: probably going to swap in a few more sweepers in the sideboard. Battle at the bridge looks like a good option against aggressive decks as well, though grasp hits most targets for cheap.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
This one feels a bit more solid than the other listing I had but it definitely feels split in two directions. The mana needs work and it also needs a stronger piece of equipment than Bone Saw.
Some other brews I had in mind include using Marionette Master and token producers in a sack engine sort of manner. Contraband Kingpin gives free scry and is probably the best UB wall with upside that we have available. If we go for the long game than improvise doesn't need to get pushed so hard in the deck and it free's up slots.
For those interested, here's the ChannelFireball brewery with Tezz. I'd say the author had more time on his hands to play around with cards than I do to get it that far along, but I was thinking Sultai was the ultimate end point (or Esper if you go aggressive).
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
The trick to the new Tezzeret is that he can't win games on his own very quickly and can't truly defend himself like some other walkers without early artifacts. That and people are sideboarding in Lost Legacy in some cases and can just pluck the guy out, so usually I like to have a backup plan in case something like that happens by having three different ways to win. Tezz ult is one, demon is another, and we still need a third. We could do a late game torrential gearhulk to flash back a removal spell, then try to swing in. Another option is Marionette master, which we use Tezz's -3 on to inverse her power to 9/1 and sacrifice a bunch of stuff for lethal. I usually don't like tap down effects like Pacification Array except in limited, but it does offer a one mana artifact.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Okay, so looking at the deck list I've been working on it's definitely a good idea to go with 12 artifacts that are below the CMC of Tezz himself. I think the two good ones are Heart of Kiran and Inspiring Statuary. The later lets artifacts help cast some of the other powerful spells we can use, while the first gives a flying 4/4 flying defender that can aid tezz in a snap. If we run Heart of Kiran I'd probably drop in some Liliana, the last hope to up the PW count so it can be piloted.
With Tezz, I feel like either we want to go low, or we want to go high. His second ability is really good for closing a game and eliminating small fry, while his +1 ability lets him make disposable cells that can also be later animated by his ult. Technically, he can win the game all on his own just by making cells and animating them, so we may not even need a lot of artifacts? I'm not sure at the moment, but he does seem like he has some solid synergy.
My gods metalcrafter. To think we literally are using something like Pacification Array. Freaking draft chaff if it were any other situation. I did play with the idea of using Wild-field Scarecrow to pilot something like Aethersphere Harvester...
Wait, what about BUG artifact delirium? Without the flying spaggheti monster he might be a useful addition to that deck as a means to get Ulamog, the ceaseless hunger into play.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
This lets us get energy to nuke both early and late game to keep the field under control. It also addresses planeswalkers on the other side of the field that spells such as Grasp of Darkness and Fatal Push can't deal with.
I'm predicting that the meta is going to have a lot of aggro and a lot of planeswalkers as BR is still the best aggro colors right now in standard, and with recurring threats like Scrapheap Scrounger still lingering around simply destroying them may not be enough. Flaying Tendrils has been kind of sitting in the sidelines recently because of smugglers copter and it wasn't strong enough against decks that used creatures like Sylvan Advocate, but I'd probably put money down that it's worth sideboarding the first few weeks until the meta settles. Exiling all the low toughness threats basically sets them back to square one and forces them to have to use burn to finish the game.
Finally, there is the long and forgotten Warping Wail. It can stop Felidar Guardian even if it is resolved, can counter Declaration in Stone, Ruinous Path, and all the expertise cards, and is at worst a 1/1 scion that could potentially pilot a vehicle, act as a chump blocker, or add mana.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
After some work, I decided to take a shot at a more defense swap mid-range build that can take advantage of board sweeps found in black at the moment. It seems like there's going to be a lot of go wide strategies right now along with the Saheeli combo and marvel land trying to mess around with new creatures.
Decided to go with the nick name "Fort Tezzeret" because of the card choices in creatures. Instead of trying to swing in aggressively, we just use the most unassuming walls possible and use the multi-mode cards like Spatial Contortion as removal or creature buff to close the game. Honestly, my feelings after seeing the online meta post ban is that the only thing banning stuff did was make the meta revert back to pre-kaladesh with the two surviving decks being GR energy and Aetherworks Marvel, which is going to make the pro-tour a bit of a Eldrich moon redux. Now I'm just hoping Amonket will shake things up in standard or I'm going back to frontier again.
