NOTE: This deck has been retired from use as-of July 2014. No further updates to the list will be forthcoming.
I've been kicking around the idea of an almost mono-artifact deck for quite a while now. I thought about making an Arcum Dagsson deck for a little while, but feared the inevitable hate. I really wanted to find an outlet to use the Thopter/Sword combination, so that left me looking at either 3 or 5 colors at that point. I could definitely have some fun with Goblin Welder, but there's really nothing in green that would bolster the deck. I'm not sure the addition of just Welder is enough to push me to wreck my mana base.
That puts me squarely in the BUW Esper combination. Now the clear choice for an Esper general is the infamous Sharuum the Hegemon. (And more recently now, Sydri, Galvanic Genius) Now I personally do not want to operate a deck that plans to end the table in an infinite combo. It's just not me. Even if I'm not running an infinite-combo-finish, I realize that Sharuum can act as a very strong artifact support general. However, it goes back to the perceived threat of combo that the average player assumes is coming when you build a deck around her. So, I decided on another Esper-colored artifact general: Sen Triplets.
I've really been impressed with the little, incremental effects that I've been putting in many decks, as well as the card advantage engines that run the backbone of many decks I see. Now, for better or worse, I'm taking this idea to the extreme. I may be one of the few people to ever run Urza's and Mishra's Bauble with a straight face. But they offer a tiny advantage on their own, and when plugged into the engine, it's absolutely beautiful. What is that engine you ask? Why, it's Salvaging Station and Auriok Salvagers my good fellow! There are a lot of great 0 or 1 cmc artifacts that people put into a small Trinket Mage toolbox (and also Artificer's Intuition), so I went from there and maximized the options.
Without wasting too much more time, feast your eyes on:
One of the cards that I really wanted to run in here was Proteus Staff. It is a very powerful tool against decks that are reliant on their commanders to function, and there are some great things you can do with it, too. Like casting your Myr Battlesphere, then staffing away all of the tokens for more impressive creatures. Or combining the staff with Duplicant and Eye of Ugin: exile a creature, shuffle it back into your deck for something else, then tutor it back with the eye.
Another card that I was happy to include was Thada Adel, Acquisitor. With the heavy artifact theme that I'm running, it makes it kinda like I'm lord of all artifacts. Remember, not only can you steal an opponent's artifact if you want, but you can just exile it from their deck if you can't or don't want to actually cast it. Against the right opponent, she gets kinda crazy. Combo pieces can be safely removed from the equation. The best equipment from their voltron deck can be easily rent asunder right before their eyes.
And now we come to Tower of the Magistrate. With my Mycosynth Lattice I can give my attacker pro-artifacts, and swing through at anyone. There are plenty of artifact creatures floating around that this messes with even without the lattice. But one of my favorite uses for this card, is against opposing equipments. I've played this deck on Cockatrice against a few voltron builds, and when I got this on the field, they immediately scooped. Not very sporting, I know, but the power of this against something like Kemba, Kha Regent is pretty incredible.
No updates to this list were made as of the release of Journey into Nyx.
Thoughts and feedback are always appreciated. Thanks for looking.
Have you tried out Paradox Haze to target 2 opponents with Triplets. Even if you don't cast stuff it will keep them from activating abilities and playing instants on your turn.
Hmm. It's one that I did think about at one point, but thought with the set-up I was going with, that I wouldn't want to really be playing spells from more than 2 players (myself + opponent) in a turn. You do bring up a good point with just using it to stop other players from casting spells or activating abilities, though.
I'll think about it again...
Are Thopter/Sword, Disciple of the Vault and other infinite combo pieces worth it if you don't want to go infinite with them? I feel they will just draw hate unless you play with guys who know the next drop isn't going to be Time Sieve. Wouldn't it be better to replace them with more control like counterspells and just abuse Triplets to the max.
The two groups that I play with don't use any infinite combos in our games, so the threat of backlash for fear of me assembling one is pretty minimal.
For the Disciple, with the way that I have the deck set up, I'm sac'ing loads of artifacts for small effects for the whole of the game. If I get my Auriok Salvagers in play, then I'm sac'ing several times in a turn (the same can be said for Unwinding Clock and Salvaging Station in play at the same time). Even if I never keep the engine in play, it's not unreasonable for me to trigger the life loss 5-10 times through the course of the game. And nobody is going to want to cast a mass artifact destruction (like Shatterstorm) when I have him on my side.
