I'm not a huge fan of mana combos, but this one seems interesting enough to play around with. The main combo is Semblance Anvil + Dissipation Field + Any damaging Talisman. Talisman deals damage to you, return it to your hand, play it for free, rinse and repeat. This turns a Talisman into a Channel. You can go infinite with Lifesmith, and infinite damage (+ win-condition) via Embersmith.
Deck is relatively self-explanatory so I won't get into huge details about card choices, but I'd like to hear some more suggestions/comments to improve the deck. Overall it's not bad for a deck that costs less than $10. $5 without Mana Vault.
Not sure how this would benefit me. None of my artifacts are really worth copying. Talisman tokens would dissapear if returning to my hand, and Prototype Portal doesn't trigger any of the Smiths either.
As many style points Door gets you and as happy it is to be played, I don't think it's a good wincon for a deck with infinite mana because it's an etbt card that needs to be :symtap:ed to work.
On top of that I don't know when it'd be usefull over Smiths. You can deal inf. damage to any number of targets. Targeted, that is, but Door also targets and just one player. Exsanguinate might work instead, no target, no damage, or Brainfreeze (targets but independant of life), or Laboratory Maniac (with Riddlesmith).
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As many style points Door gets you and as happy it is to be played, I don't think it's a good wincon for a deck with infinite mana because it's an etbt card that needs to be :symtap:ed to work.
On top of that I don't know when it'd be usefull over Smiths. You can deal inf. damage to any number of targets. Targeted, that is, but Door also targets and just one player. Exsanguinate might work instead, no target, no damage, or Brainfreeze (targets but independant of life), or Laboratory Maniac (with Riddlesmith).
I was hoping to use an Artifact based alternate win-condition so I could pitch it to Semblance Anvil as a last resort. The choices there aren't so great besides the typical Blightsteel Colossus. I thought about the Sunburst options but they seem weak too. I think the Door can work if I just play it regularly a turn before it goes off, or via Alchemist's Refuge as a surprise. There were also some times where I had trouble keeping the Smiths in play, so it's perhaps not the best of strategies to completely rely on winning that way. Hopefully I can generate 10-mana without relying on the Smiths - just by using Dissipation Field + Semblance Anvil.
I also edited the manabase to be more 5-color oriented. Too little White/Black mana led to inconsistencies. Additionaly with D-Field it's easy for the opponent to abuse ETB triggers...perhaps I should consider 1-copy of Torpor Orb.
I love this deck. It's the coolest budget combo build I've seen in a long while. Kudos.
Honestly, I think some Ponders, Preordains or Brainstorms would be better in place of the Courier's Capsule and Legacy Weapon. The Weapon doesn't even get close to winning the game, Capsules don't combo (and are a bad deal--four mana for two cards); and this list needs something to give it consistency.
Also, I feel like another win-con is needed here. But I can't really think what it would be, or what to cut.
If I might make the suggestion, I'm looking at your deck and I do not see any real form of draw power.
Howling Mine, Darkwater Egg, Urza's Bauble, and other artifacts that also have several others that function in similarity might benefit your deck. IMHO I would try to squeeze in four Urza's Bauble.
With added draw, you can definitely focus on X spells of almost any color to win you the game. Red, blue and black are gonna be your go to colors here. Devil's play < Banefire. Blue can draw with blue sun's zenith and stroke of genius. Black has exsanguinate, drain life, etc.
Honestly, I think some Ponders, Preordains or Brainstorms would be better in place of the Courier's Capsule and Legacy Weapon. The Weapon doesn't even get close to winning the game, Capsules don't combo (and are a bad deal--four mana for two cards); and this list needs something to give it consistency.
If I might make the suggestion, I'm looking at your deck and I do not see any real form of draw power.
Howling Mine, Darkwater Egg, Urza's Bauble, and other artifacts that also have several others that function in similarity might benefit your deck. IMHO I would try to squeeze in four Urza's Bauble.
Sorry for the late response - I was incredibly busy with school this week. Draw was definitely a huge concern for me when I was designing the deck - and still is. While Courier's Capsule is not ideal, I don't see that the other choices are either. 4 mana for 2 cards is not a bad deal - especially when you can pay it in increments.
First, I need a cheap form of draw that gives me card advantage. Ponder, Preordain, Brainstorm, Darkwater Egg, Urza's Bauble don't do that. They are 1-for-1 cards, and I need at least a 2-for-1. This is because I'd also like to maximize the effects of Riddlesmith. This deck plays it's hand really fast, and if I'm not holding some extra cards, I feel like I would not be able to combo out properly. Card advantage is a must here.
