Thopter Sword's biggest pitfall is that it's more of an engine than a true combo; plenty of Modern decks will easily kill you with the two assembled. How this decklist is different is that it can utilize Sword of the Meek in a variety of other combos to go infinite and actually end the game.
Sly Requisitioner + Grinding Station + Sword of the Meek generates infinite 1/1s and mills the opponent out
Scrap Trawler + Grinding Station + Sword of the Meek + Memnite mills the opponent out
Scrap Trawler + Sword of the Meek + Memnite + KCI generates infinite colorless mana
Sly Requisitioner + Sword of the Meek + KCI generates infinite colorless mana and infinite 1/1s
Scrap Trawler + Sword of the Meek + Memnite + KCI + Spellbomb/Chromatic Sphere generates infinite mana and draws your deck, killing with Grinding Station
Thopter Foundry + Sword of the Meek + Scrap Trawler + Mox Opal + Grinding Station generates infinite Thopters, infinite life, and mills the opponent out
Thopter Foundry + Sword of the Meek + Scrap Trawler + Mox Opal + Mox Opal generates infinite Thopters and life
Thopter Foundry + Sword of the Meek + KCI generates infinite Thopters and life
While the number of pieces for some of these combos looks ambitious, the ability to point Grinding Station at yourself means you can easily combo out with just Sly Requisitioner/Scrap Trawler plus a Grinding Station and some artifacts you don't mind saccing... plus a bit of luck.
The deck has gained a bit of notoriety with an article from Gerry highlighting the decklist, as well as Zak Elsik picking it up for a Classic at SCG Dallas. While I can see this written off as a "worse than KCI" deck eventually, it definitely is unique and worth exploring more.
It is slick to say the least. I would like to see a little more KCI tech in here. (I like that hes finally adding in actual KCI) Like Ancient Strings to be able to dig deep. The games it loses it appears it's done on the back of not drawing the right pieces. But yea it is pretty busted. It's best draws look like they can keep up with all the fastest opens.
It is slick to say the least. I would like to see a little more KCI tech in here. (I like that hes finally adding in actual KCI) Like Ancient Strings to be able to dig deep. The games it loses it appears it's done on the back of not drawing the right pieces. But yea it is pretty busted. It's best draws look like they can keep up with all the fastest opens.
I do think Stirrings would be a big add to this decklist. Biggest issue that comes from that is how to support T1 Green and triple Blue, but Lantern manages it. It definitely would help smooth out the mana as well, hitting the second or third land drop can be a struggle at times on 18 land.
I had also considered Thoughtcast in the original build with a leaner curve.
Scrap Trawler + Grinding Station + Sword of the Meek + Memnite mills the opponent out
How do you do this? I'm trying to goldfish it and it seems you need 2 Stations:
BF: Trawler, 2 tapped Stations
GY: Sword
Hand: Memnite
1) Cast Memnite, return Sword attached to it, untap both Stations
2) Sac Memnite to Station
3) Sac Sword to Station, return Memnite to hand with Trawler
I don't think the mana can support Stirrings. The deck is mainly UB and your only green source is Spire, which you need to pair with a 0 mana artifact to Stir on turn 1. You can't grab Thopter Foundry with Stirrings either, infuriatingly enough. Serum Visions seems like a better cantrip, though it's questionable if SV or some other 1-drop artifact is better since the latter can improvise for Req/Whir.
You do need to cast a non Station piece that turn, or get an extra Station trigger. I could have missed something, correct me if I'm wrong.
Cast Memnite, trigger Station, sac Memnite to Station, untap Station, sac Sword to Station, return Memnite to hand with Trawler. Cast Memnite, which pulls Sword to play, then loop.
Alright, I figured it out. You need to do it with the Sword trigger on the stack.
BF: Req, Station, Sword
Infinite mill, Servos
1) Sac Sword to Station, create Servo with Req, return Sword attached to Servo, untap Station
BF: Req, KCI, Sword
Infinite Servos, mana
1) Sac Sword to KCI, create Servo with Req, return Sword attached to Servo
BF: Trawler, tapped Station
GY: Sword
Hand: Memnite
Infinite mill
1) Cast Memnite, put Sword trigger on the stack first, then Station trigger. Allow Station trigger to resolve.
2) With Sword trigger on the stack, sac Memnite to Station.
3) Allow Sword trigger to resolve. Sword comes back (but is not attached to anything), untap Station.
4) Sac Sword to Station, return Memnite to hand with Trawler.
BF: Trawler, KCI
GY: Sword
Hand: Memnite
Infinite mana
1) Cast Memnite, return Sword attached to it
2) Sac Memnite to KCI
3) Sac Sword to KCI, return Memnite to hand with Trawler
With a Star/Spellbomb in hand you also have infinite draw (and color filtering for Star):
1) Cast Memnite, return Sword attached to it
2) Sac Memnite to KCI
2.5) Cast Star, sac Star to itself. Return Memnite to hand with Trawler and draw for Star.