As far as the Thopter-Sword combo. It's a pretty reasonable win condition even without going infinite. The Thopter Foundry on its own gives me a pretty strong sac outlet for the majority of the deck.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"I have seen the true path. I will not warm myself by the fire—I will become the flame."
—Lim-Dul, the Necromancer
Yes. I don't have that many shuffle effects in the deck that are on the cheaper end of the cost spectrum. Most of the time when I'm happy to see these types of cards is in the early game, when I'm trying to make sure I have enough lands to get the deck rolling. If I only see 1 land off a Brainstorm, or don't see any, then put two non-lands back on top, I'm essentially drawing dead for the next two turns. Ponder/Preordain/Impulse do not have that problem.
If I was running more fetches (and dual lands to go with them), the Brainstorm gets much better than it is on its own. Since I can't realistically expect to have them to pair together as it stands, I feel like its sorcery-speed brethren are the better choice for me.
Ponder/Preordain/Impulse are also better at digging through the deck if you're looking for an engine piece or an answer to some threats in the middle or late game. Again, you can see the same number of cards (Ponder can potentially see more than BS), but if that one you were looking for isn't in the top 3, at least you aren't going to be drawing dead again for the following two turns.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"I have seen the true path. I will not warm myself by the fire—I will become the flame."
—Lim-Dul, the Necromancer
I was reading through this thread, when I came across Artificer's Intuition. With my desire to play with so many of the small "cogs" just as this deck does, now I need to figure out if I really want a tutor to get them.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"I have seen the true path. I will not warm myself by the fire—I will become the flame."
—Lim-Dul, the Necromancer
So I'm still thinking through the potential of Artificer's Intuition. In theory, each of the cogs that I run provide me with incremental CA at a low investment, so as to be essentially invisible and interchangeable. Since they are basically interchangeable with each other, I would be able to discard one of them to fetch a more relevant option, such as a Dispeller's/Executioner's Capsule or a Nihil Spellbomb. Or, I could pitch an artifact land to get something that actually does something in the late game. Like I said, I'm still running over things in my mind, but haven't really made a decision.
I also want to find space for a Sun Titan, especially if the Artificer's Intuition is going to potentially find its way in. Right now, I'm looking at Open the Vaults or Thada Adel, Acquisitor as possible openings. I really like the disruption and swingy plays you can get from Thada, and most of the artifacts from my grave are going to be relatively small effects. This keeps my OtV from being really crazy all the time. I think that OtV is going to come out for now (but I'll keep my eye on how it goes) for the Sun Titan spot.
I picked up a copy of some Antiquities Urzatron lands, and I really want to find a way to fit them in here for nostalgia's sake. Plus, with my Expedition Map plus some recursion, it's not too unlikely that I'd actually assemble all three pieces.
Can anyone make any suggestions for decent replacement slots in the current deck? Thus far, I haven't seen a huge benefit for my Reliquary Tower, so that may be one potential space for a replacement.
Also, on a somewhat unrelated note, once the prices drop on some shocklands, my current pain-lands will be getting replaced with those to synergize more with the fetches I'm running.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"I have seen the true path. I will not warm myself by the fire—I will become the flame."
—Lim-Dul, the Necromancer
Essentially a strict upgrade to DoJ. Being able to wipe the board clear guaranteed is definitely something that appeals to this deck.
In my never-ending browsing on here, I also came upon someone suggesting Jester's Mask as a Sen Trips inclusion. I must have this in here now... This is a nostalgia pick that honestly synergizes really well with my commander. I think I'll throw this into the list in place of my Shimmer Myr.
So, still no updates to the deck. I've been quite disappointed overall with the artifact selection in the last few sets. I have been looking at Sydri, Galvanic Genius as a possible replacement to the 'Trips, but I don't feel that I have enough non-creature artifacts with a decent casting cost to make it worthwhile. The card screams "artifact deck" to me, but the sad truth is there aren't many ways to build her without it going nuts with combos. I like to think that I'm using the softer side of the artifact generals.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"I have seen the true path. I will not warm myself by the fire—I will become the flame."
