Ever since the printing of Metalwork Colossus I really liked the card and thought it could be playable in "Modern" with all the artifacts which can power him out early.
It saw some play in fringe decks in "Standard" but was nowhere to be seen in "Modern".
1. The "Borderposts" package is the fastest way to ramp into an early Colossus and it also increases the artifact count in the deck which works well with cards like Glint-Nest Crane and Thirst for Knowledge which provide amazing consistency and draw power to the deck and help to avoid fizzling or flooding out.
2. Glint-Nest Crane - a solid creature in the deck that blocks fliers and finds relevant artifacts and SB artifacts more consistently, can also carry a Batterskull rather well and act as a finisher.
3. Lodestone Golem - helps slow down opponents and pressure slower decks while baiting removal away from our Colossus, is very good with Batterskull or Akroma's Memorial as a finisher.
4. Akroma's Memorial - the main combo with Metalwork Colossus which alone reduces it's cost to 4 an allows it to take over the game if not flat out win it in one turn, can be searched out by Treasure Mage.
5. Thassa, God of the Sea - an additional (to Akroma's Memorial) evasion source for the Colossus that also helps with scrying and can become a creature with the help of the blue creatures (5x in the deck) and the 8x Borderposts.
8. The lands: Sanctum of Ugin - the obvious combo with Colossus to chain them together. Academy Ruins - to bring back destroyed artifacts. Inventors' Fair to gain life and tutor for artifacts.
The concept of this deck intrigues me as well. Thanks for starting this thread! I think this deck also has potential. My first thought after watching the mtggoldfish video was to use borderposts as a permanent Dark Ritual (plus one mana) for the colossus. Here are some other ideas I had while brainstorming:
Haunted Cloak - Alternative to Akroma's Memorial, as you can get this out quicker (or with Trophy Mage) and use it to attack with your colossus the turn it comes into play (while still reducing colossus' CMC). Haste, vigilance, and trample are all great abilities to give a 10/10 creature. Haunted Plate Mail - (I'm not trying to make a "haunted" theme, lol) Ramps into colossus (not a creature), useful with no creatures as a 4/4, or to make a 5/7 flyer with Glint-Nest Crane. It also survives bolts, and sorcery-speed spells and board wipes. You can even activate its ability with multiples on the board, or in response to a cast colossus (after using it to ramp him!) This card is a great Swiss Army knife with all its different uses. Rusted Relic and Chimeric Mass - Slight variations, but similar concept to Haunted Plate Mail, allowing you to have creature/threat density in your deck, while still functioning to ramp colossus. Thunderstaff and Cumber Stone - Ramp colossus while reducing the damage you take from creatures, and have cumulative effects. These might be great vs. Zoo, Tokens, and Stompy. Basically, they allow you to live long enough to make it to the late game. Engineered Explosives - If this deck uses more than one color, the effect of EE is similar to that of Pyroclasm in RG Tron.
Trophy, Trinket, and Treasure Mage - Depending on what artifacts you use, these mages could give you enough options to create an artifact toolbox.
So those are my crazy ideas. Please let us know how your testing goes. I don't have much time or opportunity to play, unfortunately.
Lamps R Kewl,
You've suggested some interesting options so let me address them:
1. Haunted Cloak is "ok" but probably not strong enough for a 3-mana equipment compared to something like Sword of Light and Shadow (the sword that fits this deck best imho and still doesn't make the mainboard) and one of the most important aspects of Akroma's Memorial is the flying+protection (and also the making M.Colossus practically free to cast) which this doesn't grant.
A budget alternative to Akroma's Memorial can be Eldrazi Monument but unless you can kill them quickly it will not last long on the board
(it can work well with Trading Post though).
2. Haunted Plate Mail seems pretty good (especially if the creatures get removed) but it is too close in it's mana cost to Batterskull which is a much better equipment/card so it can probably be a budget alternative as Batterskull is the only expensive card in the deck
(and also Akroma's Memorial and Academy Ruins to a degree).
#Another budget alternative to Batterskull (which I currently use as the deck is a new brew in testing and Batterskull is very expensive) is Skysovereign, Consul Flagship.
3. Rusted Relic and Chimeric Mass - they provide some cost-reduction for Colossus but other than that I don't think they provide enough value to warrant inclusion in the deck compared to the existing options like: Hedron Archive, Lodestone Golem and Batterskull.
#A more mana-efficient artifact which can turn into a creature option is Guardian Idol which doubles as a mana rock (and also Glint Hawk Idol which has flying)
4. Thunderstaff and Cumber Stone - the effect seems too weak to justify their mana cost and the deck already has plenty of other artifacts that reduce the cost of Metalwork Colossus.
#Vedalken Shackles can also be used to deal with creatures but with only 10x Islands (and no fetches to get them) it might be not reliable enough.
#Another fringe option I considered is Trading Post but I eventually dismissed it as I probably don't have enough sacrifice/discard fodder to feed it and I'm not sure that the payoff is even worth it.
5. Engineered Explosives - an obviously good card but in an essentially mono-colored deck it is probably not better than Ratchet Bomb, theoretically the "borderposts" can help cast it with 2/3 charge-counters but it's not reliable enough.
I probably should include some Crackdown Construct among any Wandering Fumarole, shuko, paradise mantle or something like that because you would have another win con that can deal infinite damage and help your plan of reduccing the CC of the metalwork colossus. All this pieces are artifacts (or lands) and having another way to combo is nice ;).