The draw also has to be in artifact form, as I'd like to land Semblance Anvil consistently.
So the other options are: Howling Mine - Although without a real way to turn this off for my opponent, I don't want to run it. Maybe if I add Blinkmoth Well, but that doesn't seem worth it.
Anvil of Bogardan is another option, although it still benefits your opponent, and I can't really take advantage of the discard effect.
Sensei's Divining Top I think would fit in really well, if I could afford a copy of it. It allows me to find my combo pieces and even create additional Smith triggers cheaply. Additionally with 2 of these + Semblance Anvil, I can cycle through them and create a lot of Smith triggers. I think it's a good replacement for the Capsules, but I am a bit worried that this would overshadow the purpose of the deck.
Liar's Pendulum may be a fun, albeit inconsistent form of continuous draw. It may work with the 5 Talismans returning to my hand, confusing the opponent quite a bit.
Last option would be Scepter of Insight, which may be okay with the mana production of this deck.
With added draw, you can definitely focus on X spells of almost any color to win you the game. Red, blue and black are gonna be your go to colors here. Devil's play < Banefire. Blue can draw with blue sun's zenith and stroke of genius. Black has exsanguinate, drain life, etc.
X-Spells are only good when I can consistently achieve infinite mana. This deck is dependant on a 1-toughness creature to do that so I don't think X-spells are the way to go. I can generate a lot of mana, but without Lifesmith, it will be limited. This is why I opted for something like Door to Nothingness which can win with 10-mana.
And how does Legacy Weapon not win you the game? If I do manage to get infinite mana in every color, I remove all of their permanents, and do so at instant speed, every turn. I can win with any Smith attacking at that point. Additionally it's a good place to put my mana towards mid-to-late game.
7 Islands
4 Mountain
4 Forest
1 Halimar Depths
1 Seaside Haven
1 Jungle Shrine
1 Savage Lands
1 Crumbling Necropolis
1 Alchemist's Refuge
Creatures 12
4 Embersmith
4 Riddlesmith
4 Lifesmith
1 Fabricate
3 Wash Out
Enchantments 4
4 Dissipation Field
Artifacts 19
4 Semblance Anvil
2 Talisman of Impulse
2 Talisman of Dominance
2 Talisman of Progress
2 Talisman of Unity
2 Talisman of Indulgence
1 Mana Vault
1 Legacy Weapon
1 Door to Nothingness
2 Courier's Capsule
4 Etherium Sculptor
4 Helm of Awakening
2 Torpor Orb
1 Vedalken Archmage
1 Etherium Horn-Caster
1 Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
1 Devil's Play
1 Invoke the Firemind
Riddlesmith allows you to sift through your entire deck or find combo pieces. Legacy Weapon and Door to Nothingness are alternate win-conditions. Dissipation Field and Wash Out are pretty good disrupters. Even without Semblance Anvil the interactions between Disipation Field + Talismans + Smiths are pretty good.
Deck is relatively self-explanatory so I won't get into huge details about card choices, but I'd like to hear some more suggestions/comments to improve the deck. Overall it's not bad for a deck that costs less than $10. $5 without Mana Vault.
R: Copypasta Sauce {Browbeat}
UR: Mana Cache , One Spell to Bind them All {Magnetic Theft}
UG: Epic Struggle , All-In-Poison {Metamorphosis}
UW: Planar Overlay , Decree of the Bailiff {Saprazzan Bailiff}
BG: Thought Gorger , Dark Chroma {Umbra Stalker}
UBR: Dwarven Shrine
WUBRG: Dissipation Field , Maelstrom Nexus
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Not sure how this would benefit me. None of my artifacts are really worth copying. Talisman tokens would dissapear if returning to my hand, and Prototype Portal doesn't trigger any of the Smiths either.
R: Copypasta Sauce {Browbeat}
UR: Mana Cache , One Spell to Bind them All {Magnetic Theft}
UG: Epic Struggle , All-In-Poison {Metamorphosis}
UW: Planar Overlay , Decree of the Bailiff {Saprazzan Bailiff}
BG: Thought Gorger , Dark Chroma {Umbra Stalker}
UBR: Dwarven Shrine
WUBRG: Dissipation Field , Maelstrom Nexus
On top of that I don't know when it'd be usefull over Smiths. You can deal inf. damage to any number of targets. Targeted, that is, but Door also targets and just one player. Exsanguinate might work instead, no target, no damage, or Brainfreeze (targets but independant of life), or Laboratory Maniac (with Riddlesmith).
