I've been jonesing to build a deck around activated abilities for a while, since one of the things I dislike most about Magic games is when you're sitting there with nothing to do. When I set out to do this, I was initially thinking of using Merieke Ri Berit, as she's probably the best tri-color commander in blue with a good activated ability. However, as I built the deck, I realized I really wanted red for its synergy with some of the themes I was developing, so I switched to Grixis. Since there were no truly synergistic commanders in those colors, I decided to go with the lowest-threat/highest-WTF-factor general I could: Mishra, Artificer Prodigy. And now, the list:
As it turns out, the thing that made me want to go Grixis was the fact that a lot of the better cheap/free activated abilities involved tokens, and B/R is unparalleled in its ability to take advantage of such things. As such, I've tried to build a fairly creature-hostile deck on the assumption that I'll be able to rebuild with tokens post-wipe and continue generating advantage.
I would recommend Coalition Relic over Darksteel Ingot - the indestructibility isn't usually as good as the extra mana boost. Ogre Slumlord might be good for combining with your board wipe effects. Plus it makes great blockers that spawn more blockers. Combine with Goblin Bombardment for insane shenanigans. Druidic Satchel can be good, especially if you have a way to manipulate the top of your deck. Activating it during your upkeep is a good way to avoid drawing lands without missing land drops. Academy Ruins would be helpful, and I think your manabase can support it.
That's all I can think of right now. Slumlord seems like the best of those.
I would recommend Coalition Relic over Darksteel Ingot - the indestructibility isn't usually as good as the extra mana boost. Ogre Slumlord might be good for combining with your board wipe effects. Plus it makes great blockers that spawn more blockers. Combine with Goblin Bombardment for insane shenanigans. Druidic Satchel can be good, especially if you have a way to manipulate the top of your deck. Activating it during your upkeep is a good way to avoid drawing lands without missing land drops. Academy Ruins would be helpful, and I think your manabase can support it.
That's all I can think of right now. Slumlord seems like the best of those.
I actually had Slumlord in originally, but he's actually surprisingly hard to use. My deck generally deals exclusively in tokens, so unless I have a way of killing opposing creatures, he does nothing.
I'll consider putting Satchel in once I get ahold of another Scroll Rack -- I think the card would go quite well in this deck, what with Mishra effectively saying "Shuffle your library for free whenever you cast an artifact".
I may try moving Ruins over from my Rafiq deck, as it's been a bit underwhelming there.
Quote from TheTrueNub »
Does Mishra himself actually do anything in this deck besides make people wonder what sort of shenanigans you're up to? Just curious.
As noted above, he does let you shuffle whenever you cast an artifact, but I mostly chose him because of the colors and the WTF factor I get with him. There's also an amusing interaction with Blood Funnel where he lets you cast all of your artifacts for 2 less uncounterably, but that's dodgy enough that I don't use it.
I've been jonesing to build a deck around activated abilities for a while, since one of the things I dislike most about Magic games is when you're sitting there with nothing to do. When I set out to do this, I was initially thinking of using Merieke Ri Berit, as she's probably the best tri-color commander in blue with a good activated ability. However, as I built the deck, I realized I really wanted red for its synergy with some of the themes I was developing, so I switched to Grixis. Since there were no truly synergistic commanders in those colors, I decided to go with the lowest-threat/highest-WTF-factor general I could: Mishra, Artificer Prodigy. And now, the list:
1 Acorn Catapult
1 Bloodline Keeper
1 Crystal Shard
1 Deathbringer Thoctar
1 Dimir Doppelganger
1 Erratic Portal
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Helm of Obedience
1 Helm of Possession
1 Icy Manipulator
1 Krenko, Mob Boss
1 Mimic Vat
1 Myr Turbine
1 Proteus Staff
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Scrabbling Claws
1 Stuffy Doll
1 Thought Dissector
1 Throne of Empires
1 Trading Post
Activated Ability Helpers
1 Clock of Omens
1 Mirrorworks
1 Mizzium Transreliquat
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 Sculpting Steel
1 Thousand-Year Elixir
1 Voltaic Key
Token Abuse
1 Ashnod's Altar
1 Attrition
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Blasting Station
1 Blood Artist
1 Butcher of Malakir
1 Goblin Bombardment
1 Grave Pact
1 Overburden
1 Shivan Harvest
1 Skullclamp
1 Vicious Shadows
Control
1 All Is Dust
1 Blasphemous Act
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Damnation
1 Ixidron
1 Black Market
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Thran Dynamo
Draw
1 Otherworld Atlas
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Staff of Nin
1 Temple Bell
Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Dimir House Guard
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
Miscellaneous Creatures
1 Harvester of Souls
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Ogre Slumlord
1 Oona, Queen of the Fae
Land
1 Arid Mesa
1 Blood Crypt
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Buried Ruin
1 Command Tower
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Evolving Wilds
1 High Market
1 Kher Keep
1 Marsh Flats
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Springjack Pasture
1 Steam Vents
1 Strip Mine
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Vesuva
1 Watery Grave
4 Island
5 Mountain
6 Swamp
1 Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
In testing, the deck has been quite fun to play, with such varied wincons as Vicious Shadows into Damnation, Stuffy Doll copied several times into Blasphemous Act, and Krenko plus Thousand-Year Elixir into Goblin Bombardment or Blood Artist. Generally, I find I win completely without combat damage, although I do have a problem with shrouded players.