Also I'm not sure about lodestones because in this shell without any other prison elements seems rather weak.
#Crackdown Construct doesn't reduce the cost of Metalwork Colossus (it only counts non-creature artifacts' cmc) and requires to run too much "jank" to combo with, which is otherwise rather useless, I think I'll pass on this one.
Also by the time I can cast him I can probably ramp into Colossus already, with a very good draw I can cast him on turn 3 and otherwise turn 4 is not uncommon.
I don't know which other artifact-creature can work better in this deck but I'm open for suggestions.
#I've also considered Solemn Simulacrum but it doesn't really interact with the opponent (no tax and a 2/2 isn't threatening their life-total) and I have enough card-draw and ramp as it is, there is also Foundry Inspector but it doesn't seem good enough as well.
#Maybe the new cards: Scrap Trawler and Treasure Keeper can be what I'm looking for ?
#Another 4-drop option can be Whirler Rogue (the Blue Pia and Kiran Nalaar) which can help stabilize against opposing creature decks and also help Colossus get through damage (The thopters can also be sac'ed to reanimate Colossus), I actually like this option quite a bit though I can't get it with Glint-Nest Crane, Inventors' Fair or recycle it with Academy Ruins/Buried Ruin
Lamps R Kewl,
You've suggested some interesting options so let me address them:
1. Haunted Cloak is "ok" but probably not strong enough for a 3-mana equipment compared to something like Sword of Light and Shadow (the sword that fits this deck best imho and still doesn't make the mainboard) and one of the most important aspects of Akroma's Memorial is the flying+protection (and also the making M.Colossus practically free to cast) which this doesn't grant.
A budget alternative to Akroma's Memorial can be Eldrazi Monument but unless you can kill them quickly it will not last long on the board
(it can work well with Trading Post though).
2. Haunted Plate Mail seems pretty good (especially if the creatures get removed) but it is too close in it's mana cost to Batterskull which is a much better equipment/card so it can probably be a budget alternative as Batterskull is the only expensive card in the deck
(and also Akroma's Memorial and Academy Ruins to a degree).
#Another budget alternative to Batterskull (which I currently use as the deck is a new brew in testing and Batterskull is very expensive) is Skysovereign, Consul Flagship.
3. Rusted Relic and Chimeric Mass - they provide some cost-reduction for Colossus but other than that I don't think they provide enough value to warrant inclusion in the deck compared to the existing options like: Hedron Archive, Lodestone Golem and Batterskull.
#A more mana-efficient artifact which can turn into a creature option is Guardian Idol which doubles as a mana rock (and also Glint Hawk Idol which has flying)
4. Thunderstaff and Cumber Stone - the effect seems too weak to justify their mana cost and the deck already has plenty of other artifacts that reduce the cost of Metalwork Colossus.
#Vedalken Shackles can also be used to deal with creatures but with only 10x Islands (and fetches to get them) it might be not reliable enough.
#Another fringe option I considered is Trading Post but I eventually dismissed it as I probably don't have enough sacrifice/discard fodder to feed it and I'm not sure that the payoff is even worth it.
5. Engineered Explosives - an obviously good card but in an essentially mono-colored deck it is probably not better than Ratchet Bomb, theoretically the "borderposts" can help cast it with 2/3 charge-counters but it's not reliable enough.
Anyway keep the ideas coming.
Excellent points on your reply! Thank you for taking the time to respond. I hope that you have great success with this deck, and I want you to be able to make it the best it can be. Please allow me to respond to each of your points:
1) I disagree with you on some points regarding Sword of Light and Shadow, and all similar swords. There's too much risk of your opponent being able to chump block (which is why I suspect you didn't include it in your deck, but for the sake of comparing the Swords to Haunted Cloak, I will bring up their weaknesses here). Also, the +2/+2 isn't going to make a whole lot of difference on a 10/10 creature. Protection from white is very good, but an opponent can respond to activating its equip with a PtE. Every ability on Haunted Cloak compliments a large creature like colossus, and it only costs 1 to equip for immediate effect. It would suck to draw multiples, but having a couple in the deck as an alternative enabler, along with a couple of Trophy Mages would allow you get one (and only one) more consistently. Trophy Mage can also search out borderposts if you don't need cloak.
2) Very good point with Batterskull being better than Haunted Plate Mail. I'm just a bit worried that the difference in 1 CMC will be magnified in a deck like this, where that bit of extra speed (something this deck lacks) will matter. On the other hand, lifelink and vigilance are fantastic game-stabilizers. Ultimately though, I agree with your assessment here.
3) This will probably be my biggest point of disagreement. I would try Rusted Relic over Lodestone Golem. I don't think Lodestone Golem is very good for its cost. You stated that it baits removal, but Metalwork Colossus isn't worried about Lightning Bolt or Fatal Push, both of which can kill Lodestone Golem. In those cases, you're just losing tempo against two very popular Modern removal spells. Yes, Rusted Relic can die to Fatal Push as well, but with all the borderposts and other artifacts you have, it is essentially a 5/5 for 4 that can be picked up with Glint-Nest Crane. Heck, even if it's not a creature, it will become useful in ramping your colossus. In that case, once Metalwork Colossus is in play, it will very likely trigger Rusted Relic's creature transformation, putting extra immediate pressure on your opponent. I haven't tested it yet, so maybe it will suck, but I'm willing to try it.
