I've been attempting to pick out underperforming cards in the list, and one that surprised me is Flayer of the Hatebound?
Don't get me wrong, this thing is autoinclude in traditional Marchesa lists, but in here the incompatibility with artifact sac outlets is especially problematic.
The idea with this card is that the synergy with an infinite sac outlet gives you 9 damage to throw around every turn, which is insane. However, I only have two sac outlets in the deck that can sacrifice creatures infinitely.
Instead, I'm probably leaning more on cards like Marionette Master, which has greater synergy with the deck and also is more capable of bursting down players in an instant if needed. Also, equipping a Cranial Plating to her is absolutely disgusting.
Also, I got myself an Umezawa's Jitte recently. I'll throw it in and see how it works. Being able to engage in combat is not an issue. However, if I constantly need to repay the 2 to equip, that may be a slight issue. Also, the ability to more effectively handle creatures at instant speed is very welcome. I'll see if the versatility is needed here.
Lastly, I'm simply waiting on Walking Ballista because I want to see it go down in price before I decide to get one.
Personally leaning towards herald because of essentially costing 5 or less in most scenarios, having an artifact sac ability that controls the board at instant speed, and having sweet hand disruption on top of that which can severely hamper opponents if not dealt with. Hellkite Igniter is also a consideration, and with my overall artifact count going up it isn't unreasonable for this thing to hit in the 20-30s if I can untap with it.
Also probably going to test Aetherworks Marvel. May end up replacing Panharmonicon if I start cutting any more ETB creatures. Also if I do go for the Hellkite Igniter, I might want a Genesis Chamber.
Hell, I should be running a Genesis Chamber. This deck can abuse it almost more than Norin, although having it out makes the aggro plan more difficult.
Here is my runthrough of recent changes. Some of them may not last.
- Ruins of Oran Rief: Yeah, this thing is crappy.
- Disciple of Bolas: Doesn't curve out well. Cutting for a card that also doesn't curve out well, but is far better.
- Faerie Artisans: It is not a focused card and the amount of value you get can be quite variable.
- Flayer of the Hatebound: This should never be cut in a normal list, but this is far from a normal list, and it doesn't have the infinite creature sac outlets to support it often enough
- Dictate of Erebos: Need to lower the curve, although it might come back.
+ Mana Crypt: Artifact, free mana, sacs when we are afraid of the damage. Absolutely zero downside.
+ Necropotence: With filter lands, I'm confident that we can support the triple black
+ Umezawa's Jitte: This card helps give us some instant speed interaction as well as allow Inkmoth Nexus and similar cards to be terrifying. Not completely sure of it, but I have one and I want to try it out.
+ Genesis Chamber: This goes super nuts with modular combos and can do a lot of damage either through deck synergy or through attacking people with the most life. We could get more mileage out of this than Norin if set up properly.
+ Hellkite Igniter: Testing. Expensive, but it can do a metric ton of damage very quickly with the artifact count in the deck.
i find reassuring that you found disciple of bolas, flayer and artisans not worth their salt in here, i also thought they belonged in a non artifact build.
dictate of erebos never stuck in my own version of the deck, i always cut it before a game.
thumbs up for mana crypt, i happened once to have a crap starting hand of manacrypt, land and burnished hart, and i kept it just for giggles. it worked out great, as nobody pathed the creature or destroyed the crypt. if that hand had a couple lands more, it would have been disgusting.
i also took the same reasoning you did for jitte, the deck has limited ways of destroying creatures and doesn't care about its creatures attacking most of the time. this is the only card that can be a repeatable removal and supporting both plan A (raise marionette master power to bomb the table) and plan C (oneshotting someone with a stray inkmoth nexus). and the upside of gaining life. this has the potential to be a staple.
i tried genesis chamber in one of the early versions of the deck, it didn't perform enough for me. if you play it on curve, you have quite a strong tempo loss with no gain, if you play it late game, it either is underwhelming or dealt with swiftly. that said, try it out!
Inkmoth nexus seems really sweet. I would run it myself if I could afford it. Even without any extra buffing it kills an opponent in 4 turns (it will always get counters because it makes opponent lose life). With just one extra counter it kills in 3. I used to run mishra's factory and now I run blinkmoth nexus and just being able to dump counters onto an evasive body is value.