Control decks are going to be swarming around as well and I think that if we can land him, Herald of Anguish is particularly good in combination with Transgress the mind. Unfortunately control is probably the worst match up for this deck because it can't go under them fast enough, so swapping into Tezz control to fight control with control feels like the better option. Thankfully, this deck can actually manage to do it. I still feel like I may want some Ruinous Path in the sideboard. Maybe -1 Negate, -1 Flaying Tendrils and +2 Ruinous Path. It probably depends on how prolific Delirium is and if the third tendrils is necessary against decks that want their stuff in the yard or like to abuse Scrapheap Scrounger.
Also, Chief of the Foundry is in here because there literally is nothing else that works in the spot. The deck wants things that buff colorless / artifact sources and with the need to have at least 12 artifacts of some kind for Improvise it still is a better option than most. It is also a good target for spatial contortion and can later be turned into a 5/5 by Tezz, so it has that going for it. Other options I've considered that can pilot are Filigree Familiar and Harvest Hand. One gives card advantage if it dies, and the later comes back as an equipment that can be placed on a servo or other creature late game.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Guys you need to play more cheap, cmc 1-2 (0 mana would be ideal but those options have so little functionality on their own that I would avoid Bone Saw & co.), artifacts. They are your enablers for improvise and you generally want at least 1 (preferably 2) artifacts on the field before casting your first improvise card.
Cmc 0-2 mana rocks have always been great because they come down fast enough (=before) the stuff you are acclerating into. Improvise is the exact same thing.
Yeah, I actually gave in and went back to my original plan of employing improvise to the max. servo schematic and cogworker's puzzleknot are both really good in a Tezzeret build with improvise.
For reference, here is Dev's deck from his channel...
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
The list looks good, though Whir of Invention doesn't look like it's going to be super great here. It's really steep on blue mana and while you got some sources to run improvise, you're going to be using mostly your own lands to power the card. I think that card has a place in standard, just it isn't in UB Tezz as much as some kind of Mono-blue artifacts deck. Think about it: You could probably get a pilgrim's eye using it, but the game is likely going to have run really long to have enough mana to tutor for Noxious Gearhulk, and that one of Metalwork Colossus is basically impervious to that card. Plus if you ran 4x reverse engineer you'd likely draw into the heavy hitters anyway.
The thing is, the current UB control is just better at being control than Tezz can be as Tezzeret the schemer requires a serious deep dive into low cmc artifacts instead of the typical collection of removal / counter magic control enjoys. His ult, on the other hand, makes him really good against control because they don't have a lot of good ways to deal with an onslaught of 5/5 artifact creatures coming out of the woodworks and Liliana is a good way to handle more of the aggressive decks like BR and WR aggro / vehicles, thanks to so many creatures having only 1 to 2 toughness.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I've been browsing this thread and I like the creativity. I've been building a Tezzeret deck myself and my list is a bit different than the ones I've seen, I've been more "tap out" and proactive since a lot of my inspiration comes from Modern Tezzerator decks. Here's my list:
After trying some different ideas, I think the only mod I'd make to the original listing is maybe have two Noxious Gearhulk or SkySovereign, Consul Flagship in the sideboard for some matchups where the demon coming down early doesn't matter as much. Gearhulk can help turn the tides in a late game run by taking out their best creature and giving some life, while the sky ship can help knock down PWs and serves as a good animator target for Tezzeret's Touch.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
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Would love to spitball ideas on a Tezzeret deck. Obviously a lot more of the set needs to be spoiled, but this is just ideas. I think Tezzeret is extremely strong and would love to utilize it.
Fatal Push: This card works great with Tezzeret as you can sac a token which turns on Revolt and gives you mana for Tezzeret.
Disallow: The card that helps us battle Emrakul style decks, and just a good general counterspell
Reverse Engineer: Seems busted if we can enough artifacts, but tends to lend itself to more of a tapout control deck.
Trophy Mage: This only finds 3-drops which is disappointing, not sure what best target is for this, maybe Cultivator's Caravan.
Pacification Array: Helps stop Gideon a little, stops Emrakul, and is a cheap artifact. Probably a 1-of
Industrial Tower: Seems real good, between this and the tokens off Tezzeret, should be an easy splash of a third color
Yahenni's Expertise: Decent wrath, but depends on metagame
Baral's Expertise: Seems decent, but being sorcery and 5 mana might make it too slow.
Whir of Invention: seems extremely strong, but what is actually worth getting off of it
Baral, Chief of Compliance: seems more of a SB card as you don't want to turn on opponents removal in G1
Kill conditions are very relevant in this kind of deck and nothing jumps out better than Marionette Master.
Regarding the cards that you mentioned:
Fatal Push: I couldn't agree more.
Disallow: Most of the time this is going to end up being no better than Cancel and potentially worse than Void Shatter. So I'd likely relegate it to the sideboard or even swap it out for something along the lines of Summary Dismissal which can be great versus Emrakul, the Promised End or even Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger.