4) I agree with you fully on Cumber Stone and Thunderstaff. I was just throwing ideas out there.
5) Regarding Engineered Explosives - I wouldn't include them in a one color build. I think this deck could easily be made two colors, in which case EE would become a much better option.
Edit: I think Whirler Rogue definitely has potential in this deck! I could even cast Rusted Relic on turn 3 or 4, then follow up with Whirler Rogue to turn Rusted Relic into a creature, and make it unblockable in the same turn. That would probably be too many 4 CMC spells in this deck, though.
1. Regarding equipment in the deck:
The main draw to Sword of Light and Shadow for me is the protection and also the lifegain and reanimation option, with Glint-Nest Crane being a good option to carry the sword as well because of the evasion.
Being removed in response to equipping can happen with every equipment.
Another equipment option can be Whispersilk Cloak but it is mostly good with M.Colissus only unlike the sword.
Running multiple (situational) equipment pieces will dillute the deck too much imho and I don't have enough 3-cmc artifacts that I'd like to tutor (I don't really want to fetch borderposts) to justify the inclusion of Trophy Mage.
3. Rusted Relic seems too conditional to me as without "metalcraft" it doesn't do anything and it hardly justifies spending 4-mana as I have plenty of other artifacts that reduce the cost of Metalwork Colossus.
#If I would run conditional artifacts like that I might as well go with vehicles that can be better than a vanilla 5/5.
The best is Skysovereign, Consul Flagship but there are also options like: Aethersphere Harvester, Untethered Express and Cultivator's Caravan.
#Lodestone Golem on the other hand can present some problems to the opponents if they don't pack much removal and have a hard time dealing with a 5/3 or want to cast multiple non-artifact spells in a turn.
#I actually think about slotting Whirler Rogue into the deck as I really like it's utility (making M.Colossus unblockable) and value (multiple blockers to stall and trading favorably with targeted removal).
I might test it in the L.Golem slot.
After playing some games with the deck I've made some changes:
#I wasn't particulary happy with the SB (which is to be expected as a mono-blue + colorless deck) and decided to take out 3x Stoic Rebuttal and 1x Reality Shift which weren't doing much and replace them with 1x more Negate and more removal in the form of the 3x Spatial Contortion from the maindeck which got replaced by the more powerful Dismember.
The decks hardest match-ups so far seem to be go-wide aggro decks which can both kill me quickly and chump-block Metalwork Colossus if I try to race.
Also decks that pack a lot of answers to the big robot can be a problem if I can't pressure them with additional threats (Lodestone Golem, Batterskull) as they can deal with it long enough to reach their endgame.
If it is not exiled I can get it back but sometimes it is not enough to push through all the removal.
@ Firefool - I really like your all-in version. On what turn are you most likely getting your Colossus(es) out? In other words, what turn have you been most consistently "going off"?
Personally I don't think that an "all-in approach" with no interaction is the way to go as it isn't powerful enough to win on the spot (Metalwork Colossus is good but it is not Emrakul) and not consistent enough (no card selection) with a lot of do-nothings in the deck.
I like the March of the Machines idea, but it it is not enough (only a 2x-of with no way to tutor for it) to compensate for your Colossus getting removed leaving you with a bunch of do-nothing artifacts (and some 2/2 creatures) that don't even cycle.
I thought about including Key to the City myself (as it appeared in the "Standard" version of the deck) but it is probably not as good as Thassa, God of the Sea (or Whirler Rogue) as a standalone card, though it can be found easier with all the artifact-fetching cards.
Lightning Greaves is the faster option to attack and protect Colossus but it doesn't help get through blockers.
A card the does both (protection + unblockability) but no "haste" is Whispersilk Cloak which is slower.
I've started testing Whirler Rogue instead of Lodestone Golem (I moved it to the SB against spell heavy decks) and it has been pretty decent so far putting 3 bodies on the board and helping me survive the early onslaught of aggro decks (though I still can't beat Burn as they are too fast and the best I can do is turn 4 Batterskull). Whirler Rogue is also a great source of evasion for Metalwork Colossus and the thopter tokens can be sac'ed to bring it back after it is destroyed.
Other cards that might be worth trying in this (3/4-drop) slot:
Treasure Keeper sounds like a solid 4-drop for this deck, out of what you mentioned. It has a decent-sized body that no one will want to bolt, and the ability to sac it to Metallic Colossus is great! If Whirler Rogue doesn't work out for you, I would try Treasure Keeper next. It is important to maintain artifact density for Glint-Nest Crane, and Metalwork Colossus' sacrifice ability. I still like Whirler Rogue for its ability to make the Colossus unblockable, though. The extra bodies can also be sacrificed for him as well, of course.
Please continue to test and let us know how it goes! I won't have much chance to play for the next month or so.
Chalice is very good at the moment and would slot very into the deck as it doesn't play any 1-cmc cards.
I don't have it but if I did I would probably move the Sword and Ratchet Bombs to the SB to make room for 3x copies.
Batterskull is very good here and can be the only card that saves you against ultra-aggro and Burn strategies which the deck is rather weak against.