3) Sac Sword to KCI, return Star to hand with Trawler
BF: Foundry, KCI, Sword, 1 mana floating
Infinite Thopters, life, mana
1) Sac Sword to Foundry, create Thopter and gain life, return Sword attached to Thopter
2) Sac Thopter to KCI
BF: Foundry, Trawler, Station, Sword
Hand: Mox
Infinite Thopters, life, mill
1) Cast Mox, float 1 mana
2) Sac Mox to Station
3) Sac Sword to Foundry, return Mox to hand with Trawler, create Thopter and gain life, untap Station, return Sword attached to Thopter
BF: Foundry, Trawler, Sword, tapped Mox
Hand: Mox
Infinite Thopters, life
1) Cast Mox, bin the tapped Mox, float 1 mana
2) Sac Sword to Foundry, return Mox to hand with Trawler, create Thopter and gain life, return Sword attached to Thopter
Sword + Req + Station/KCI is infinite
Sword + Trawler + Memnite + Station/KCI is infinite
Sword + Foundry + KCI is infinite
Sword + Foundry + Trawler + Mox + Station/second Mox is infinite
Sword appears in every infinite.
Sword + Req + sac outlet is easy enough to memorize and execute.
Sword + Trawler + Memnite has 1-2-3 on the cards (1/1 Memnite, 2 CMC Sword, 3 CMC/power Trawler). Then you need a sac outlet in addition to those three to go infinite. Execution wise, sac from low CMC to high CMC so Trawler can do its job.
Sword + Foundry can't go infinite without a mana engine, so you need KCI or a Mox. Mox needs Station/second Mox (to bin it after it's produced mana) and Trawler (to get Mox back to hand) in addition.
Non-infinite combos:
Sword + Foundry lets you create a Thopter and gain 1 life for 1 mana
Req + Foundry lets you create a Thopter, Servo and gain 1 life for 1 mana and a nontoken artifact
Req + Station + fodder lets you dig deep for Sword to go infinite
Trawler gives you extra mileage out of your sac outlets (including Foundry). Sac from low CMC to high CMC.
The most important combos to remember are Sword + Req + Station and Sword + Foundry (non-infinite). Sword + Req + KCI doesn't come up that often because there is only 1 KCI in the deck and Whirring for Station is cheaper than Whirring for KCI. The rest of the infinites require a lot of pieces. Half of them involve Sword + Foundry anyway, so even if you miss the infinite, you can still grind them out.
Alright, I figured it out. You need to do it with the Sword trigger on the stack.
BF: Req, Station, Sword
Infinite mill, Servos
1) Sac Sword to Station, create Servo with Req, return Sword attached to Servo, untap Station
BF: Req, KCI, Sword
Infinite Servos, mana
1) Sac Sword to KCI, create Servo with Req, return Sword attached to Servo
BF: Trawler, tapped Station
GY: Sword
Hand: Memnite
Infinite mill
1) Cast Memnite, put Sword trigger on the stack first, then Station trigger. Allow Station trigger to resolve.
2) With Sword trigger on the stack, sac Memnite to Station.
3) Allow Sword trigger to resolve. Sword comes back (but is not attached to anything), untap Station.
4) Sac Sword to Station, return Memnite to hand with Trawler.
BF: Trawler, KCI
GY: Sword
Hand: Memnite
Infinite mana
1) Cast Memnite, return Sword attached to it
2) Sac Memnite to KCI
3) Sac Sword to KCI, return Memnite to hand with Trawler
With a Star/Spellbomb in hand you also have infinite draw (and color filtering for Star):
1) Cast Memnite, return Sword attached to it
2) Sac Memnite to KCI
2.5) Cast Star, sac Star to itself. Return Memnite to hand with Trawler and draw for Star.
3) Sac Sword to KCI, return Star to hand with Trawler
BF: Foundry, KCI, Sword, 1 mana floating
Infinite Thopters, life, mana
1) Sac Sword to Foundry, create Thopter and gain life, return Sword attached to Thopter
2) Sac Thopter to KCI
BF: Foundry, Trawler, Station, Sword
Hand: Mox
Infinite Thopters, life, mill
1) Cast Mox, float 1 mana
2) Sac Mox to Station
3) Sac Sword to Foundry, return Mox to hand with Trawler, create Thopter and gain life, untap Station, return Sword attached to Thopter
BF: Foundry, Trawler, Sword, tapped Mox
Hand: Mox
Infinite Thopters, life
1) Cast Mox, bin the tapped Mox, float 1 mana
2) Sac Sword to Foundry, return Mox to hand with Trawler, create Thopter and gain life, return Sword attached to Thopter
Sword + Req + Station/KCI is infinite
Sword + Trawler + Memnite + Station/KCI is infinite
Sword + Foundry + KCI is infinite
Sword + Foundry + Trawler + Mox + Station/second Mox is infinite
Sword appears in every infinite.
Sword + Req + sac outlet is easy enough to memorize and execute.
Sword + Trawler + Memnite has 1-2-3 on the cards (1/1 Memnite, 2 CMC Sword, 3 CMC/power Trawler). Then you need a sac outlet in addition to those three to go infinite. Execution wise, sac from low CMC to high CMC so Trawler can do its job.
Sword + Foundry can't go infinite without a mana engine, so you need KCI or a Mox. Mox needs Station/second Mox (to bin it after it's produced mana) and Trawler (to get Mox back to hand) in addition.
Non-infinite combos:
Sword + Foundry lets you create a Thopter and gain 1 life for 1 mana
Req + Foundry lets you create a Thopter, Servo and gain 1 life for 1 mana and a nontoken artifact
Req + Station + fodder lets you dig deep for Sword to go infinite
Thank you, this is very helpful and goes into much more detail. I added a link to your post in the OP.