I find it reassuring that people who adopted the deck are finding the same win conditions to be the most optimal. Inkmoth Nexus was a card that in early versions of the deck was merely an "option" for getting rid of a player. Now, it is usually a serious threat. Bonus points for being an Affinity card that eliminates players in much the same way! Otherwise, my most reliable win has not changed: getting Marionette Master to bomb a table.
So, my reasoning for Genesis Chamber is that you shouldn't be playing it on curve. However, what it is meant to do is essentially amplify the potency of many of the other synergies in the deck, including the win conditions. Purphoros, Vicious Shadows, inkmoth-ravager, Cranial Plating, Marionette Master, and Hellkite Igniter all benefit from having additional artifact tokens. I believe what I have now simply allows the card to support the gameplan more effectively. Previously, Myr Battlesphere performed much the same role as this card, yet the problem with that card is its high cmc. With dethrone, even merely attacking with the tokens may not be a bad plan if you have enough of them.
The biggest drawback of the card is its absolute REQUIREMENT to be set up to be effective (like with, say, everyone's favorite modular creature?). However, this deck's setups are also some of the most resilient out there, so testing will see how much potential this card has.
Other than that, I'm looking for slots to throw in more instant speed interaction and draw.
(The deck has 40 artifacts now. I believe with this we can count on affinity and metalcraft to always be active)
Poor Leovold... maybe if he wasn't such an oppressive jerk, he could've stuck around.
This deck has been probably the funnest to play for me lately. It has so many answers and sneaky ways to get things done and every draw feels like a threat to someone else. I have a slightly older version as I've been too busy to go through cards, but I just had a game where it took on a Derevi, Gitrog, and Leovold. It would've won, even with Leovold making everyone's card go away, but after a few board wipes, Leo was defenseless and Marchessa was still in her prime. Unfortunately, Derevi got a Thespian's stage out with Gitrog's Dark Depths out and the resulting voltron'd up marit lage was devastating to everyone on the board. Still had a great time though, and that's what matters.
Have you ever considered Legion Loyalist? I run it in my Marchesa and it's a hidden all-star here. He has haste so he can be a pain for your opponents to deal with, and first strike and trample out of relatively nowhere gets the job done... for 1 mana.
i tried my version of marchesa artifacts last night, i was completely underwhelmed by spellskite. the best use i had for it has been using it as a 5th artifact for time sieve.
the only time it is usually good for me is to prevent the stray path of exile on marchesa, but the deck seemed stable enough to just shrug off the commander tax. anyone else in doubt about the card?
i tried my version of marchesa artifacts last night, i was completely underwhelmed by spellskite. the best use i had for it has been using it as a 5th artifact for time sieve.
the only time it is usually good for me is to prevent the stray path of exile on marchesa, but the deck seemed stable enough to just shrug off the commander tax. anyone else in doubt about the card?
It's a toolbox card. It's not always going to be the best card on the battlefield, but when you need it you'll be glad you have it. In a 4-5 player pod once people learn what you're doing, they're going to be gunning for Marchesa or other important creatures like Arcbound Ravager nonstop. Also it obviously depends on the people/decks you're playing with. Some people run more or less removal than others. You may also not realize it, but people may be holding on to cards just because you have Spellskite on the battlefield and they can't target what they want to. It's one of those cards that you know is working because they aren't casting spells at your stuff - they know it'll be redirected to Spellskite.
i tried my version of marchesa artifacts last night, i was completely underwhelmed by spellskite. the best use i had for it has been using it as a 5th artifact for time sieve.
the only time it is usually good for me is to prevent the stray path of exile on marchesa, but the deck seemed stable enough to just shrug off the commander tax. anyone else in doubt about the card?
It's a toolbox card. It's not always going to be the best card on the battlefield, but when you need it you'll be glad you have it. In a 4-5 player pod once people learn what you're doing, they're going to be gunning for Marchesa or other important creatures like Arcbound Ravager nonstop. Also it obviously depends on the people/decks you're playing with. Some people run more or less removal than others. You may also not realize it, but people may be holding on to cards just because you have Spellskite on the battlefield and they can't target what they want to. It's one of those cards that you know is working because they aren't casting spells at your stuff - they know it'll be redirected to Spellskite.