It also reduces the cost of Metalwork Colossus by a considerable amount and can be equipped to the flyers in the deck to create a quick lifelinking threat.
A problem that I see in your list is that you don't have any way to deal with blockers that can chump the M.Colossus and won't let it deal damage.
That's is why I play multiple ways to make it unblockable (since I put so much effort into casting it I want to make sure it would be able to connect) like: Akroma's Memorial, Thassa, God of the Sea (which also filters draws) and Whirler Rogue.
I would also rather use Guardian Idol over Talisman of Dominance as color fixing isn't particulary necessary imho and the option to have another creature to block/attack seems more appealing.
#It might might be worth trying, the Aethersphere Harvester definetly seems like the better option on defense with it's lifelink ability.
Though I'm not sure if it is better (except for the equip cost) than Sword of Light and Shadow that can also gain life and reanimate creatures.
A less defensive option can also be Untethered Express but at 4-cmc it might be too slow.
#Another idea I'm thinking about is running Thought-Knot Seer for hand-disruption, the deck doesn't have much interaction so it can be very useful and the deck has enough colorless sources to cast it reliably (hopefully on turn 3).
I would probably consider cutting: Thassa, God of the Sea, Sword of Light and Shadow and a couple of Whirler Rogue for 4x TKS.
I realize that this a necro from heckro, but I was digging through the forums today and noticed this idea.
I really liked it, and have since bought up my own list that is currently undefeated on the day in the tournament practice room, going against Living end x2, mono red hate cards (it was like the free win red deck, but played a bunch of clunkers and weird things like zozu the punisher), Jund, and Eldrazi tron, among another 4-5 bad homebrews.
So far it's been really sweet. People see the boarderposts and expect to be up against some weird restore balance deck or something, so when you counter their spells they're thrown off guard, the side offers two of the best hate cards in the format in needle and relic which have single-handedly won me a couple of games today, and the colossus being able to sac two thopters to come back for free is just back breaking for the one-for-one decks. With the thopter sword package in, the deck has a lot more reach (literally), and can recover much more nicely than I assume some of the other versions in the thread are able to. The deck is very very weak to artifact hate, but honestly there's not too much of that going around right now except for a renegade stony silence, not many people are packing their shatterstorms like they used to. I feel like this sort of strategy could get somewhere with enough work. I'm still leery of course because i've only tested against a few decks in the format, but it plays very well against everything i've played so far.
Hello all, I thought I would chime in as I was also inspired by the budget magic done by Saffron Olive. I picked up a colossus a few months prior with a brew in mind and when he made the video showing that it could work relatively well in Modern, I made my own version of the list:
Creatures: 1 Memnarch (a 7 mana cost colorless creature to set off Sanctum of Ugin - other than that not so useful so far.) 3 Treasure Mage (helps tutor artifacts I need) 4 Metalwork Colossus (duh) 2 Padeem, Consul of Innovation (So far I've gotten a ton of value out of this guy, and he constantly gets removed so I added a second - I am thinking of replacing the second one with Thassa, God of the Sea however) 3 Lodestone Golem (slows the opponent down, but also slows me down a bit as I have a good amount of blue spells in the deck. In general though he's been good as an early beater and is worse for my opponent than me :))
Enchantment: 2 Ensoul Artifact (makes a 5/5 beater out of a borderpost. pretty usefull, but I'm not super attached to it.)
Artifact: 1 Akroma's Memorial (most useful card in the entire deck by far) 4 Fieldmist Borderpost (mana ramp for colossus) 4 Mistvein Borderpost (mana ramp for colossus) 1 Dreamstone Hedron (more mana ramp for colossus - added because it can be tutored by Treasure Mage if I haven't been pulling noncreature artifacts and need to get colossus out) 1 Ratchet Bomb (noncreature artifact for colossus, but also useful in destroying multiple blockers with same cmc) 1 Key to the City (useless so far, but I just recently added it and haven't been able to actually make use of it. Looking for a better replacement.) 1 Batterskull (great value. would even be good as a 2 of, but it's honestly a costly for my blood)
Instant/Sorcery: 4 Stoic Rebuttal (basically Counterspell once you have 3 artifacts out. Great fun) 3 Vapor Snag (good to slow your opponent down while you are putting together your combo) 4 Serum Visions (card draw, cantrip to thin out your deck and scry) 2 Thirst for Knowledge (card draw for an artifact deck)
So far, I've just been playing it in casual circles. When it goes off, it really goes off! The main problem I have had is this deck almost completely depends on Akroma's Memorial. If I lose Akroma's.. I usually lose. The tutoring and ability to get it back from the graveyard has saved my ass many times, but since I mainly play against the same few people, they know to target Akroma. I added Key to the City in order to add more ways to make my creatures unblockable, but it seems to be a very weak card honestly.
I'd really like some feedback on my build from folks that have had more experience playing with the same basic framework.
Thanks everyone!
*edit* - just as an update, I was looking at Thassa, and saw something I didn't notice prior - the requirement for a 5 devotion to blue. I don't think I'll ever actually obtain that devotion with my deck. Is the card still worth it as an enchantment, to be able to scry 1 and also make creatures unblockable?
