My build is quite different, but here is my input on the cards you are testing.
Spellskite: An unkillable spellskite is a thing to behold. Even more so for me where I'm abusing modular shenanigans and therefore have the opportunity to re-protect it without attacking. Keep in mind that skite is a disruption tool as well as protection. Treasure Keeper: It is decent, but not crazy. Unless you have modular shenanigans or bad mike. Then it is crazy. Metallic Mimic: Fantastic card. You can name human or wizard, but if you have shapeshifters that keep their creature type, they get looped too. I accidentally figured this out when saccing Duplicant. Westvale Abbey: Pretty hard to have the 5 creatures you want to sac for this thing. Colorless land slots are premium too. Hanweir Battlements: I have no experience with the card. I have no space for it. Yahenni, Undying Partisan: need to find room to test.
Out of cuts, I personally am still a fan of clamps, although my deck is pretty well suited to using it.
I haven't gotten too many games in yet. I handed it off to someone else to try out, although he wasn't able to set up modular madness in any of his games (the deck is not that intuitive to learn).
I think the triple red combined with the fact that you want to be firing this thing off for x=2 or 3 is why I might not be able to find a spot for that kind of effect. I want to try Whir of Invention and I'm afraid that the triple blue cost is too prohibitive for the deck. That being said, it is pretty promising. It requires a pretty good board setup to use though, so it might have issues with being worse when you are behind.
RE: Combustible Gearhulk: If you're only ever going to get one trigger off and people are at high life totals, they're going to take the damage. However, psychology plays a big factor into this card. If you can repeatedly trigger it, you target the same person, and that person will figure it out pretty quickly. He or she isn't going to be inclined to take so much damage for the team just to prevent you from drawing, especially if they're not actually in a good position. They'll let you draw and expect you to burn those cards on the players who are in a good position. Also, sometimes when they do opt to take the damage, it'll be enough that it causes them to eventually lose the game and the next time they run into that scenario, they are going to very clearly remember that time they ate 10 damage and think about giving you the cards.
Sounds like you know where to address your problems with the deck. With robots, Id have to check your list but its a problem I have been getting alot with Marchesa, draw power to keep the gas going. Either I would smash faces and win easy, or sit there with nothing going and die. I run Grim Haruspex, Necropotence, River Keplie, Skullclamp, Demonic Tutor, Diabolic Intent...cant think of the rest off the top of my head.
Let's see what I have for tutors and drawpower. This list is for my planned AER list and doesn't include other CA sources such as Treasure Keeper.
This week I got hit by the perfect trifecta of constant creature boardwipes, constant artifact wipes, and access to graveyard hate. To make matters worse, I was not hitting any card draw whatsoever.
Well, at least my opponents are answering me properly now. Although one person almost managed to counter a boardwipe from me despite the fact that it was meant to wipe 3 commanders controlled by the same person just because one of those three was mine. He had nothing on board and so literally would lose nothing from it.
Addressing variance in EDH decks is really hard. Especially in ones where there are certain cards that are so much better than everything else you can conceivably put in the list. Two games I drew very poorly and one was where it literally ended on turn 7 because I had double Marionette Master with Ravager loop on Baleful Strix withSpellskite and a Rhystic Study on board.
I could try and lower my curve further, but I feel like half of my games I need an All is Dust because of the heavy enchantment use in my meta. I can't go aggro because defensive playstyles buffered by lifegain is very popular to the extent that it feels almost futile to do damage with medium-sized creatures. I guess this is why I resort to combo-like finishes and one-two punches now.
Man, I feel so out of this conversation because I run so many different cards from the rest of you.
However, I will agree with Burnished Hart being super clunky. I mean, I'm the mana-hungry artifact deck that sounds like I would want it but I really don't! I also believe that if you have enough 3 drops then you can probably afford to shave a couple mana rocks. Definitely the talismans before the signets in this deck, as many lists have very few 1-drops.
Right, it's weird how often that +1/+1 tends to be more of a drawback than an advantage.