Scrap Trawler + Grinding Station + Sword of the Meek + Memnite mills the opponent out
How do you do this? I'm trying to goldfish it and it seems you need 2 Stations:
BF: Trawler, 2 tapped Stations
GY: Sword
Hand: Memnite
1) Cast Memnite, return Sword attached to it, untap both Stations
2) Sac Memnite to Station
3) Sac Sword to Station, return Memnite to hand with Trawler
I don't think the mana can support Stirrings. The deck is mainly UB and your only green source is Spire, which you need to pair with a 0 mana artifact to Stir on turn 1. You can't grab Thopter Foundry with Stirrings either, infuriatingly enough. Serum Visions seems like a better cantrip, though it's questionable if SV or some other 1-drop artifact is better since the latter can improvise for Req/Whir.
I understand what you are saying. I'm suggesting a revamp on the mana base to support strings while also supporting whir. Other decks have done it and are successful. The black card isn't hard since it requires minimal black.
Scrap Trawler + Grinding Station + Sword of the Meek + Memnite mills the opponent out
How do you do this? I'm trying to goldfish it and it seems you need 2 Stations:
BF: Trawler, 2 tapped Stations
GY: Sword
Hand: Memnite
1) Cast Memnite, return Sword attached to it, untap both Stations
2) Sac Memnite to Station
3) Sac Sword to Station, return Memnite to hand with Trawler
I don't think the mana can support Stirrings. The deck is mainly UB and your only green source is Spire, which you need to pair with a 0 mana artifact to Stir on turn 1. You can't grab Thopter Foundry with Stirrings either, infuriatingly enough. Serum Visions seems like a better cantrip, though it's questionable if SV or some other 1-drop artifact is better since the latter can improvise for Req/Whir.
I understand what you are saying. I'm suggesting a revamp on the mana base to support strings while also supporting whir. Other decks have done it and are successful. The black card isn't hard since it requires minimal black.
I tried out this manabase and found it to be functional. I mainly just copy and pasted what Lantern uses. It lets you swap Wear // Tear for Nature's Claim too.
4 Glimmervoid
4 Spire of Industry
4 Botanical Sanctum
3 Darkslick Shores
2 Darksteel Citadel
1 Island
Explaining the combos in a more general way. You still need to know exactly how to execute them (because your opponents WILL make you play it out), but understanding how the combos work beats memorizing 8 loops.
Sai combos too!
You need 3 components to combo off (infinite or otherwise) with this deck:
1) Sword of the Meek
2) A 1/1 generator
3) An artifact sacrifice outlet
You sac Sword to the sac outlet. Your 1/1 generator creates a 1/1. Sword comes back. Repeat. The kill comes from the secondary effect of the sac outlet (e.g. mill from Grinding Station), or the 1/1s generated.
What can you use as the 1/1 generator?
a) Sly Requisitioner. This is very easy to use: when Sword is sacrificed, it creates a 1/1 Servo, which brings Sword back.
b) Scrap Trawler + Memnite. This is a little more complicated: Trawler should be on the battlefield, Sword should be in your graveyard, and Memnite should be in your hand. Cast Memnite, put Sword trigger on the stack and hold priority. Sac Memnite. Allow Sword trigger to resolve, it'll come back attached to nothing (yes, this is how it works). Sac Sword, allow Trawler trigger to resolve, return Memnite to hand. You're back where you started.
The priority holding trickery is necessary if your sac outlet is Grinding Station, to eke an extra untap trigger out of it. If it isn't, feel free to allow the Sword trigger to resolve immediately.
Getting all the pieces in the right places can be tricky. For Sword, the sac outlet can be used to put it into the graveyard. For Memnite, you can simply hold it until you need to use it, but this is not always an option as you might need to play it early for Mox Opal or improvise spells. If that happens, you can sac it, play any artifact with CMC >0, sac that, and use Trawler to return Memnite to hand.
c) Sai, Master Thopterist + Scrap Trawler + 0-drop. Sai creates a token on cast, hence the need for a 0-drop to cast for free.
Note that Sly Requisitioner combos leave you with a net increase in the number of 1/1s on the battlefield, but Scrap Trawler + Memnite does not.
What can you use as the artifact sac outlet?
These cost 0 mana per activation, so they will go infinite:
a) Grinding Station. Always remember to untap it when an artifact ETBs.
b) Krark-Clan Ironworks
These cost 1 mana per activation, so they will not go infinite:
c) Thopter Foundry. Note that this is also a 1/1 generator, so it will combo with Sword all by itself, without Sly Requisitioner or Scrap Trawler + Memnite. Sly Requisitioner gives you an extra Servo per activation, though.
d) Claws of Gix. The secondary effect is minimal, but it's the cheapest sac outlet to Whir out. Claws of Gix + Sly Requisitioner functions identically to Thopter Foundry (1 mana + 1 artifact gives you 1 token + 1 life), just that the tokens don't fly.
Thopter Foundry infinites
Oops, I lied. Thopter Foundry can go infinite, but you have to build your own mana engine first. Sword + Foundry has all 3 elements of a combo (Sword, 1/1 generator, sac outlet), but the problem is that Foundry costs mana to activate. If there's a way to generate mana, it can go truly infinite:
a) KCI. Creating a Thopter costs 1 mana, saccing it to KCI generates 2. Use this to get infinite mana, then turn that into infinite Thopters.
b) Scrap Trawler + Mox Opal + free sac outlet (Grinding Station or another Mox Opal). The Trawler needs to be on the battlefield and the Mox in your hand. Cast the Mox, generate 1 mana, then sacrifice it to the free sac outlet. Use the generated mana to sacrifice Sword to Foundry. This triggers Trawler, allowing you to return Mox to hand.