Reverse Engineer: While a draw 3 for potentially UU is great, I feel that Painful Truths is still a better choice as it comes down earlier and makes use of the mana from Tezzeret.
Trophy Mage: While something to consider when we have the full set in front of us, there really isn't much that this can fetch right now that feels relevant/impactful short of a mana rock or a Pilgrim's Eye.
Pacification Array: This definitely seems like something useful as a one of in grindy control matchups.
Industrial Tower: While nice for mana fixing I feel that there are other lands that can do the splash better as we can avoid paying life if necessary or if we are unfortunate enough to not have an artifact out.
Yahenni's Expertise: I completely agree.
Baral's Expertise: While a huge tempo swing I do agree that it's too strong even though living the dream of bouncing your own stuff, playing the 4 mana expertise and effectively cascading into a 3 drop would be cool.
Whir of Invention: Short of a toolbox deck I don't really see this being relevant.
Baral, Chief of Compliance: I see no reason not to run him main-deck if we have enough spells or counters to make him useful.
My current Tez control deck list. I'm still working it out, but so far it seems to be pretty solid.
4 Choked Estuary
7 Island
4 Spire of Industry
4 Sunken Hollow
7 Swamp
//Spells
4 Disallow
4 Fatal Push
3 Grasp of Darkness
3 Metallic Rebuke
4 Metalspinner's Puzzleknot
4 Prophetic Prism
4 Tezzeret the Schemer
4 Tezzeret's Touch
4 Herald of Anguish
2 Dispel
2 Kozilek's Return
3 Negate
3 Ruinous Path
3 Transgress the Mind
2 Heroic Intervention
I'd have to say, I never thought I'd see the day where the deck actually got me playing Puzzleknots and Prophetic Prisms, but they don't die easily to removal, work with Improvise brilliantly, and act as targets for the new enchantment. Once more, even if they do blow up an artifact with the enchant on it, you get to play it again for more card advantage. Also, Tezzeret pairs well with the new demon since his +1 suddenly turns into 'give target creature -2/-2 until end of turn'. As for a third color splash I'm thinking green might be good for throwing in some Nissa, Vital Force for recursion and another option to beat the opponents face in, though Red does give access to Kozilek's Return if we end up having a lot of token decks running around in the coming standard. The primary reason I'm not running Heart of Kiran, btw, is because with Fatal Push and Ceremonious rejection in the format I don't think it's a good move to play it. You could put some in place of the demon, but the demon gives some extra modularity the deck severely lacks otherwise and works well at getting the opponent hellbent.
Also, this is literally UBx since with 4 prophetic prism and 4 of the new land you have enough rainbow power to go whatever third color you want without touching the mana base.
Edit: probably going to swap in a few more sweepers in the sideboard. Battle at the bridge looks like a good option against aggressive decks as well, though grasp hits most targets for cheap.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
4 Choked Estuary
2 Concealed Courtyard
4 Island
2 Plains
4 Spire of Industry
4 Sunken Hollow
6 Swamp
4 Bone Saw
3 Captain's Claws
4 Fatal Push
3 Metallic Rebuke
4 Tezzeret the Schemer
4 Tezzeret's Touch
4 Herald of Anguish
4 Ornithopter
4 Sram, Senior Edificer
This one feels a bit more solid than the other listing I had but it definitely feels split in two directions. The mana needs work and it also needs a stronger piece of equipment than Bone Saw.
Some other brews I had in mind include using Marionette Master and token producers in a sack engine sort of manner. Contraband Kingpin gives free scry and is probably the best UB wall with upside that we have available. If we go for the long game than improvise doesn't need to get pushed so hard in the deck and it free's up slots.
4 Choked Estuary
7 Island
4 Spire of Industry
4 Sunken Hollow
7 Swamp
//Spells
4 Disallow
4 Fatal Push
3 Grasp of Darkness
3 Metallic Rebuke
2 Metalspinner's Puzzleknot
4 Prophetic Prism
4 Tezzeret the Schemer
4 Contraband Kingpin
4 Herald of Anguish
2 Marionette Master
2 Dispel
2 Kozilek's Return
3 Negate
3 Ruinous Path
3 Transgress the Mind
2 Heroic Intervention
For those interested, here's the ChannelFireball brewery with Tezz. I'd say the author had more time on his hands to play around with cards than I do to get it that far along, but I was thinking Sultai was the ultimate end point (or Esper if you go aggressive).
http://www.channelfireball.com/articles/brewing-with-tezzeret-the-schemer/
Hopefully that helps out a bit.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
With Tezz, I feel like either we want to go low, or we want to go high. His second ability is really good for closing a game and eliminating small fry, while his +1 ability lets him make disposable cells that can also be later animated by his ult. Technically, he can win the game all on his own just by making cells and animating them, so we may not even need a lot of artifacts? I'm not sure at the moment, but he does seem like he has some solid synergy.