I was hoping to use an Artifact based alternate win-condition so I could pitch it to Semblance Anvil as a last resort. The choices there aren't so great besides the typical Blightsteel Colossus. I thought about the Sunburst options but they seem weak too. I think the Door can work if I just play it regularly a turn before it goes off, or via Alchemist's Refuge as a surprise. There were also some times where I had trouble keeping the Smiths in play, so it's perhaps not the best of strategies to completely rely on winning that way. Hopefully I can generate 10-mana without relying on the Smiths - just by using Dissipation Field + Semblance Anvil.
I also edited the manabase to be more 5-color oriented. Too little White/Black mana led to inconsistencies. Additionaly with D-Field it's easy for the opponent to abuse ETB triggers...perhaps I should consider 1-copy of Torpor Orb.
R: Copypasta Sauce {Browbeat}
UR: Mana Cache , One Spell to Bind them All {Magnetic Theft}
UG: Epic Struggle , All-In-Poison {Metamorphosis}
UW: Planar Overlay , Decree of the Bailiff {Saprazzan Bailiff}
BG: Thought Gorger , Dark Chroma {Umbra Stalker}
UBR: Dwarven Shrine
WUBRG: Dissipation Field , Maelstrom Nexus
Honestly, I think some Ponders, Preordains or Brainstorms would be better in place of the Courier's Capsule and Legacy Weapon. The Weapon doesn't even get close to winning the game, Capsules don't combo (and are a bad deal--four mana for two cards); and this list needs something to give it consistency.
Also, I feel like another win-con is needed here. But I can't really think what it would be, or what to cut.
Howling Mine, Darkwater Egg, Urza's Bauble, and other artifacts that also have several others that function in similarity might benefit your deck. IMHO I would try to squeeze in four Urza's Bauble.
Sorry for the late response - I was incredibly busy with school this week. Draw was definitely a huge concern for me when I was designing the deck - and still is. While Courier's Capsule is not ideal, I don't see that the other choices are either. 4 mana for 2 cards is not a bad deal - especially when you can pay it in increments.
First, I need a cheap form of draw that gives me card advantage. Ponder, Preordain, Brainstorm, Darkwater Egg, Urza's Bauble don't do that. They are 1-for-1 cards, and I need at least a 2-for-1. This is because I'd also like to maximize the effects of Riddlesmith. This deck plays it's hand really fast, and if I'm not holding some extra cards, I feel like I would not be able to combo out properly. Card advantage is a must here.
The draw also has to be in artifact form, as I'd like to land Semblance Anvil consistently.
So the other options are:
Howling Mine - Although without a real way to turn this off for my opponent, I don't want to run it. Maybe if I add Blinkmoth Well, but that doesn't seem worth it.
Anvil of Bogardan is another option, although it still benefits your opponent, and I can't really take advantage of the discard effect.
Skullclamp is too broken for this deck.
Sensei's Divining Top I think would fit in really well, if I could afford a copy of it. It allows me to find my combo pieces and even create additional Smith triggers cheaply. Additionally with 2 of these + Semblance Anvil, I can cycle through them and create a lot of Smith triggers. I think it's a good replacement for the Capsules, but I am a bit worried that this would overshadow the purpose of the deck.
Liar's Pendulum may be a fun, albeit inconsistent form of continuous draw. It may work with the 5 Talismans returning to my hand, confusing the opponent quite a bit.
Last option would be Scepter of Insight, which may be okay with the mana production of this deck.
X-Spells are only good when I can consistently achieve infinite mana. This deck is dependant on a 1-toughness creature to do that so I don't think X-spells are the way to go. I can generate a lot of mana, but without Lifesmith, it will be limited. This is why I opted for something like Door to Nothingness which can win with 10-mana.
And how does Legacy Weapon not win you the game? If I do manage to get infinite mana in every color, I remove all of their permanents, and do so at instant speed, every turn. I can win with any Smith attacking at that point. Additionally it's a good place to put my mana towards mid-to-late game.
R: Copypasta Sauce {Browbeat}
UR: Mana Cache , One Spell to Bind them All {Magnetic Theft}
UG: Epic Struggle , All-In-Poison {Metamorphosis}
UW: Planar Overlay , Decree of the Bailiff {Saprazzan Bailiff}
BG: Thought Gorger , Dark Chroma {Umbra Stalker}
UBR: Dwarven Shrine
WUBRG: Dissipation Field , Maelstrom Nexus