Clearing up the rest of the Claws of Gix combos that weren't in the first post
As mentioned earlier, Claws of Gix + Sly Requisitioner functions identically to Thopter Foundry, so you can substitute Claws + Req in any combo involving Foundry. Just don't forget the Req triggers. However, some of them involve Grinding Station or KCI, which already go infinite with Sword + Req, so the only thing you gain from having Claws of Gix in the mix is infinite life.
- Sword + Claws + Req + KCI is infinite Servos, life and mana...but Sword + Req + KCI is already infinite.
- Sword + Claws + Req + Trawler + Station + Mox is infinite mill, Servos and life...but Sword + Req + Station is already infinite.
- Sword + Claws + Req + Trawler + 2 Mox is infinite Servos and life.
There's just one last non-infinite combo involving Claws: when your 1/1 generator is Trawler + Memnite. This is a really bad loop; you gain 1 life per 1 mana spent, but it's better than nothing, right?
BF: Trawler, Claws, 2 mana floating
GY: Sword
Hand: Memnite
1) Cast Memnite, return Sword attached to it
2) Sac Memnite to Claws
3) Sac Sword to Claws, return Memnite to hand with Trawler
Sai, Master Thopterist combos
BF: Sai, Trawler, free sac outlet
GY: Sword
Hand: 0-drop
Infinite Thopters
1) Cast 0, create Thopter with Sai. Put Sword trigger on the stack.
2) With Sword trigger on the stack, sac 0.
3) Allow Sword trigger to resolve. Sword comes back attached to Thopter.
4) Sac Sword to Station, return 0 to hand with Trawler.
If your sac outlet is Claws and your 0-drop is Mox Opal, it's like Req or build-your-own Foundry, but with double life gain:
BF: Sai, Trawler, Claws, 1 mana floating
GY: Sword
Hand: Mox
Spend 1 mana, gain 2 life and a Thopter
1) Cast Mox, create Thopter with Sai. Sword comes back attached to Thopter.
2) Tap Mox for 1 mana (2 floating).
3) Sac Mox to Claws (1 floating), gain 1 life.
4) Sac Sword to Claws (0 floating), return Mox to hand with Trawler, gain 1 life.
Sai himself is a sac outlet, if you'd like to draw cards:
BF: Sai, Trawler, 1U floating
GY: Sword
Hand: 0-drop
Spend 1U, draw a card, create a Thopter
1) Cast 0, create Thopter with Sai. Sword comes back attached to Thopter.
2) Sacrifice 0 and Sword, draw a card. Return 0 to hand with Trawler.
If the 0-drop is a Mox, the cost is reduced to just 1 mana.
Having played the deck a bit more, here's some of my thoughts on the most recent decklist:
- KCI feels very win-more to me. As a 1-of you'll only hit it consistently with Whir, but this costs a lot of mana, and a lot of the time Whirring for Station lets you combo off for less. I'd put the last Whir and/or Claws of Gix back in its place.
- Claws should probably go back in. It's the cheapest sac outlet to Whir for, and adds to improvise spells if you draw it naturally.
- The Spellbombs are flex slots. I'm using Serum Visions in their place. 1-drop artifacts (like Springleaf Drum before) let you build a ladder with Trawler and a sac outlet (cast 0+1+2, sac 0>1>2, cast 0+1, sac 0>1, cast 0, sac 0), but I just can't play a combo deck without cantrips. I've seen far too many combo decks to fall for the four most expensive words in the English language. In this deck they have the secondary function (other than fixing your draws) of pushing non-Sword cards out of the way when you're trying to mill into Sword with Station.
- Whir is very color-intensive and Darksteel Citadel doesn't pay for that part. It might be right to cut them entirely, as Lantern does. At least, I don't think 3 is the correct number. Also, don't play Whir/Req wrongly: it's like convoke, but you can't reduce the colored part.
- There are a few SB staples that seem to fit too well with the maindeck to not play: Nihil Spellbomb (is an artifact) and Collective Brutality (discard Sword while disrupting) for example.
- 0s contribute to your fastest draws, more so than Darksteel Citadel. Consider the T4 Sword + Req + Station kill sequence:
T1 land
T2 land, Station
T3 land, 0, Whir for Sword
T4 tap everything except Station for Req, win
(This is by no means the only sequence that gets the T4 kill: for example, you could cast Sword on T3 if you already have it in hand, or cast Sword on T2 and Whir for Station on T3, or cast Req on T3 then Whir on T4. However, what follows is applicable to the alternative sequences as well.)
The 0 does two very important things:
1) it lets you improvise a 5-mana spell on T3
2) it lets you improvise another 5-mana spell on T4 with Station untapped, so you can kill immediately instead of tapping Station to improvise and waiting one turn for it to untap.
If you have two 0s and drawn all 3 pieces naturally, you can win without a 3rd land as the second 0 will pay for Req on T4:
T1 land
T2 land, Sword
T3 Station
T4 0, 0, tap everything except Station for Req, win
This is why I'm for putting Claws back in the maindeck, it's another 0 and can contribute to these kills even if you never activate its ability. Go ahead and take it out postboard when the game slows down and you have more time to combo.
You could replace the 0 on T3 with a 1 on T1 instead. But I'm casting Serum Visions on T1 instead, which helps in another way, by making it more likely to grab all 3 pieces of this combo, or to not miss the 3rd land drop.
Incidentally, if you wanted a reason to not play Darksteel Citadel, this is it: you can't Whir on T3 unless your 0 is a Mox.