There are multiple Marchesas in my meta. I'm the most aggressive version; one of them is the more stealery version and the other is more like plushpenguin's artifact version. As someone who doesn't have the Spellskite in his deck and my opponents know this, I get a lot more random hate flung at me. So I completely agree with Kelzam's analysis that perhaps they were holding onto the hate: especially since I've been on the other side, staring down the Spellskite and trying to figure out a way to actually remove the target I want.
Skite generally brings out groans from the table just from it existing. It rarely actually redirects stuff, as people know how much of a waste it is to throw spot removal at the deck. You still want it for protecting Marchesa before the setup is done though.
However, as for this deck itself, I haven't been playing it recently due to an increase in graveyard hate and an increase in linear non-interactive strategies that simply try to ignore what I'm doing and gun for me. I had to actually throw in more instant speed responses so that I can answer critical threats. For example, I'm not likely to outrace The Locust God at its own game. My Xenagod can because it is a turn faster, but not this deck.
Also keep in mind that my meta is pretty well equipped to fight aggro because I also own Xenagod.
Hi buddha, spellskite can be pretty underwhelming at times. But it's basic function is to keep people from killing Marchesa, and the cards in the protect department is rather small. in meta when there are many wrath effects, spellskite is weak, however when the meta is path heavy... it shines. secondly it's an artifact and this artifact version needs alot of good artifact that is b4 marchesa. so it's definitely an inclusion
Roger that! I'm also having doubts about artifact removal, as my only creature (welder) dedicated to the task is not an artifact and does not really kill artifacts. Does anyone here have some sort of tech? I'd rather use commit on a spell or on a enchantment than on an artifact. I was intrigued by engineered explosives to be honest.
Roger that! I'm also having doubts about artifact removal, as my only creature (welder) dedicated to the task is not an artifact and does not really kill artifacts. Does anyone here have some sort of tech? I'd rather use commit on a spell or on a enchantment than on an artifact. I was intrigued by engineered explosives to be honest.
Hi buddha, I ran a normal version version of marchesa, but not super OP. I do run manic vandal, oxida scrapmelter,torch fiend kolaghan command ... but my meta is full of GY hate, lotsa relic and if you don't wished to be held hostage by these deck... just run some artifact hate. I did test p revoker , and some other cards like coercive portal, sometimes they work. But the artifact hate department makes my listing weaker compared to others as well.
Have you ever considered Legion Loyalist? I run it in my Marchesa and it's a hidden all-star here. He has haste so he can be a pain for your opponents to deal with, and first strike and trample out of relatively nowhere gets the job done... for 1 mana.
So I get that it's not an artifact but it's very synergistic with what you're doing nonetheless. It's sad to me that a suggestion I made over 2 months ago got no response... meanwhile a comment about Spellskite garnered like 6 responses in a few hours.
I'll again reiterate that loyalist is a hidden gem that you should at least test before you dismiss it out of hand. Thanks.
Have you ever considered Legion Loyalist? I run it in my Marchesa and it's a hidden all-star here. He has haste so he can be a pain for your opponents to deal with, and first strike and trample out of relatively nowhere gets the job done... for 1 mana.
So I get that it's not an artifact but it's very synergistic with what you're doing nonetheless. It's sad to me that a suggestion I made over 2 months ago got no response... meanwhile a comment about Spellskite garnered like 6 responses in a few hours.
I'll again reiterate that loyalist is a hidden gem that you should at least test before you dismiss it out of hand. Thanks.
It is very good in aggro shells but this deck strangely enough isn't really that much of an aggro deck, more of a combo deck. Nonetheless, I have space to try it when the deck becomes viable for my meta again.
Fair point, your creatures do come pre-equipped with their own +1+1 counters which does switch up the game plan of 'get counters on my dudes asap' a bit. I guess I pictured modular Marchesa as being aggressive with its creatures still and that's my bad for not having a clear understanding of the decks intended strategy. Ty for getting back to me and let me know how testing goes.
Fair point, your creatures do come pre-equipped with their own +1+1 counters which does switch up the game plan of 'get counters on my dudes asap' a bit. I guess I pictured modular Marchesa as being aggressive with its creatures still and that's my bad for not having a clear understanding of the decks intended strategy. Ty for getting back to me and let me know how testing goes.
Really, the less aggressive nature of the deck comes down to three factors.
A) There is less variety in artifact creatures and therefore they normally have less base power to work with.