—Lim-Dul, the Necromancer
Bear with me now. The Lattice and Celestial Dawn are neat. They're cute. But they are not really useful. Granted, I don't play the deck very often, but I can't remember ever actually casting an opponents' spell off these + the Trips. The best they've ever done for me, is to fix my mana a little bit.
I'm adding in a trinket to plug into my recursion engine (the Conjurer's Bauble), a card to mess with Tops and topdecktutors, and a defensive trinket for my Trinket Mage package. I'm also bringing in that Artificer's Intuition that I mentioned about a year and a half ago.
The 2 Propaganda effects are nice, but they're not really solutions to anything but a token swarm. I think Meekstone is a better answer to threats, and it really doesn't hit me much at all. Most of what I'd be attacking with are going to be smaller than 3 power (Thopter tokens), have vigilance (Sun Titan), or can just be untapped again with my Voltaic Key. If it turns out to be trouble for me, I'll think about making a switch to something like Ensnaring Bridge or Crawlspace.
I'm looking forward to seeing how these play out for me.
I've been kicking around the idea of an almost mono-artifact deck for quite a while now. I thought about making an Arcum Dagsson deck for a little while, but feared the inevitable hate. I really wanted to find an outlet to use the Thopter/Sword combination, so that left me looking at either 3 or 5 colors at that point. I could definitely have some fun with Goblin Welder, but there's really nothing in green that would bolster the deck. I'm not sure the addition of just Welder is enough to push me to wreck my mana base.
That puts me squarely in the BUW Esper combination. Now the clear choice for an Esper general is the infamous Sharuum the Hegemon. (And more recently now, Sydri, Galvanic Genius) Now I personally do not want to operate a deck that plans to end the table in an infinite combo. It's just not me. Even if I'm not running an infinite-combo-finish, I realize that Sharuum can act as a very strong artifact support general. However, it goes back to the perceived threat of combo that the average player assumes is coming when you build a deck around her. So, I decided on another Esper-colored artifact general: Sen Triplets.
I've really been impressed with the little, incremental effects that I've been putting in many decks, as well as the card advantage engines that run the backbone of many decks I see. Now, for better or worse, I'm taking this idea to the extreme. I may be one of the few people to ever run Urza's and Mishra's Bauble with a straight face. But they offer a tiny advantage on their own, and when plugged into the engine, it's absolutely beautiful. What is that engine you ask? Why, it's Salvaging Station and Auriok Salvagers my good fellow! There are a lot of great 0 or 1 cmc artifacts that people put into a small Trinket Mage toolbox (and also Artificer's Intuition), so I went from there and maximized the options.
Without wasting too much more time, feast your eyes on:
00 Sen Triplets
Land
01 Island
02 Island
03 Island
04 Island
05 Island
06 Plains
07 Plains
08 Plains
09 Plains
10 Swamp
11 Swamp
12 Swamp
13 Swamp
14 Ancient Den
15 Seat of the Synod
16 Vault of Whispers
17 Command Tower
18 Flooded Strand
19 Glimmervoid
20 Tower of the Magistrate
21 Reliquary Tower
22 Caves of Koilos
23 Isolated Chapel
24 Underground River
25 Glacial Fortress
26 Reflecting Pool
27 Marsh Flats
28 Polluted Delta
29 Phyrexia's Core
30 Sunken Ruins
31 Mystic Gate
32 Drowned Catacomb
33 Fetid Heath
34 Buried Ruin
35 Adarkar Wastes
36 Kor Haven
37 Academy Ruins
38 Eye of Ugin
39 Meekstone
40 Mana Vault
41 Mishra's Bauble
42 Grim Monolith
43 Urza's Bauble
44 Salvaging Station
45 Sol Ring
46 Unwinding Clock
47 Proteus Staff
48 Coalition Relic
49 Darksteel Ingot
50 Mimic Vat
51 Worn Powerstone
52 Lotus Bloom
53 Pithing Needle
54 Thopter Foundry
55 Dispeller's Capsule
56 Executioner's Capsule