- What to Whir for. If you're just one piece away from a combo, Whir for that piece, obviously. For example, if you have Foundry or Sword, Whir for the other piece. Otherwise Whir for Station, it's 1/3 of the components you need for comboing and can help mill into Sword. Finally, you can Whir for Welding Jar to blank one removal spell.
It is pretty similar though there are only so many ways of building a Whir deck.
Tezzerator doesn't play Scrap Trawler or Crane as far as I know and probably not Prism, Star or Capsule either.
This is more of a combo list rather than a prison-control version of the deck.
So would you switch out Sly for Sai if you suspect RIP or Stony?
No, I'd cut the Memnites and Stars first (in fact this is the usual SB plan, trim non-essential pieces). Wear//Tear should also come in if you suspect one of the enchantments.
With Academy ruins and Scrap Trawler do you mill yourself even if you have the sword? Lets say you have Grindings station, sword and a bunch of eggs/ chump blockers
About the Herald how many matchups are there where we dont want to go for the combo, thopters wont get there and they dont have removal for the big guy?
This is my take of the deck, It's the second Tenshi's list cutting white and with some personalization.
Mainboard nihil it's pretty nice against the graveyard decks, not totally sold on Sai and Negate in the side, maybe I should run a couple of Tezzeret AoB and the 4th echoing truth, or the 4th bridge... or even Aether Grid, but i dont think it can be splashed out of 8 (12 if you count stars) non fetchable sources.
I understand mainboard bridge cut's the main plan, but it's a free win against so many decks that I feel like I can't change it for the last Whir
Usually the plan is to cut any redundant combo pieces or cantrips... Memnite, Spellbombs/Stars and Trawler
if you spect white hate (RiP, Kataki, Stony) in goes Unmoored Ego, Echoing Truth and negate.
post sideboard be aware of surgical extraction, never use all your mana with thopter sword, so you can respond to surgical, also you can counter it if you nihil your own graveyard
don't be afraid to mill if you don't have infinite combo, Foundry, sword and station, plus some mana can do wonders in few turns
4 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Scrap Trawler
4 Sly Requisitioner
Instant (3)
3 Whir of Invention
Artifact (24)
4 Chromatic Star
1 Claws of Gix
4 Grinding Station
4 Mox Opal
3 Springleaf Drum
4 Sword of the Meek
4 Thopter Foundry
3 Darksteel Citadel
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Island
1 Moorland Haunt
4 Polluted Delta
4 Spire of Industry
2 Watery Grave
2 Battle at the Bridge
2 Damping Sphere
2 Ghirapur Aether Grid
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 The Antiquities War
2 Thoughtseize
2 Wear // Tear
2 Welding Jar
4 Memnite
4 Scrap Trawler
4 Sly Requisitioner
Instant (3)
3 Whir of Invention
Artifact (27)
2 Aether Spellbomb
4 Chromatic Star
4 Grinding Station
1 Krark-Clan Ironworks
4 Mox Opal
2 Necrogen Spellbomb
4 Sword of the Meek
4 Thopter Foundry
2 Welding Jar
3 Darksteel Citadel
2 Darkslick Shores
1 Hallowed Fountain
3 Island
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Spire of Industry
1 Watery Grave
3 Damping Sphere
3 Fatal Push
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Metallic Rebuke
3 Sai, Master Thopterist
3 Wear // Tear
While the number of pieces for some of these combos looks ambitious, the ability to point Grinding Station at yourself means you can easily combo out with just Sly Requisitioner/Scrap Trawler plus a Grinding Station and some artifacts you don't mind saccing... plus a bit of luck.
The deck has gained a bit of notoriety with an article from Gerry highlighting the decklist, as well as Zak Elsik picking it up for a Classic at SCG Dallas. While I can see this written off as a "worse than KCI" deck eventually, it definitely is unique and worth exploring more.
I had also considered Thoughtcast in the original build with a leaner curve.
How do you do this? I'm trying to goldfish it and it seems you need 2 Stations:
BF: Trawler, 2 tapped Stations
GY: Sword
Hand: Memnite
1) Cast Memnite, return Sword attached to it, untap both Stations
2) Sac Memnite to Station
3) Sac Sword to Station, return Memnite to hand with Trawler
I don't think the mana can support Stirrings. The deck is mainly UB and your only green source is Spire, which you need to pair with a 0 mana artifact to Stir on turn 1. You can't grab Thopter Foundry with Stirrings either, infuriatingly enough. Serum Visions seems like a better cantrip, though it's questionable if SV or some other 1-drop artifact is better since the latter can improvise for Req/Whir.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
Cast Memnite, trigger Station, sac Memnite to Station, untap Station, sac Sword to Station, return Memnite to hand with Trawler. Cast Memnite, which pulls Sword to play, then loop.
Infinite mill, Servos
1) Sac Sword to Station, create Servo with Req, return Sword attached to Servo, untap Station
BF: Req, KCI, Sword
Infinite Servos, mana
1) Sac Sword to KCI, create Servo with Req, return Sword attached to Servo
BF: Trawler, tapped Station
GY: Sword
Hand: Memnite
Infinite mill
1) Cast Memnite, put Sword trigger on the stack first, then Station trigger. Allow Station trigger to resolve.
2) With Sword trigger on the stack, sac Memnite to Station.
3) Allow Sword trigger to resolve. Sword comes back (but is not attached to anything), untap Station.
4) Sac Sword to Station, return Memnite to hand with Trawler.