My gods metalcrafter. To think we literally are using something like Pacification Array. Freaking draft chaff if it were any other situation. I did play with the idea of using Wild-field Scarecrow to pilot something like Aethersphere Harvester...
Wait, what about BUG artifact delirium? Without the flying spaggheti monster he might be a useful addition to that deck as a means to get Ulamog, the ceaseless hunger into play.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
4 Dynavolt Tower
4 Era of Innovation
4 Glassblower's Puzzleknot
4 Thraben Inspector
This lets us get energy to nuke both early and late game to keep the field under control. It also addresses planeswalkers on the other side of the field that spells such as Grasp of Darkness and Fatal Push can't deal with.
I'm predicting that the meta is going to have a lot of aggro and a lot of planeswalkers as BR is still the best aggro colors right now in standard, and with recurring threats like Scrapheap Scrounger still lingering around simply destroying them may not be enough. Flaying Tendrils has been kind of sitting in the sidelines recently because of smugglers copter and it wasn't strong enough against decks that used creatures like Sylvan Advocate, but I'd probably put money down that it's worth sideboarding the first few weeks until the meta settles. Exiling all the low toughness threats basically sets them back to square one and forces them to have to use burn to finish the game.
Other cards to consider:
If Tokens comes back, Liliana, The Last Hope can keep Nissa, Voice of Zendikar in check with her plants and kill things like Toolcraft Exemplar as well as fish out a dead Thraben Inspector. Grasp of Darkness and Fatal Push are going to be the go to removal, especially now that Heart of Kiran is flying the skies, and if we are running white maybe Stasis Snare is a good answer as well if there is room for it to stop a hastily resolved Gideon, Ally of Zendikar.
For counters, Disallow is probably the best tool we have against Aetherworks Marvel next to Ceremonious Rejection. Metallic Rebuke is basically Mana Leak in this deck so it's an auto include as well, and if we want bodies on the field Spell Queller is an option as well, though that depends a LOT on the build.
Finally, there is the long and forgotten Warping Wail. It can stop Felidar Guardian even if it is resolved, can counter Declaration in Stone, Ruinous Path, and all the expertise cards, and is at worst a 1/1 scion that could potentially pilot a vehicle, act as a chump blocker, or add mana.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Throw in mechnized production for good measure
B/W
2 Aether Hub
4 Choked Estuary
4 Island
1 Mirrorpool
4 Spire of Industry
4 Sunken Hollow
5 Swamp
//Spells
4 Aethersphere Harvester
3 Liliana, the Last Hope
3 Metallic Rebuke
2 Reverse Engineer
4 Servo Schematic
3 Spatial Contortion
4 Tezzeret the Schemer
2 Yahenni's Expertise
4 Chief of the Foundry
3 Herald of Anguish
4 Tide Drifter
2 Disallow
2 Dispel
2 Fatal Push
3 Flaying Tendrils
3 Negate
3 Transgress the Mind
Decided to go with the nick name "Fort Tezzeret" because of the card choices in creatures. Instead of trying to swing in aggressively, we just use the most unassuming walls possible and use the multi-mode cards like Spatial Contortion as removal or creature buff to close the game. Honestly, my feelings after seeing the online meta post ban is that the only thing banning stuff did was make the meta revert back to pre-kaladesh with the two surviving decks being GR energy and Aetherworks Marvel, which is going to make the pro-tour a bit of a Eldrich moon redux. Now I'm just hoping Amonket will shake things up in standard or I'm going back to frontier again.
Control decks are going to be swarming around as well and I think that if we can land him, Herald of Anguish is particularly good in combination with Transgress the mind. Unfortunately control is probably the worst match up for this deck because it can't go under them fast enough, so swapping into Tezz control to fight control with control feels like the better option. Thankfully, this deck can actually manage to do it. I still feel like I may want some Ruinous Path in the sideboard. Maybe -1 Negate, -1 Flaying Tendrils and +2 Ruinous Path. It probably depends on how prolific Delirium is and if the third tendrils is necessary against decks that want their stuff in the yard or like to abuse Scrapheap Scrounger.