57 Nihil Spellbomb
58 Chromatic Star
59 Expedition Map
60 Sensei's Divining Top
61 Voltaic Key
62 Wayfarer's Bauble
63 Swiftfoot Boots
64 Lightning Greaves
65 Sword of the Meek
66 Mox Opal
67 Jester's Mask
68 Conjurer's Bauble
69 Codex Shredder
Creatures
70 Solemn Simulacrum
71 Myr Battlesphere
72 Sanctum Gargoyle
73 Duplicant
74 Phyrexian Metamorph
75 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
76 Disciple of the Vault
77 Auriok Salvagers
78 Trinket Mage
79 Sharuum the Hegemon
80 Thada Adel, Acquisitor
81 Sun Titan
82 Artificer's Intuition
Instants/Sorceries
83 Spell Crumple
84 Hinder
85 Impulse
86 Oblation
87 Enlightened Tutor
88 Thirst for Knowledge
89 Vindicate
90 Supreme Verdict
91 Wrath of God
92 Damnation
93 Diabolic Tutor
94 Preordain
95 Fabricate
96 Ponder
97 Demonic Tutor
Planeswalkers
98 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
99 Tezzeret the Seeker
Break-Down
00 Demonic Tutor
00 Diabolic Tutor
00 Enlightened Tutor
00 Trinket Mage
00 Artificer's Intuition
00 Eye of Ugin
00 Impulse
00 Preordain
00 Ponder
00 Thirst for Knowledge
Artifact Engine
00 Auriok Salvagers
00 Salvaging Station
00 Nihil Spellbomb
00 Chromatic Star
00 Mishra's Bauble
00 Urza's Bauble
00 Conjurer's Bauble
00 Executioner's Capsule
00 Dispeller's Capsule
00 Expedition Map
00 Wayfarer's Bauble
00 Lotus Bloom
00 Jester's Mask
Casting More Spells
00 Mana Vault
00 Grim Monolith
00 Worn Powerstone
00 Voltaic Key
00 Lotus Bloom
00 Wayfarer's Bauble
00 Trinket Mage
Targets
00 Seat of the Synod
00 Vault of Whispers
00 Ancient Den
00 Mox Opal
00 Nihil Spellbomb
00 Pithing Needle
00 Dispeller's Capsule
00 Executioner's Capsule
00 Expedition Map
00 Sensei's Divining Top
00 Voltaic Key
00 Codex Shredder
00 Meekstone
00 Phyrexian Metamorph
00 Disciple of the Vault
One of the cards that I really wanted to run in here was Proteus Staff. It is a very powerful tool against decks that are reliant on their commanders to function, and there are some great things you can do with it, too. Like casting your Myr Battlesphere, then staffing away all of the tokens for more impressive creatures. Or combining the staff with Duplicant and Eye of Ugin: exile a creature, shuffle it back into your deck for something else, then tutor it back with the eye.
Another card that I was happy to include was Thada Adel, Acquisitor. With the heavy artifact theme that I'm running, it makes it kinda like I'm lord of all artifacts. Remember, not only can you steal an opponent's artifact if you want, but you can just exile it from their deck if you can't or don't want to actually cast it. Against the right opponent, she gets kinda crazy. Combo pieces can be safely removed from the equation. The best equipment from their voltron deck can be easily rent asunder right before their eyes.
And now we come to Tower of the Magistrate.
With my Mycosynth Lattice I can give my attacker pro-artifacts, and swing through at anyone.There are plenty of artifact creatures floating around that this messes with even without the lattice. But one of my favorite uses for this card, is against opposing equipments. I've played this deck on Cockatrice against a few voltron builds, and when I got this on the field, they immediately scooped. Not very sporting, I know, but the power of this against something like Kemba, Kha Regent is pretty incredible.No updates to this list were made as of the release of Journey into Nyx.
Thoughts and feedback are always appreciated. Thanks for looking.
—Lim-Dul, the Necromancer
EDH/Commander
WWMichiko Konda, Truth Seeker Mono-White Control
RWBasandra, Battle Seraph Sunforger Shenanigans
GRWZacama Loam & Lands
Cube
Draft my "Classic Border Cube"
WUBRGCheck out some of my older lists and my Type4 Cube!GRBUW
--EDH--
GSasaya, Orochi AscendantG
BGThelon of HavenwoodBG
WUBRGChild of AlaraWUBRG
--Pauper EDH--
UBPsychatogUB
--MTGO EDH--
BRGSek'Kuar, DeathkeeperBRG
This is true. Where do you think a cut would come from? Maybe Scarecrone?