BF: Trawler, KCI
GY: Sword
Hand: Memnite
Infinite mana
1) Cast Memnite, return Sword attached to it
2) Sac Memnite to KCI
3) Sac Sword to KCI, return Memnite to hand with Trawler
With a Star/Spellbomb in hand you also have infinite draw (and color filtering for Star):
1) Cast Memnite, return Sword attached to it
2) Sac Memnite to KCI
2.5) Cast Star, sac Star to itself. Return Memnite to hand with Trawler and draw for Star.
3) Sac Sword to KCI, return Star to hand with Trawler
BF: Foundry, KCI, Sword, 1 mana floating
Infinite Thopters, life, mana
1) Sac Sword to Foundry, create Thopter and gain life, return Sword attached to Thopter
2) Sac Thopter to KCI
BF: Foundry, Trawler, Station, Sword
Hand: Mox
Infinite Thopters, life, mill
1) Cast Mox, float 1 mana
2) Sac Mox to Station
3) Sac Sword to Foundry, return Mox to hand with Trawler, create Thopter and gain life, untap Station, return Sword attached to Thopter
BF: Foundry, Trawler, Sword, tapped Mox
Hand: Mox
Infinite Thopters, life
1) Cast Mox, bin the tapped Mox, float 1 mana
2) Sac Sword to Foundry, return Mox to hand with Trawler, create Thopter and gain life, return Sword attached to Thopter
Sword + Trawler + Memnite + Station/KCI is infinite
Sword + Foundry + KCI is infinite
Sword + Foundry + Trawler + Mox + Station/second Mox is infinite
Sword appears in every infinite.
Sword + Req + sac outlet is easy enough to memorize and execute.
Sword + Trawler + Memnite has 1-2-3 on the cards (1/1 Memnite, 2 CMC Sword, 3 CMC/power Trawler). Then you need a sac outlet in addition to those three to go infinite. Execution wise, sac from low CMC to high CMC so Trawler can do its job.
Sword + Foundry can't go infinite without a mana engine, so you need KCI or a Mox. Mox needs Station/second Mox (to bin it after it's produced mana) and Trawler (to get Mox back to hand) in addition.
Non-infinite combos:
Sword + Foundry lets you create a Thopter and gain 1 life for 1 mana
Req + Foundry lets you create a Thopter, Servo and gain 1 life for 1 mana and a nontoken artifact
Req + Station + fodder lets you dig deep for Sword to go infinite
Trawler gives you extra mileage out of your sac outlets (including Foundry). Sac from low CMC to high CMC.
The most important combos to remember are Sword + Req + Station and Sword + Foundry (non-infinite). Sword + Req + KCI doesn't come up that often because there is only 1 KCI in the deck and Whirring for Station is cheaper than Whirring for KCI. The rest of the infinites require a lot of pieces. Half of them involve Sword + Foundry anyway, so even if you miss the infinite, you can still grind them out.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
I understand what you are saying. I'm suggesting a revamp on the mana base to support strings while also supporting whir. Other decks have done it and are successful. The black card isn't hard since it requires minimal black.
4 Glimmervoid
4 Spire of Industry
4 Botanical Sanctum
3 Darkslick Shores
2 Darksteel Citadel
1 Island
Sai combos too!
1) Sword of the Meek
2) A 1/1 generator
3) An artifact sacrifice outlet
You sac Sword to the sac outlet. Your 1/1 generator creates a 1/1. Sword comes back. Repeat. The kill comes from the secondary effect of the sac outlet (e.g. mill from Grinding Station), or the 1/1s generated.
What can you use as the 1/1 generator?
a) Sly Requisitioner. This is very easy to use: when Sword is sacrificed, it creates a 1/1 Servo, which brings Sword back.
b) Scrap Trawler + Memnite. This is a little more complicated: Trawler should be on the battlefield, Sword should be in your graveyard, and Memnite should be in your hand. Cast Memnite, put Sword trigger on the stack and hold priority. Sac Memnite. Allow Sword trigger to resolve, it'll come back attached to nothing (yes, this is how it works). Sac Sword, allow Trawler trigger to resolve, return Memnite to hand. You're back where you started.
The priority holding trickery is necessary if your sac outlet is Grinding Station, to eke an extra untap trigger out of it. If it isn't, feel free to allow the Sword trigger to resolve immediately.
Getting all the pieces in the right places can be tricky. For Sword, the sac outlet can be used to put it into the graveyard. For Memnite, you can simply hold it until you need to use it, but this is not always an option as you might need to play it early for Mox Opal or improvise spells. If that happens, you can sac it, play any artifact with CMC >0, sac that, and use Trawler to return Memnite to hand.
c) Sai, Master Thopterist + Scrap Trawler + 0-drop. Sai creates a token on cast, hence the need for a 0-drop to cast for free.
Note that Sly Requisitioner combos leave you with a net increase in the number of 1/1s on the battlefield, but Scrap Trawler + Memnite does not.
What can you use as the artifact sac outlet?
These cost 0 mana per activation, so they will go infinite:
a) Grinding Station. Always remember to untap it when an artifact ETBs.
b) Krark-Clan Ironworks
These cost 1 mana per activation, so they will not go infinite:
c) Thopter Foundry. Note that this is also a 1/1 generator, so it will combo with Sword all by itself, without Sly Requisitioner or Scrap Trawler + Memnite. Sly Requisitioner gives you an extra Servo per activation, though.
d) Claws of Gix. The secondary effect is minimal, but it's the cheapest sac outlet to Whir out. Claws of Gix + Sly Requisitioner functions identically to Thopter Foundry (1 mana + 1 artifact gives you 1 token + 1 life), just that the tokens don't fly.