Just as an aside... it's nice to see a few other Emeria Control players here as well
Hi all, nice idea. As for the ramp to colossus, how do you think about Pentad Prism? it reduces the cost of Metalwork colossus by 2 and adds 2 mana of any color even in the mono U build. So it could look like: T1 land borderpost, T2 land Pentad prism, getting you to 10 in reduced cost combined with mana you can pay in T3, and after you used Pentad prism, you can still sac it to get a colossus back.
And I also thought about Cloud Key naming artifacts will reduce the cost of almost every spell you play and -4 to colossus cost
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I prefer Mind Stone to Prism, it ramps and can be cycled later.
The mana filtering isn't needed in my build and will enter with only one "charge" counter anyway
(unless you count on resolving a borderpost first in which case you don't really need it).
Cloud Key seems a bit gimmicky to me, a borderpost offers the same reduction and also taps for mana.
Cloud key and border posts are similar.
Border post reduces cost of Colossus by 3 since it does return a land you can't really count that as 4. Can come down turn 1
Cloud key reduces Colossus by 4 but can't be played until turn 3.
So borderpost is more explosive but comes at a little greater cost. Since I'd wager every deck with white Mana will bring in Stony Silence. All in all I'd take the borderpost main over cloud key because I'd run prism. Cloud key prism... Not so good. That combination reduces Colossus by 3 for a one shot effect, but the ability to recur it is the big plus there.
You pretty much should be running shackles in this deck if you ask me. It's too good at taking out problem creatures. Stealing a visor, druid, sac outlet, Finks, etc buys you the time you need. Plus stealing a lone blocker to smack them with the xman is pretty good also.
Agree with that. I do see lists ranging from 10 to 13 islands. Point of it isn't to steal their big best guy. Your big guy is almost always bigger. But steal the little problem guys that can combo kill you. Steal heir blocker and use it to block them, CA them by stealing a guy and chumping to take another dude. Etc
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It saw some play in fringe decks in "Standard" but was nowhere to be seen in "Modern".
Lately after watching the video series of a budget version on "MtgGoldfish" - https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/budget-magic-95-30-tix-modern-mono-blue-colossus
I was inspired to build my version based on those ideas as I think the deck is very interesting and has competitive potential.
Here is my build of the deck:
3x Glint-Nest Crane
1x Phyrexian Revoker
2x Treasure Mage
1x Thassa, God of the Sea
4x Lodestone Golem
4x Metalwork Colossus
Artifact (21)
4x Fieldmist Borderpost
4x Mistvein Borderpost
4x Mind Stone
2x Ratchet Bomb
4x Hedron Archive
2x Batterskull
1x Akroma's Memorial
3x Spatial Contortion
4x Thirst for Knowledge
Land (17)
10x Island
2x Inventors' Fair
1x Academy Ruins
4x Sanctum of Ugin
1x Padeem, Consul of Innovation
1x Mindslaver
1x Spine of Ish Sah
2x Relic of Progenitus
2x Pithing Needle
2x Negate
3x Stoic Rebuttal
1x Reality Shift
2x Echoing Truth
About the card choices:
1. The "Borderposts" package is the fastest way to ramp into an early Colossus and it also increases the artifact count in the deck which works well with cards like Glint-Nest Crane and Thirst for Knowledge which provide amazing consistency and draw power to the deck and help to avoid fizzling or flooding out.
2. Glint-Nest Crane - a solid creature in the deck that blocks fliers and finds relevant artifacts and SB artifacts more consistently, can also carry a Batterskull rather well and act as a finisher.
3. Lodestone Golem - helps slow down opponents and pressure slower decks while baiting removal away from our Colossus, is very good with Batterskull or Akroma's Memorial as a finisher.
4. Akroma's Memorial - the main combo with Metalwork Colossus which alone reduces it's cost to 4 an allows it to take over the game if not flat out win it in one turn, can be searched out by Treasure Mage.
5. Thassa, God of the Sea - an additional (to Akroma's Memorial) evasion source for the Colossus that also helps with scrying and can become a creature with the help of the blue creatures (5x in the deck) and the 8x Borderposts.
6. Treasure Mage - acts as a tutor for Metalwork Colossus and Akroma's Memorial and from the SB: Mindslaver and Spine of Ish Sah (another good option is Wurmcoil Engine).
7. The removal: 3x Spatial Contortion - a weaker colorless Dismember that saves some life (and can kill Etched Champion).
2x Ratchet Bomb - more artifacts for Colossus, deals with problematic permanents, tokens and cheap creatures, can reccured by Academy Ruins (or the more budget-friendly Buried Ruin).
8. The lands:
Sanctum of Ugin - the obvious combo with Colossus to chain them together.
Academy Ruins - to bring back destroyed artifacts.
Inventors' Fair to gain life and tutor for artifacts.
9. SB:
#Padeem, Consul of Innovation - to protect the artifacts from removal and draw some cards (another/additional option can be Kira, Great Glass-Spinner).
#Mindslaver - a tutorable alternative win-condition against decks that Colossus isn't very good against.
#Spine of Ish Sah - tutorable uncondional removal against problematic permanents, might be too clunky and can be replaced by something like:
a Wurmcoil Engine, Platinum Angel, Sundering Titan, Sword of Light and Shadow or All is Dust (I don't really like Oblivion Stone/Perilous Vault for this deck).
#Reality Shift - can deal with creatures that Spatial Contortion can't with a minor drawback of leaving a 2/2 manifest.