EDIT: All right, after several games I've iterated this a bit. Here's the new list:
1 Acorn Catapult
1 Bloodline Keeper
1 Crystal Shard
1 Deathbringer Thoctar
1 Dimir Doppelganger
1 Erratic Portal
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Helm of Obedience
1 Helm of Possession
1 Icy Manipulator
1 Krenko, Mob Boss
1 Mimic Vat
1 Myr Turbine
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Proteus Staff
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Scrabbling Claws
1 Stuffy Doll
1 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
1 Throne of Empires
1 Trading Post
Activated Ability Helpers
1 Mirrorworks
1 Mizzium Transreliquat
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 Sculpting Steel
1 Thousand-Year Elixir
1 Unwinding Clock
1 Voltaic Key
Token Abuse
1 Ashnod's Altar
1 Attrition
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Blood Artist
1 Butcher of Malakir
1 Falkenrath Noble
1 Goblin Bombardment
1 Grave Pact
1 Phyrexian Altar
1 Shivan Harvest
1 Skullclamp
1 Vicious Shadows
Control
1 All Is Dust
1 Blasphemous Act
1 Chain Reaction
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Damnation
1 Decree of Pain
1 Torpor Orb
1 Vandalblast
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Thran Dynamo
Draw
1 Otherworld Atlas
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Staff of Nin
1 Temple Bell
Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Dimir House Guard
1 Trinket Mage
Miscellaneous Creatures
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
Land
1 Arid Mesa
1 Blood Crypt
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Buried Ruin
1 Command Tower
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Evolving Wilds
1 High Market
1 Kher Keep
1 Marsh Flats
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Springjack Pasture
1 Steam Vents
1 Strip Mine
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Vesuva
1 Watery Grave
4 Island
5 Mountain
6 Swamp
1 Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
Cards I'm considering for the deck:
Any thoughts or comments?
Ogre Slumlord might be good for combining with your board wipe effects. Plus it makes great blockers that spawn more blockers. Combine with Goblin Bombardment for insane shenanigans.
Druidic Satchel can be good, especially if you have a way to manipulate the top of your deck. Activating it during your upkeep is a good way to avoid drawing lands without missing land drops.
Academy Ruins would be helpful, and I think your manabase can support it.
That's all I can think of right now. Slumlord seems like the best of those.
Check out Odds//Ends - My articles on Quirky Cards and Oddball Builds
Long-time PucaTrade member and sometime author. Send me cards!
Currently playing Knight of the Reliquary - Retreat to Coralhelm Combo
Legacy: GWR Enchantress <--That's my banner! (lol tinypic removed it)
Casual: WB [[Primer]]Clerics Tribal; BU Affinity
EDH: ...U [[Primer]]Arcum Dagsson; BG Legal Stax; B Illegal Stax
Proxy: .WX TriniStax
Other stuff: [[Official]]Shuffling, Truth + Maths
Check out Odds//Ends - My articles on Quirky Cards and Oddball Builds
Long-time PucaTrade member and sometime author. Send me cards!
Currently playing Knight of the Reliquary - Retreat to Coralhelm Combo
I actually had Slumlord in originally, but he's actually surprisingly hard to use. My deck generally deals exclusively in tokens, so unless I have a way of killing opposing creatures, he does nothing.
I'll consider putting Satchel in once I get ahold of another Scroll Rack -- I think the card would go quite well in this deck, what with Mishra effectively saying "Shuffle your library for free whenever you cast an artifact".
I may try moving Ruins over from my Rafiq deck, as it's been a bit underwhelming there.
As noted above, he does let you shuffle whenever you cast an artifact, but I mostly chose him because of the colors and the WTF factor I get with him. There's also an amusing interaction with Blood Funnel where he lets you cast all of your artifacts for 2 less uncounterably, but that's dodgy enough that I don't use it.
Ooo. Very good point. It also makes Staff of Nin, Deathbringer Thoctar, Goblin Sharpshooter, and Acorn Catapult much more threatening. Definitely putting that in somehow.