I don't know if Scarecrone is really working as well as it could with so few artifact creatures really in the deck.
—Lim-Dul, the Necromancer
EDH/Commander
WWMichiko Konda, Truth Seeker Mono-White Control
RWBasandra, Battle Seraph Sunforger Shenanigans
GRWZacama Loam & Lands
Cube
Draft my "Classic Border Cube"
WUBRGCheck out some of my older lists and my Type4 Cube!GRBUW
Hmm. It's one that I did think about at one point, but thought with the set-up I was going with, that I wouldn't want to really be playing spells from more than 2 players (myself + opponent) in a turn. You do bring up a good point with just using it to stop other players from casting spells or activating abilities, though.
I'll think about it again...
The two groups that I play with don't use any infinite combos in our games, so the threat of backlash for fear of me assembling one is pretty minimal.
For the Disciple, with the way that I have the deck set up, I'm sac'ing loads of artifacts for small effects for the whole of the game. If I get my Auriok Salvagers in play, then I'm sac'ing several times in a turn (the same can be said for Unwinding Clock and Salvaging Station in play at the same time). Even if I never keep the engine in play, it's not unreasonable for me to trigger the life loss 5-10 times through the course of the game. And nobody is going to want to cast a mass artifact destruction (like Shatterstorm) when I have him on my side.
As far as the Thopter-Sword combo. It's a pretty reasonable win condition even without going infinite. The Thopter Foundry on its own gives me a pretty strong sac outlet for the majority of the deck.
—Lim-Dul, the Necromancer
EDH/Commander
WWMichiko Konda, Truth Seeker Mono-White Control
RWBasandra, Battle Seraph Sunforger Shenanigans
GRWZacama Loam & Lands
Cube
Draft my "Classic Border Cube"
WUBRGCheck out some of my older lists and my Type4 Cube!GRBUW
--EDH--
GSasaya, Orochi AscendantG
BGThelon of HavenwoodBG
WUBRGChild of AlaraWUBRG
--Pauper EDH--
UBPsychatogUB
--MTGO EDH--
BRGSek'Kuar, DeathkeeperBRG
Yes. I don't have that many shuffle effects in the deck that are on the cheaper end of the cost spectrum. Most of the time when I'm happy to see these types of cards is in the early game, when I'm trying to make sure I have enough lands to get the deck rolling. If I only see 1 land off a Brainstorm, or don't see any, then put two non-lands back on top, I'm essentially drawing dead for the next two turns. Ponder/Preordain/Impulse do not have that problem.
If I was running more fetches (and dual lands to go with them), the Brainstorm gets much better than it is on its own. Since I can't realistically expect to have them to pair together as it stands, I feel like its sorcery-speed brethren are the better choice for me.
Ponder/Preordain/Impulse are also better at digging through the deck if you're looking for an engine piece or an answer to some threats in the middle or late game. Again, you can see the same number of cards (Ponder can potentially see more than BS), but if that one you were looking for isn't in the top 3, at least you aren't going to be drawing dead again for the following two turns.
—Lim-Dul, the Necromancer
EDH/Commander
WWMichiko Konda, Truth Seeker Mono-White Control
RWBasandra, Battle Seraph Sunforger Shenanigans
GRWZacama Loam & Lands
Cube
Draft my "Classic Border Cube"
WUBRGCheck out some of my older lists and my Type4 Cube!GRBUW
—Lim-Dul, the Necromancer
EDH/Commander
WWMichiko Konda, Truth Seeker Mono-White Control
RWBasandra, Battle Seraph Sunforger Shenanigans
GRWZacama Loam & Lands
Cube
Draft my "Classic Border Cube"
WUBRGCheck out some of my older lists and my Type4 Cube!GRBUW
I also want to find space for a Sun Titan, especially if the Artificer's Intuition is going to potentially find its way in. Right now, I'm looking at Open the Vaults or Thada Adel, Acquisitor as possible openings. I really like the disruption and swingy plays you can get from Thada, and most of the artifacts from my grave are going to be relatively small effects. This keeps my OtV from being really crazy all the time. I think that OtV is going to come out for now (but I'll keep my eye on how it goes) for the Sun Titan spot.