#Stoic Rebuttal - for combo/contol decks, "metalcraft" is rather easy to activate (other options can be Condescend/Spell Rupture/Stubborn Denial).
*I don't actually have any lifegain in the SB for "Burn", should I add something like Sun Droplet or Filigree Familiar (or maybe Basilisk Collar) ?
I'd like to read some feedback and suggestions for the deck.
Haunted Cloak - Alternative to Akroma's Memorial, as you can get this out quicker (or with Trophy Mage) and use it to attack with your colossus the turn it comes into play (while still reducing colossus' CMC). Haste, vigilance, and trample are all great abilities to give a 10/10 creature.
Haunted Plate Mail - (I'm not trying to make a "haunted" theme, lol) Ramps into colossus (not a creature), useful with no creatures as a 4/4, or to make a 5/7 flyer with Glint-Nest Crane. It also survives bolts, and sorcery-speed spells and board wipes. You can even activate its ability with multiples on the board, or in response to a cast colossus (after using it to ramp him!) This card is a great Swiss Army knife with all its different uses.
Rusted Relic and Chimeric Mass - Slight variations, but similar concept to Haunted Plate Mail, allowing you to have creature/threat density in your deck, while still functioning to ramp colossus.
Thunderstaff and Cumber Stone - Ramp colossus while reducing the damage you take from creatures, and have cumulative effects. These might be great vs. Zoo, Tokens, and Stompy. Basically, they allow you to live long enough to make it to the late game.
Engineered Explosives - If this deck uses more than one color, the effect of EE is similar to that of Pyroclasm in RG Tron.
Trophy, Trinket, and Treasure Mage - Depending on what artifacts you use, these mages could give you enough options to create an artifact toolbox.
So those are my crazy ideas. Please let us know how your testing goes. I don't have much time or opportunity to play, unfortunately.
You've suggested some interesting options so let me address them:
1. Haunted Cloak is "ok" but probably not strong enough for a 3-mana equipment compared to something like Sword of Light and Shadow (the sword that fits this deck best imho and still doesn't make the mainboard) and one of the most important aspects of Akroma's Memorial is the flying+protection (and also the making M.Colossus practically free to cast) which this doesn't grant.
A budget alternative to Akroma's Memorial can be Eldrazi Monument but unless you can kill them quickly it will not last long on the board
(it can work well with Trading Post though).
2. Haunted Plate Mail seems pretty good (especially if the creatures get removed) but it is too close in it's mana cost to Batterskull which is a much better equipment/card so it can probably be a budget alternative as Batterskull is the only expensive card in the deck
(and also Akroma's Memorial and Academy Ruins to a degree).
#Another budget alternative to Batterskull (which I currently use as the deck is a new brew in testing and Batterskull is very expensive) is Skysovereign, Consul Flagship.
3. Rusted Relic and Chimeric Mass - they provide some cost-reduction for Colossus but other than that I don't think they provide enough value to warrant inclusion in the deck compared to the existing options like: Hedron Archive, Lodestone Golem and Batterskull.
#A more mana-efficient artifact which can turn into a creature option is Guardian Idol which doubles as a mana rock (and also Glint Hawk Idol which has flying)
4. Thunderstaff and Cumber Stone - the effect seems too weak to justify their mana cost and the deck already has plenty of other artifacts that reduce the cost of Metalwork Colossus.
#Vedalken Shackles can also be used to deal with creatures but with only 10x Islands (and no fetches to get them) it might be not reliable enough.
#Another fringe option I considered is Trading Post but I eventually dismissed it as I probably don't have enough sacrifice/discard fodder to feed it and I'm not sure that the payoff is even worth it.
5. Engineered Explosives - an obviously good card but in an essentially mono-colored deck it is probably not better than Ratchet Bomb, theoretically the "borderposts" can help cast it with 2/3 charge-counters but it's not reliable enough.
Anyway keep the ideas coming.
Also I'm not sure about lodestones because in this shell without any other prison elements seems rather weak.
Also by the time I can cast him I can probably ramp into Colossus already, with a very good draw I can cast him on turn 3 and otherwise turn 4 is not uncommon.
#Lodestone Golem acts as a bigger version of Vryn Wingmare/Thalia, Guardian of Thraben that taxes the opponent and draws removal to clear the way for Metalwork Colossus.
With a mana rock it can be cast on turn 3 and can put some pressure on decks that don't pack much interaction/removal
(and even close games with Thassa, God of the Sea/Akroma's Memorial).
It also synergises with all the artifact interactions in the deck:
Glint-Nest Crane, Thirst for Knowledge, Inventors' Fair and Academy Ruins (Buried Ruin).
I don't know which other artifact-creature can work better in this deck but I'm open for suggestions.
#I've also considered Solemn Simulacrum but it doesn't really interact with the opponent (no tax and a 2/2 isn't threatening their life-total) and I have enough card-draw and ramp as it is, there is also Foundry Inspector but it doesn't seem good enough as well.
#Maybe the new cards: Scrap Trawler and Treasure Keeper can be what I'm looking for ?