B) My meta is pretty good at stopping aggression in a variety of ways due to the existence of other decks.
C) There are often at least five players, and they ALL know to be suspicious of whatever I play, even if I'm intentionally toning it down.
I had to cut a lot of cute stuff for interaction because I've been getting blown out for not having it. The win conditions are still the same.
i'm willing to test torch fiend, in a pinch it's still tutorable by muddle the mixture or imperial recruiter, and mikaeus can recur him (manic vandal can't as a human).
kolaghan's command or rakdos daretti might do, but they're still not optimal for what i was looking for.
as for legion loyalist, i never found myself wanting to push through damage with trample, or met token decks, i agree in saying that the artifact version is more likely to combo out rather than win with damage (even though it still is a good plan C).
So, I did something heretical again. I cut Bad Mike from my list.
Every time I've had him in my hand, I had ravager and saying "I don't need to cast this". I think I used it a couple times to go insane with life drains, but nothing more than that. This also means I'm probably not doing the Walking Ballista combo.
So, rather than having cheap threats and expensive turbo-enablers, now I have cheap turbo-enablers and expensive threats. I cut jitte and igniter because igniter is like a less powerful Inkmoth Nexus.
I had to cut daretti to fit in dack. Mr Fayden's artifact steal is more valuable and his looting and overall cmc is better than being able to weld on a -2. Plus, in three colors, we have a lot of good options for artifact support cards.
I cut Marvel. I cut Scarecrone because I was rarely using the second ability. I had to add in counterspells, instant speed kill, and free up a slot for Oblivion Stone. Of course, I need to GET the O-stone first.
I'm testing Precursor Golem because that's a lot of artifact bodies that can do a lot of damage and still be ABSOLUTELY EXPENDABLE.
Mirage Mirror appears to be a very legitimate card that is currently in testing.
Lastly, at this stage, the deck mulligans very well. I'm glad that I have it down to where there are very few "non-games" with the deck.
EDIT: Apparently this morning I somehow went out of my mind. What the hell was I thinking cutting Bad Mike? Sure, he's no Ravager but he is still very good and worth running. Putting him back in.
Don't get me wrong, this thing is autoinclude in traditional Marchesa lists, but in here the incompatibility with artifact sac outlets is especially problematic.
The idea with this card is that the synergy with an infinite sac outlet gives you 9 damage to throw around every turn, which is insane. However, I only have two sac outlets in the deck that can sacrifice creatures infinitely.
Instead, I'm probably leaning more on cards like Marionette Master, which has greater synergy with the deck and also is more capable of bursting down players in an instant if needed. Also, equipping a Cranial Plating to her is absolutely disgusting.
Also, I got myself an Umezawa's Jitte recently. I'll throw it in and see how it works. Being able to engage in combat is not an issue. However, if I constantly need to repay the 2 to equip, that may be a slight issue. Also, the ability to more effectively handle creatures at instant speed is very welcome. I'll see if the versatility is needed here.
Lastly, I'm simply waiting on Walking Ballista because I want to see it go down in price before I decide to get one.
Also may consider testing: Cathodion and Herald of Anguish. Maybe Precursor Golem?. Even Plague Myr is a consideration because it can randomly kill someone when wearing a Cranial Plating!
Personally leaning towards herald because of essentially costing 5 or less in most scenarios, having an artifact sac ability that controls the board at instant speed, and having sweet hand disruption on top of that which can severely hamper opponents if not dealt with. Hellkite Igniter is also a consideration, and with my overall artifact count going up it isn't unreasonable for this thing to hit in the 20-30s if I can untap with it.
Also probably going to test Aetherworks Marvel. May end up replacing Panharmonicon if I start cutting any more ETB creatures. Also if I do go for the Hellkite Igniter, I might want a Genesis Chamber.
Hell, I should be running a Genesis Chamber. This deck can abuse it almost more than Norin, although having it out makes the aggro plan more difficult.
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.
- Ruins of Oran Rief: Yeah, this thing is crappy.
- Disciple of Bolas: Doesn't curve out well. Cutting for a card that also doesn't curve out well, but is far better.
- Faerie Artisans: It is not a focused card and the amount of value you get can be quite variable.
- Flayer of the Hatebound: This should never be cut in a normal list, but this is far from a normal list, and it doesn't have the infinite creature sac outlets to support it often enough
- Dictate of Erebos: Need to lower the curve, although it might come back.