Changes:
-Scarecrone / +Sanctum Gargoyle
-Open the Vaults / +Sun Titan
—Lim-Dul, the Necromancer
EDH/Commander
WWMichiko Konda, Truth Seeker Mono-White Control
RWBasandra, Battle Seraph Sunforger Shenanigans
GRWZacama Loam & Lands
Cube
Draft my "Classic Border Cube"
WUBRGCheck out some of my older lists and my Type4 Cube!GRBUW
I picked up a copy of some Antiquities Urzatron lands, and I really want to find a way to fit them in here for nostalgia's sake. Plus, with my Expedition Map plus some recursion, it's not too unlikely that I'd actually assemble all three pieces.
Can anyone make any suggestions for decent replacement slots in the current deck? Thus far, I haven't seen a huge benefit for my Reliquary Tower, so that may be one potential space for a replacement.
Also, on a somewhat unrelated note, once the prices drop on some shocklands, my current pain-lands will be getting replaced with those to synergize more with the fetches I'm running.
—Lim-Dul, the Necromancer
EDH/Commander
WWMichiko Konda, Truth Seeker Mono-White Control
RWBasandra, Battle Seraph Sunforger Shenanigans
GRWZacama Loam & Lands
Cube
Draft my "Classic Border Cube"
WUBRGCheck out some of my older lists and my Type4 Cube!GRBUW
- Day of Judgement / +Supreme Verdict
Essentially a strict upgrade to DoJ. Being able to wipe the board clear guaranteed is definitely something that appeals to this deck.
In my never-ending browsing on here, I also came upon someone suggesting Jester's Mask as a Sen Trips inclusion. I must have this in here now... This is a nostalgia pick that honestly synergizes really well with my commander. I think I'll throw this into the list in place of my Shimmer Myr.
-Shimmer Myr / +Jester's Mask
Also think I may want to find space for a Codex Shredder and a Conjurer's Bauble.
—Lim-Dul, the Necromancer
EDH/Commander
WWMichiko Konda, Truth Seeker Mono-White Control
RWBasandra, Battle Seraph Sunforger Shenanigans
GRWZacama Loam & Lands
Cube
Draft my "Classic Border Cube"
WUBRGCheck out some of my older lists and my Type4 Cube!GRBUW
—Lim-Dul, the Necromancer
EDH/Commander
WWMichiko Konda, Truth Seeker Mono-White Control
RWBasandra, Battle Seraph Sunforger Shenanigans
GRWZacama Loam & Lands
Cube
Draft my "Classic Border Cube"
WUBRGCheck out some of my older lists and my Type4 Cube!GRBUW
-Mycosynth Lattice, Celestial Dawn, Propaganda, Ghostly Prison
+Codex Shredder, Conjurer's Bauble, Meekstone, Artificer's Intuition
Bear with me now. The Lattice and Celestial Dawn are neat. They're cute. But they are not really useful. Granted, I don't play the deck very often, but I can't remember ever actually casting an opponents' spell off these + the Trips. The best they've ever done for me, is to fix my mana a little bit.
I'm adding in a trinket to plug into my recursion engine (the Conjurer's Bauble), a card to mess with Tops and topdeck tutors, and a defensive trinket for my Trinket Mage package. I'm also bringing in that Artificer's Intuition that I mentioned about a year and a half ago.
The 2 Propaganda effects are nice, but they're not really solutions to anything but a token swarm. I think Meekstone is a better answer to threats, and it really doesn't hit me much at all. Most of what I'd be attacking with are going to be smaller than 3 power (Thopter tokens), have vigilance (Sun Titan), or can just be untapped again with my Voltaic Key. If it turns out to be trouble for me, I'll think about making a switch to something like Ensnaring Bridge or Crawlspace.
I'm looking forward to seeing how these play out for me.
—Lim-Dul, the Necromancer
EDH/Commander
WWMichiko Konda, Truth Seeker Mono-White Control
RWBasandra, Battle Seraph Sunforger Shenanigans
GRWZacama Loam & Lands
Cube
Draft my "Classic Border Cube"
WUBRGCheck out some of my older lists and my Type4 Cube!GRBUW