#Another 4-drop option can be Whirler Rogue (the Blue Pia and Kiran Nalaar) which can help stabilize against opposing creature decks and also help Colossus get through damage (The thopters can also be sac'ed to reanimate Colossus), I actually like this option quite a bit though I can't get it with Glint-Nest Crane, Inventors' Fair or recycle it with Academy Ruins/Buried Ruin
Excellent points on your reply! Thank you for taking the time to respond. I hope that you have great success with this deck, and I want you to be able to make it the best it can be. Please allow me to respond to each of your points:
1) I disagree with you on some points regarding Sword of Light and Shadow, and all similar swords. There's too much risk of your opponent being able to chump block (which is why I suspect you didn't include it in your deck, but for the sake of comparing the Swords to Haunted Cloak, I will bring up their weaknesses here). Also, the +2/+2 isn't going to make a whole lot of difference on a 10/10 creature. Protection from white is very good, but an opponent can respond to activating its equip with a PtE. Every ability on Haunted Cloak compliments a large creature like colossus, and it only costs 1 to equip for immediate effect. It would suck to draw multiples, but having a couple in the deck as an alternative enabler, along with a couple of Trophy Mages would allow you get one (and only one) more consistently. Trophy Mage can also search out borderposts if you don't need cloak.
2) Very good point with Batterskull being better than Haunted Plate Mail. I'm just a bit worried that the difference in 1 CMC will be magnified in a deck like this, where that bit of extra speed (something this deck lacks) will matter. On the other hand, lifelink and vigilance are fantastic game-stabilizers. Ultimately though, I agree with your assessment here.
3) This will probably be my biggest point of disagreement. I would try Rusted Relic over Lodestone Golem. I don't think Lodestone Golem is very good for its cost. You stated that it baits removal, but Metalwork Colossus isn't worried about Lightning Bolt or Fatal Push, both of which can kill Lodestone Golem. In those cases, you're just losing tempo against two very popular Modern removal spells. Yes, Rusted Relic can die to Fatal Push as well, but with all the borderposts and other artifacts you have, it is essentially a 5/5 for 4 that can be picked up with Glint-Nest Crane. Heck, even if it's not a creature, it will become useful in ramping your colossus. In that case, once Metalwork Colossus is in play, it will very likely trigger Rusted Relic's creature transformation, putting extra immediate pressure on your opponent. I haven't tested it yet, so maybe it will suck, but I'm willing to try it.
4) I agree with you fully on Cumber Stone and Thunderstaff. I was just throwing ideas out there.
5) Regarding Engineered Explosives - I wouldn't include them in a one color build. I think this deck could easily be made two colors, in which case EE would become a much better option.
Edit: I think Whirler Rogue definitely has potential in this deck! I could even cast Rusted Relic on turn 3 or 4, then follow up with Whirler Rogue to turn Rusted Relic into a creature, and make it unblockable in the same turn. That would probably be too many 4 CMC spells in this deck, though.
The main draw to Sword of Light and Shadow for me is the protection and also the lifegain and reanimation option, with Glint-Nest Crane being a good option to carry the sword as well because of the evasion.
Being removed in response to equipping can happen with every equipment.
Another equipment option can be Whispersilk Cloak but it is mostly good with M.Colissus only unlike the sword.
Running multiple (situational) equipment pieces will dillute the deck too much imho and I don't have enough 3-cmc artifacts that I'd like to tutor (I don't really want to fetch borderposts) to justify the inclusion of Trophy Mage.
3. Rusted Relic seems too conditional to me as without "metalcraft" it doesn't do anything and it hardly justifies spending 4-mana as I have plenty of other artifacts that reduce the cost of Metalwork Colossus.
#If I would run conditional artifacts like that I might as well go with vehicles that can be better than a vanilla 5/5.
The best is Skysovereign, Consul Flagship but there are also options like: Aethersphere Harvester, Untethered Express and Cultivator's Caravan.
#Lodestone Golem on the other hand can present some problems to the opponents if they don't pack much removal and have a hard time dealing with a 5/3 or want to cast multiple non-artifact spells in a turn.
#I actually think about slotting Whirler Rogue into the deck as I really like it's utility (making M.Colossus unblockable) and value (multiple blockers to stall and trading favorably with targeted removal).
I might test it in the L.Golem slot.
#I wasn't particulary happy with the SB (which is to be expected as a mono-blue + colorless deck) and decided to take out 3x Stoic Rebuttal and 1x Reality Shift which weren't doing much and replace them with 1x more Negate and more removal in the form of the 3x Spatial Contortion from the maindeck which got replaced by the more powerful Dismember.
#Phyrexian Revoker wasn't very useful so it switched places with Padeem, Consul of Innovation.
I might cut it entirely since I already have 2x Pithing Needle in the SB, probably for some lifegain card like:
Filigree Familiar, Sword of Light and Shadow, Basilisk Collar or Sun Droplet.
#I didn't board in Spine of Ish Sah even once so it is probably going to be replaced.
I consider Platinum Angel instead (can be fetched by Treasure Mage and Sanctum of Ugin) which can help keep me in the game.
Another option is the colorless wrath All is Dust or more lifegain and stabilization in the form of Wurmcoil Engine or a disruptive fatty like Sundering Titan.
#Echoing Truth also wasn't very useful so far (I already have Ratchet Bomb for tokens and small artifacts) and I consider replacing it with more powerful bounce options like: Ætherize (seems more efficient than Evacuation/Ætherspouts/Engulf the Shore/Whelming Wave)
or Cyclonic Rift or maybe just go with 2x more Ratchet Bomb or All is Dust.