+ Mana Crypt: Artifact, free mana, sacs when we are afraid of the damage. Absolutely zero downside.
+ Necropotence: With filter lands, I'm confident that we can support the triple black
+ Umezawa's Jitte: This card helps give us some instant speed interaction as well as allow Inkmoth Nexus and similar cards to be terrifying. Not completely sure of it, but I have one and I want to try it out.
+ Genesis Chamber: This goes super nuts with modular combos and can do a lot of damage either through deck synergy or through attacking people with the most life. We could get more mileage out of this than Norin if set up properly.
+ Hellkite Igniter: Testing. Expensive, but it can do a metric ton of damage very quickly with the artifact count in the deck.
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.
dictate of erebos never stuck in my own version of the deck, i always cut it before a game.
thumbs up for mana crypt, i happened once to have a crap starting hand of manacrypt, land and burnished hart, and i kept it just for giggles. it worked out great, as nobody pathed the creature or destroyed the crypt. if that hand had a couple lands more, it would have been disgusting.
i also took the same reasoning you did for jitte, the deck has limited ways of destroying creatures and doesn't care about its creatures attacking most of the time. this is the only card that can be a repeatable removal and supporting both plan A (raise marionette master power to bomb the table) and plan C (oneshotting someone with a stray inkmoth nexus). and the upside of gaining life. this has the potential to be a staple.
i tried genesis chamber in one of the early versions of the deck, it didn't perform enough for me. if you play it on curve, you have quite a strong tempo loss with no gain, if you play it late game, it either is underwhelming or dealt with swiftly. that said, try it out!
I find it reassuring that people who adopted the deck are finding the same win conditions to be the most optimal. Inkmoth Nexus was a card that in early versions of the deck was merely an "option" for getting rid of a player. Now, it is usually a serious threat. Bonus points for being an Affinity card that eliminates players in much the same way! Otherwise, my most reliable win has not changed: getting Marionette Master to bomb a table.
So, my reasoning for Genesis Chamber is that you shouldn't be playing it on curve. However, what it is meant to do is essentially amplify the potency of many of the other synergies in the deck, including the win conditions. Purphoros, Vicious Shadows, inkmoth-ravager, Cranial Plating, Marionette Master, and Hellkite Igniter all benefit from having additional artifact tokens. I believe what I have now simply allows the card to support the gameplan more effectively. Previously, Myr Battlesphere performed much the same role as this card, yet the problem with that card is its high cmc. With dethrone, even merely attacking with the tokens may not be a bad plan if you have enough of them.
The biggest drawback of the card is its absolute REQUIREMENT to be set up to be effective (like with, say, everyone's favorite modular creature?). However, this deck's setups are also some of the most resilient out there, so testing will see how much potential this card has.
Other than that, I'm looking for slots to throw in more instant speed interaction and draw.
(The deck has 40 artifacts now. I believe with this we can count on affinity and metalcraft to always be active)
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.
Mid-Tier: Marchesa Aggro Rose Asmadi Get Dire Tymna Ikra Woke Women Tiana Aura Angel Ruric Thar SMASH Smasher Kraum Mana Positivity Zur Slides
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG Gahiji Vigilant Vengeance Ezuri Mysterious Morphs
Mox Opal is $57... Aaaaaahh....
Literally the only way I'm getting that is if I can trade away my Leovold for 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.
Well, it's too bad you could toss Leo away while he was Unbanned.
Mid-Tier: Marchesa Aggro Rose Asmadi Get Dire Tymna Ikra Woke Women Tiana Aura Angel Ruric Thar SMASH Smasher Kraum Mana Positivity Zur Slides
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG Gahiji Vigilant Vengeance Ezuri Mysterious Morphs
This deck has been probably the funnest to play for me lately. It has so many answers and sneaky ways to get things done and every draw feels like a threat to someone else. I have a slightly older version as I've been too busy to go through cards, but I just had a game where it took on a Derevi, Gitrog, and Leovold. It would've won, even with Leovold making everyone's card go away, but after a few board wipes, Leo was defenseless and Marchessa was still in her prime. Unfortunately, Derevi got a Thespian's stage out with Gitrog's Dark Depths out and the resulting voltron'd up marit lage was devastating to everyone on the board. Still had a great time though, and that's what matters.
the only time it is usually good for me is to prevent the stray path of exile on marchesa, but the deck seemed stable enough to just shrug off the commander tax. anyone else in doubt about the card?