Hell, I forget the fact that Humans that deal damage to me die half of the time. They made Mike with too much goodness.
Yeah, you need an sac outlet to make it work. However, on the plus-side, it is VERY easy to fetch with all kinds of artifact tutors. Not even just Trinket Mage, but Whir of Invention and Tezzeret the Seeker and Transmute Artifact for 0 also get this (even Artificer's Intuition and Reshape if people want to go deep with this). This makes it arguably better than Triskelion as you won't need to burn nearly as much mana to get both of them out in the same turn.
Outside of the combo..... I'd probably just pay 3 and clamp it and call it a day.
I was never sold on Grenzo in the first place. Both versions seem a bit unfocused relative to what they do. And the later version being an RR two drop didn't help matters.
I might find space for Yaheeni, but I have to build differently from the rest of you because of the hybrid build and the lower creature count that results from it. Nonetheless, I like this one a lot more than most other sacrifice outlets because of its overall durability. Dammit.. I want a additional sac outlet, a manarock, and a sweeper, but can't fit them all!
Speaking of artifacts, something that just surprised me is that the OP list doesn't run Skullclamp. I wonder what made you cut that card?
It has additional applications in being able to sacrifice and reset the creature type to something else if you want to loop an etb/death trigger every turn via an infinite sacrifice outlet.
As for me, they can kill it, and I'll have a billion ways of getting it back. Simply amazing.
Just be careful. Just like original Yawgmoth's Will, any creature deaths on your side will be put into exile instead.
True. But Yawgmoth's will is still arguably the most broken, OP thing you can put in your deck in this entire format. I've resisted the urge so far simply because its basically just goodstuff, doesn't really fit with marchesa at all. But now that its on a stick (a wizard too!) I think we've at least gotta test it. I mean the power level of yawg's will is simply insane. It still boggles my mind that Prophet of Kruphix got the boot but yawg's will remains legal.
It is indeed a very good card. Nonetheless, it is still a little bit overrated in "fair" decks because you can generally get around 2-3 things at most.
That being said, if you are built around it well enough or have a low enough curve, it is still very good. Especially considering that getting anything out of your GY is probably out-of-color for black these days. Also, being able to play your land drop off of the GY helps too.
The artisans will probably make it into my artifact build where it is still very easy to sac the tokens for value.
I mean its great to sac the tokens but this thing is basically an asymmetric torpor orb on a stick. Sure you can have your etb player but i get one too
[edit] also in case it wasnt obvious if you send artisans to the yard and bring them back (aka marchesa's whole thing) you get to keep the token thats out there for good
Oh... oh dear lord...
I think I'm more and more sold on the idea of contextually and repeatedly cloning my opponent's things for 0 mana other than the initial investment.
It is insanely degenerate.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
Spellskite: An unkillable spellskite is a thing to behold. Even more so for me where I'm abusing modular shenanigans and therefore have the opportunity to re-protect it without attacking. Keep in mind that skite is a disruption tool as well as protection.
Treasure Keeper: It is decent, but not crazy. Unless you have modular shenanigans or bad mike. Then it is crazy.
Metallic Mimic: Fantastic card. You can name human or wizard, but if you have shapeshifters that keep their creature type, they get looped too. I accidentally figured this out when saccing Duplicant.
Westvale Abbey: Pretty hard to have the 5 creatures you want to sac for this thing. Colorless land slots are premium too.
Hanweir Battlements: I have no experience with the card. I have no space for it.
Yahenni, Undying Partisan: need to find room to test.
Out of cuts, I personally am still a fan of clamps, although my deck is pretty well suited to using it.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
I did get one game with Metallic Mimic and Treasure Keeper together. I already had a sac outlet and Treasure Keeper so I decided to tutor for a Metallic Mimic via Whir of Invention and name construct.