Thopter Foundry infinites
Oops, I lied. Thopter Foundry can go infinite, but you have to build your own mana engine first. Sword + Foundry has all 3 elements of a combo (Sword, 1/1 generator, sac outlet), but the problem is that Foundry costs mana to activate. If there's a way to generate mana, it can go truly infinite:
a) KCI. Creating a Thopter costs 1 mana, saccing it to KCI generates 2. Use this to get infinite mana, then turn that into infinite Thopters.
b) Scrap Trawler + Mox Opal + free sac outlet (Grinding Station or another Mox Opal). The Trawler needs to be on the battlefield and the Mox in your hand. Cast the Mox, generate 1 mana, then sacrifice it to the free sac outlet. Use the generated mana to sacrifice Sword to Foundry. This triggers Trawler, allowing you to return Mox to hand.
Clearing up the rest of the Claws of Gix combos that weren't in the first post
As mentioned earlier, Claws of Gix + Sly Requisitioner functions identically to Thopter Foundry, so you can substitute Claws + Req in any combo involving Foundry. Just don't forget the Req triggers. However, some of them involve Grinding Station or KCI, which already go infinite with Sword + Req, so the only thing you gain from having Claws of Gix in the mix is infinite life.
- Sword + Claws + Req + KCI is infinite Servos, life and mana...but Sword + Req + KCI is already infinite.
- Sword + Claws + Req + Trawler + Station + Mox is infinite mill, Servos and life...but Sword + Req + Station is already infinite.
- Sword + Claws + Req + Trawler + 2 Mox is infinite Servos and life.
There's just one last non-infinite combo involving Claws: when your 1/1 generator is Trawler + Memnite. This is a really bad loop; you gain 1 life per 1 mana spent, but it's better than nothing, right?
BF: Trawler, Claws, 2 mana floating
GY: Sword
Hand: Memnite
1) Cast Memnite, return Sword attached to it
2) Sac Memnite to Claws
3) Sac Sword to Claws, return Memnite to hand with Trawler
Sai, Master Thopterist combos
BF: Sai, Trawler, free sac outlet
GY: Sword
Hand: 0-drop
Infinite Thopters
1) Cast 0, create Thopter with Sai. Put Sword trigger on the stack.
2) With Sword trigger on the stack, sac 0.
3) Allow Sword trigger to resolve. Sword comes back attached to Thopter.
4) Sac Sword to Station, return 0 to hand with Trawler.
If your sac outlet is Claws and your 0-drop is Mox Opal, it's like Req or build-your-own Foundry, but with double life gain:
BF: Sai, Trawler, Claws, 1 mana floating
GY: Sword
Hand: Mox
Spend 1 mana, gain 2 life and a Thopter
1) Cast Mox, create Thopter with Sai. Sword comes back attached to Thopter.
2) Tap Mox for 1 mana (2 floating).
3) Sac Mox to Claws (1 floating), gain 1 life.
4) Sac Sword to Claws (0 floating), return Mox to hand with Trawler, gain 1 life.
Sai himself is a sac outlet, if you'd like to draw cards:
BF: Sai, Trawler, 1U floating
GY: Sword
Hand: 0-drop
Spend 1U, draw a card, create a Thopter
1) Cast 0, create Thopter with Sai. Sword comes back attached to Thopter.
2) Sacrifice 0 and Sword, draw a card. Return 0 to hand with Trawler.
If the 0-drop is a Mox, the cost is reduced to just 1 mana.
- KCI feels very win-more to me. As a 1-of you'll only hit it consistently with Whir, but this costs a lot of mana, and a lot of the time Whirring for Station lets you combo off for less. I'd put the last Whir and/or Claws of Gix back in its place.
- Claws should probably go back in. It's the cheapest sac outlet to Whir for, and adds to improvise spells if you draw it naturally.
- The Spellbombs are flex slots. I'm using Serum Visions in their place. 1-drop artifacts (like Springleaf Drum before) let you build a ladder with Trawler and a sac outlet (cast 0+1+2, sac 0>1>2, cast 0+1, sac 0>1, cast 0, sac 0), but I just can't play a combo deck without cantrips. I've seen far too many combo decks to fall for the four most expensive words in the English language. In this deck they have the secondary function (other than fixing your draws) of pushing non-Sword cards out of the way when you're trying to mill into Sword with Station.
- Whir is very color-intensive and Darksteel Citadel doesn't pay for that part. It might be right to cut them entirely, as Lantern does. At least, I don't think 3 is the correct number. Also, don't play Whir/Req wrongly: it's like convoke, but you can't reduce the colored part.
- There are a few SB staples that seem to fit too well with the maindeck to not play: Nihil Spellbomb (is an artifact) and Collective Brutality (discard Sword while disrupting) for example.
T1 land
T2 land, Station
T3 land, 0, Whir for Sword
T4 tap everything except Station for Req, win
(This is by no means the only sequence that gets the T4 kill: for example, you could cast Sword on T3 if you already have it in hand, or cast Sword on T2 and Whir for Station on T3, or cast Req on T3 then Whir on T4. However, what follows is applicable to the alternative sequences as well.)
The 0 does two very important things:
1) it lets you improvise a 5-mana spell on T3
2) it lets you improvise another 5-mana spell on T4 with Station untapped, so you can kill immediately instead of tapping Station to improvise and waiting one turn for it to untap.