It's a toolbox card. It's not always going to be the best card on the battlefield, but when you need it you'll be glad you have it. In a 4-5 player pod once people learn what you're doing, they're going to be gunning for Marchesa or other important creatures like Arcbound Ravager nonstop. Also it obviously depends on the people/decks you're playing with. Some people run more or less removal than others. You may also not realize it, but people may be holding on to cards just because you have Spellskite on the battlefield and they can't target what they want to. It's one of those cards that you know is working because they aren't casting spells at your stuff - they know it'll be redirected to Spellskite.
(Also known as Xenphire)
Mid-Tier: Marchesa Aggro Rose Asmadi Get Dire Tymna Ikra Woke Women Tiana Aura Angel Ruric Thar SMASH Smasher Kraum Mana Positivity Zur Slides
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG Gahiji Vigilant Vengeance Ezuri Mysterious Morphs
However, as for this deck itself, I haven't been playing it recently due to an increase in graveyard hate and an increase in linear non-interactive strategies that simply try to ignore what I'm doing and gun for me. I had to actually throw in more instant speed responses so that I can answer critical threats. For example, I'm not likely to outrace The Locust God at its own game. My Xenagod can because it is a turn faster, but not this deck.
Also keep in mind that my meta is pretty well equipped to fight aggro because I also own Xenagod.
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.
You got plenty of options for artifact removal.
Vandalblast, Rakdos Charm, Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast, Dack Fayden.
Personally, I think some artifact removal is necessary because of the existence of artifact graveyard nukes.
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.
So I get that it's not an artifact but it's very synergistic with what you're doing nonetheless. It's sad to me that a suggestion I made over 2 months ago got no response... meanwhile a comment about Spellskite garnered like 6 responses in a few hours.
I'll again reiterate that loyalist is a hidden gem that you should at least test before you dismiss it out of hand. Thanks.
It is very good in aggro shells but this deck strangely enough isn't really that much of an aggro deck, more of a combo deck. Nonetheless, I have space to try it when the deck becomes viable for my meta again.
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.
Really, the less aggressive nature of the deck comes down to three factors.
A) There is less variety in artifact creatures and therefore they normally have less base power to work with.
B) My meta is pretty good at stopping aggression in a variety of ways due to the existence of other decks.
C) There are often at least five players, and they ALL know to be suspicious of whatever I play, even if I'm intentionally toning it down.
I had to cut a lot of cute stuff for interaction because I've been getting blown out for not having it. The win conditions are still the same.
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.
kolaghan's command or rakdos daretti might do, but they're still not optimal for what i was looking for.
as for legion loyalist, i never found myself wanting to push through damage with trample, or met token decks, i agree in saying that the artifact version is more likely to combo out rather than win with damage (even though it still is a good plan C).
So, I did something heretical again. I cut Bad Mike from my list.
Every time I've had him in my hand, I had ravager and saying "I don't need to cast this". I think I used it a couple times to go insane with life drains, but nothing more than that. This also means I'm probably not doing the Walking Ballista combo.
So, rather than having cheap threats and expensive turbo-enablers, now I have cheap turbo-enablers and expensive threats. I cut jitte and igniter because igniter is like a less powerful Inkmoth Nexus.
I had to cut daretti to fit in dack. Mr Fayden's artifact steal is more valuable and his looting and overall cmc is better than being able to weld on a -2. Plus, in three colors, we have a lot of good options for artifact support cards.
I cut Marvel. I cut Scarecrone because I was rarely using the second ability. I had to add in counterspells, instant speed kill, and free up a slot for Oblivion Stone. Of course, I need to GET the O-stone first.
I'm testing Precursor Golem because that's a lot of artifact bodies that can do a lot of damage and still be ABSOLUTELY EXPENDABLE.
Mirage Mirror appears to be a very legitimate card that is currently in testing.
Lastly, at this stage, the deck mulligans very well. I'm glad that I have it down to where there are very few "non-games" with the deck.
EDIT: Apparently this morning I somehow went out of my mind. What the hell was I thinking cutting Bad Mike? Sure, he's no Ravager but he is still very good and worth running. Putting him back in.
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.