It is exactly as busted as it sounds. I had a win condition in hand and so I won that small game pretty shortly after.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
RE: Combustible Gearhulk: If you're only ever going to get one trigger off and people are at high life totals, they're going to take the damage. However, psychology plays a big factor into this card. If you can repeatedly trigger it, you target the same person, and that person will figure it out pretty quickly. He or she isn't going to be inclined to take so much damage for the team just to prevent you from drawing, especially if they're not actually in a good position. They'll let you draw and expect you to burn those cards on the players who are in a good position. Also, sometimes when they do opt to take the damage, it'll be enough that it causes them to eventually lose the game and the next time they run into that scenario, they are going to very clearly remember that time they ate 10 damage and think about giving you the cards.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
Let's see what I have for tutors and drawpower. This list is for my planned AER list and doesn't include other CA sources such as Treasure Keeper.
Unconditional Tutors: Demonic Tutor, Diabolic Intent
Artifact Tutors that can get draw sources: Trinket Mage, Inventors' Fair, Fabricate, Sphinx Summoner, Tezzeret the Seeker, Whir of Invention.
Non-artifact draw sources: Grim Haruspex, Rhystic Study, Disciple of Bolas.
Artifact draw sources: Skullclamp, Trading Post, Combustible Gearhulk.
Artifact cantrips: Baleful Strix, Solemn Simulacrum, Scarecrone
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
Well, at least my opponents are answering me properly now. Although one person almost managed to counter a boardwipe from me despite the fact that it was meant to wipe 3 commanders controlled by the same person just because one of those three was mine. He had nothing on board and so literally would lose nothing from it.
Addressing variance in EDH decks is really hard. Especially in ones where there are certain cards that are so much better than everything else you can conceivably put in the list. Two games I drew very poorly and one was where it literally ended on turn 7 because I had double Marionette Master with Ravager loop on Baleful Strix withSpellskite and a Rhystic Study on board.
I could try and lower my curve further, but I feel like half of my games I need an All is Dust because of the heavy enchantment use in my meta. I can't go aggro because defensive playstyles buffered by lifegain is very popular to the extent that it feels almost futile to do damage with medium-sized creatures. I guess this is why I resort to combo-like finishes and one-two punches now.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
However, I will agree with Burnished Hart being super clunky. I mean, I'm the mana-hungry artifact deck that sounds like I would want it but I really don't! I also believe that if you have enough 3 drops then you can probably afford to shave a couple mana rocks. Definitely the talismans before the signets in this deck, as many lists have very few 1-drops.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
Not only did they do that, but they made it even better!
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
Yeah, you need an sac outlet to make it work. However, on the plus-side, it is VERY easy to fetch with all kinds of artifact tutors. Not even just Trinket Mage, but Whir of Invention and Tezzeret the Seeker and Transmute Artifact for 0 also get this (even Artificer's Intuition and Reshape if people want to go deep with this). This makes it arguably better than Triskelion as you won't need to burn nearly as much mana to get both of them out in the same turn.
Outside of the combo..... I'd probably just pay 3 and clamp it and call it a day.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
I might find space for Yaheeni, but I have to build differently from the rest of you because of the hybrid build and the lower creature count that results from it. Nonetheless, I like this one a lot more than most other sacrifice outlets because of its overall durability. Dammit.. I want a additional sac outlet, a manarock, and a sweeper, but can't fit them all!
Speaking of artifacts, something that just surprised me is that the OP list doesn't run Skullclamp. I wonder what made you cut that card?
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
It has additional applications in being able to sacrifice and reset the creature type to something else if you want to loop an etb/death trigger every turn via an infinite sacrifice outlet.
As for me, they can kill it, and I'll have a billion ways of getting it back. Simply amazing.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
It is indeed a very good card. Nonetheless, it is still a little bit overrated in "fair" decks because you can generally get around 2-3 things at most.
That being said, if you are built around it well enough or have a low enough curve, it is still very good. Especially considering that getting anything out of your GY is probably out-of-color for black these days. Also, being able to play your land drop off of the GY helps too.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
Just be careful. Just like original Yawgmoth's Will, any creature deaths on your side will be put into exile instead.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
Oh... oh dear lord...
I think I'm more and more sold on the idea of contextually and repeatedly cloning my opponent's things for 0 mana other than the initial investment.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.