If you have two 0s and drawn all 3 pieces naturally, you can win without a 3rd land as the second 0 will pay for Req on T4:
T1 land
T2 land, Sword
T3 Station
T4 0, 0, tap everything except Station for Req, win
This is why I'm for putting Claws back in the maindeck, it's another 0 and can contribute to these kills even if you never activate its ability. Go ahead and take it out postboard when the game slows down and you have more time to combo.
You could replace the 0 on T3 with a 1 on T1 instead. But I'm casting Serum Visions on T1 instead, which helps in another way, by making it more likely to grab all 3 pieces of this combo, or to not miss the 3rd land drop.
Incidentally, if you wanted a reason to not play Darksteel Citadel, this is it: you can't Whir on T3 unless your 0 is a Mox.
- What to Whir for. If you're just one piece away from a combo, Whir for that piece, obviously. For example, if you have Foundry or Sword, Whir for the other piece. Otherwise Whir for Station, it's 1/3 of the components you need for comboing and can help mill into Sword. Finally, you can Whir for Welding Jar to blank one removal spell.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
Seth, probably better known as SaffronOlive, played this deck to a 5-0 in a Friendly League.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
After watching the matches it seems that Thopter-Sword was repsponsible for most of the wins so I think that dropping Sly Requisitioner + Grinding Station wouldn't hurt the deck but rather open more slots for cantrips or interaction.
As a result Memnite/Ornithopter and Myr Moonvessel can be dropped as well and Springleaf Drum can be replaced with Pentad Prism which is very good with Whir.
To help with consistency I'd add Glint-Nest Crane though Thirst for Knowledge or Reverse Engineer/Thoughtcast can help as well.
Mishra's Bauble and Welding Jar can replace the 0-mana creatures and Executioner's Capsule + Ensnaring Bridge can help deal with creatures.
Time Sieve can be used to go infinite with Thopter-Sword and it is a cheaper Whir target than Ironworks.
Here is my idea for a tweaked version of the deck:
4x Glint-Nest Crane
4x Scrap Trawler
Instant (3)
3x Whir of Invention
Artifact (31)
4x Mishra's Bauble
4x Mox Opal
2x Welding Jar
4x Chromatic Star
1x Executioner's Capsule
2x Nihil Spellbomb
3x Pentad Prism
4x Sword of the Meek
4x Thopter Foundry
1x Time Sieve
2x Ensnaring Bridge
4x Spire of Industry
2x Glimmervoid
4x Darkslick Shores
3x Darksteel Citadel
1x Inventors' Fair
1x Academy Ruins
1x Buried Ruin
2x Island
1x Battle at the Bridge
3x Fragmentize
2x Nihil Spellbomb
1x Pithing Needle
2x Damping Sphere
1x Ratchet Bomb
1x Spellskite
2x Sai, Master Thopterist
1x The Antiquities War
1x Witchbane Orb
and that's not basically tezzerator?
Tezzerator doesn't play Scrap Trawler or Crane as far as I know and probably not Prism, Star or Capsule either.
This is more of a combo list rather than a prison-control version of the deck.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
What do you think about an Ensnaring Bridge in the Main? The card is just so good and I sometimes miss not being able to get it with whir
About the Herald how many matchups are there where we dont want to go for the combo, thopters wont get there and they dont have removal for the big guy?
Mainboard nihil it's pretty nice against the graveyard decks, not totally sold on Sai and Negate in the side, maybe I should run a couple of Tezzeret AoB and the 4th echoing truth, or the 4th bridge... or even Aether Grid, but i dont think it can be splashed out of 8 (12 if you count stars) non fetchable sources.
I understand mainboard bridge cut's the main plan, but it's a free win against so many decks that I feel like I can't change it for the last Whir
4 Memnite
4 Scrap Trawler
4 Sly Requisitioner
Instant (3)
3 Whir of Invention
Artifact (27)
4 Chromatic Star
4 Grinding Station
4 Mox Opal
4 Nihil Spellbomb
4 Sword of the Meek
4 Thopter Foundry
2 Welding Jar
1 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Darksteel Citadel
2 Darkslick Shores
3 Island
4 Polluted Delta
4 Spire of Industry
2 Watery Grave
3 Damping Sphere
3 Unmoored Ego
3 Echoing Truth
3 Sai, Master Thopterist
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Negate
some points
Usually the plan is to cut any redundant combo pieces or cantrips... Memnite, Spellbombs/Stars and Trawler
if you spect white hate (RiP, Kataki, Stony) in goes Unmoored Ego, Echoing Truth and negate.
post sideboard be aware of surgical extraction, never use all your mana with thopter sword, so you can respond to surgical, also you can counter it if you nihil your own graveyard
don't be afraid to mill if you don't have infinite combo, Foundry, sword and station, plus some mana can do wonders in few turns
Fish
U/W Control
U/B Control
U/B Control Mill, U/R Ascension Mill, BUG Mill
G Tron, Eldrazi Tron, Eldrazi Aggro
Junkie Doran
U/W Ephara Flash
Splendid Dredge
P.S. ex-KCI players, you might want to give this deck a shot, it's got Trawlers and Mox in it and you feel like a genius when comboing off.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
There are a lot of surgicals in my shop.
UWUW ControlUW
UGWSpiritsUGW
GHardened ScalesG
WGRUKiki PodWGRU [RIP]
The other way is to get two Swords on the field. You can see an example of this in Seth's video. https://youtu.be/pl8ghdAgeXE?t=2547
Also, like KCI, you have Sai postboard.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
There is still Time Sieve as a 5-mana Whir target.