Also, Chief of the Foundry is in here because there literally is nothing else that works in the spot. The deck wants things that buff colorless / artifact sources and with the need to have at least 12 artifacts of some kind for Improvise it still is a better option than most. It is also a good target for spatial contortion and can later be turned into a 5/5 by Tezz, so it has that going for it. Other options I've considered that can pilot are Filigree Familiar and Harvest Hand. One gives card advantage if it dies, and the later comes back as an equipment that can be placed on a servo or other creature late game.
Another approach I've been thinking about is replacing Herald of Anguish with Noxious Gearhulk and using Eldrazi Displacer, but haven't really figured out where to take that one.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Yeah, I actually gave in and went back to my original plan of employing improvise to the max. servo schematic and cogworker's puzzleknot are both really good in a Tezzeret build with improvise.
For reference, here is Dev's deck from his channel...
4 Bone Saw
2 Cathar's Shield
2 Pacification Array
4 Servo Schematic
4 Cogworker's Puzzleknot
4 Tezzeret's Touch
4 Herald of Anguish
4 Metallic Rebuke
4 Reverse Engineer
2 Tezzeret the Schemer
4 Spire of Industry
4 Sunken Hollow
4 Choked Estuary
5 Island
5 Swamp
2 Fatal Push
4 Grasp of Darkness
3 Deadlock Trap
2 Disallow
3 Yahenni's Expertise
1 Swamp
I went full Pacification Array as it performs way better than expected in the deck, and I'm not super big on Deadlock Trap.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Tezzeret the Schemer with cantrip rocks like Metalspinner's Puzzleknot and Prophetic Prism
Metalspinner's Puzzleknot / Prophetic Prism with Improvise cards like Battle at the Bridge, Inspiring Statuary, Metallic Rebuke, Reverse Engineer, & Whir of Invention
Metalspinner's Puzzleknot / Prophetic Prism with Tezzeret's Touch for value
Tezzeret's Touch with Pilgrim's Eye, Noxious Gearhulk, & Torrential Gearhulk for protection, aggression, & recursion
Artifact Creatures with ETB effects with Liliana, the Last Hope
Metalspinner's Puzzleknot / Prophetic Prism with Mechanized Production for your own game winning, Improvise improving Phyrexian Arena
Whir of Invention and cantrip artifacts with Metalwork Colossus for a late game bomb that never goes away
All of these parts could make up any amount of the whole.
3 Pilgrim's Eye
2 Noxious Gearhulk
2 Torrential Gearhulk
1 Metalwork Colossus
// Walkers (6)
3 Liliana, the Last Hope
3 Tezzeret the Schemer
// Spells (23)
2 Mechanized Production
1 Tezzeret's Touch
2 Reverse Engineer
2 Battle at the Bridge
1 Inspiring Statuary
2 Whir of Invention
3 Metalspinner's Puzzleknot
3 Prophetic Prism
3 Metallic Rebuke
4 Fatal Push
4 Choked Estuary
6 Island
4 Spire of Industry
4 Sunken Hollow
6 Swamp
The list looks good, though Whir of Invention doesn't look like it's going to be super great here. It's really steep on blue mana and while you got some sources to run improvise, you're going to be using mostly your own lands to power the card. I think that card has a place in standard, just it isn't in UB Tezz as much as some kind of Mono-blue artifacts deck. Think about it: You could probably get a pilgrim's eye using it, but the game is likely going to have run really long to have enough mana to tutor for Noxious Gearhulk, and that one of Metalwork Colossus is basically impervious to that card. Plus if you ran 4x reverse engineer you'd likely draw into the heavy hitters anyway.
The thing is, the current UB control is just better at being control than Tezz can be as Tezzeret the schemer requires a serious deep dive into low cmc artifacts instead of the typical collection of removal / counter magic control enjoys. His ult, on the other hand, makes him really good against control because they don't have a lot of good ways to deal with an onslaught of 5/5 artifact creatures coming out of the woodworks and Liliana is a good way to handle more of the aggressive decks like BR and WR aggro / vehicles, thanks to so many creatures having only 1 to 2 toughness.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
1 Blighted Fen
4 Choked Estuary
2 Inventors' Fair
5 Island
1 Sequestered Stash
2 Aether Hub
1 Submerged Boneyard
4 Sunken Hollow
5 Swamp
3 Glint-Nest Crane
2 Noxious Gearhulk
2 Torrential Gearhulk
2 Trophy Mage
Spells (26)
3 Anticipate
3 Cultivator's Caravan
2 Deadlock Trap
2 Dynavolt Tower
2 Fatal Push
3 Glimmer of genius
3 Grasp of Darkness
1 Murder
4 Tezzeret the Schemer
1 Whir of Invention
2 Yehenni's Expertise
Not 100% with all the card choices and numbers but this is the kind of direction I went.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!