Here is the updated list:
3x Glint-Nest Crane
2x Treasure Mage
1x Thassa, God of the Sea
1x Padeem, Consul of Innovation
4x Lodestone Golem
4x Metalwork Colossus
Artifact (21)
4x Fieldmist Borderpost
4x Mistvein Borderpost
4x Mind Stone
2x Ratchet Bomb
4x Hedron Archive
2x Batterskull
1x Akroma's Memorial
3x Dismember
4x Thirst for Knowledge
Land (17)
10x Island
2x Inventors' Fair
1x Academy Ruins
4x Sanctum of Ugin
1x Sword of Light and Shadow
1x Mindslaver
1x Platinum Angel
2x Relic of Progenitus
2x Pithing Needle
3x Negate
3x Spatial Contortion
2x Cyclonic Rift
The decks hardest match-ups so far seem to be go-wide aggro decks which can both kill me quickly and chump-block Metalwork Colossus if I try to race.
Also decks that pack a lot of answers to the big robot can be a problem if I can't pressure them with additional threats (Lodestone Golem, Batterskull) as they can deal with it long enough to reach their endgame.
If it is not exiled I can get it back but sometimes it is not enough to push through all the removal.
The deck also practically folds to SB cards like: Shatterstorm/Creeping Corrosion, ("overloaded") Vandalblast, Fracturing Gust and Hurkyl's Recall.
The 3x Negate in the SB are my hedge against those hosers (another option is Warping Wail which deals with sorceries and has additional utility).
I like the March of the Machines idea, but it it is not enough (only a 2x-of with no way to tutor for it) to compensate for your Colossus getting removed leaving you with a bunch of do-nothing artifacts (and some 2/2 creatures) that don't even cycle.
I thought about including Key to the City myself (as it appeared in the "Standard" version of the deck) but it is probably not as good as Thassa, God of the Sea (or Whirler Rogue) as a standalone card, though it can be found easier with all the artifact-fetching cards.
Lightning Greaves is the faster option to attack and protect Colossus but it doesn't help get through blockers.
A card the does both (protection + unblockability) but no "haste" is Whispersilk Cloak which is slower.
Whirler Rogue is also a great source of evasion for Metalwork Colossus and the thopter tokens can be sac'ed to bring it back after it is destroyed.
Other cards that might be worth trying in this (3/4-drop) slot:
#Matter Reshaper - I have plenty of colorless sources and it replaces itself and can ramp me while blocking (or attack).
#Thought-Knot Seer - can add some much needed disruption to the deck and strip away artifact removal and Path to Exile to clear the way for the Colossus.
#Solemn Simulacrum - ramps and replaces itself, also an artifact (but a rather weak body).
#Treasure Keeper - similar to Matter Reshaper but is guranteed to cast something upon dying
(a Borderpost, Mind Stone, Thirst for Knowledge, Treasure Mage, Glint-Nest Crane, Ratchet Bomb, Thassa, God of the Sea or Dismember),
and can also be found by all the artifact-fetchers in the deck and is a good option to sac' to bring back Colossus.
I'm still unsure if Padeem, Consul of Innovation is worth playing in the MD (or if it is a good enough SB card) and consider replacing him as well
(maybe for a maindeck Sword of Light and Shadow/Aethersphere Harvester, the 3rd Treasure Mage, the 4th Glint-Nest Crane or Untethered Express).
3x Glint-Nest Crane
2x Treasure Mage
1x Thassa, God of the Sea
4x Whirler Rogue
4x Metalwork Colossus
Artifact (22)
4x Fieldmist Borderpost
4x Mistvein Borderpost
4x Mind Stone
2x Ratchet Bomb
1x Sword of Light and Shadow
4x Hedron Archive
2x Batterskull
1x Akroma's Memorial
3x Dismember
4x Thirst for Knowledge
Land (17)
10x Island
2x Inventors' Fair
1x Academy Ruins
4x Sanctum of Ugin
2x Lodestone Golem
1x Padeem, Consul of Innovation
1x Mindslaver
1x Platinum Angel
2x Relic of Progenitus
2x Pithing Needle
3x Negate
3x Spatial Contortion
Please continue to test and let us know how it goes! I won't have much chance to play for the next month or so.
Chalice is very good at the moment and would slot very into the deck as it doesn't play any 1-cmc cards.
I don't have it but if I did I would probably move the Sword and Ratchet Bombs to the SB to make room for 3x copies.
It also reduces the cost of Metalwork Colossus by a considerable amount and can be equipped to the flyers in the deck to create a quick lifelinking threat.
A problem that I see in your list is that you don't have any way to deal with blockers that can chump the M.Colossus and won't let it deal damage.
That's is why I play multiple ways to make it unblockable (since I put so much effort into casting it I want to make sure it would be able to connect) like:
Akroma's Memorial, Thassa, God of the Sea (which also filters draws) and Whirler Rogue.
I would also rather use Guardian Idol over Talisman of Dominance as color fixing isn't particulary necessary imho and the option to have another creature to block/attack seems more appealing.
Though I'm not sure if it is better (except for the equip cost) than Sword of Light and Shadow that can also gain life and reanimate creatures.
A less defensive option can also be Untethered Express but at 4-cmc it might be too slow.
#Another idea I'm thinking about is running Thought-Knot Seer for hand-disruption, the deck doesn't have much interaction so it can be very useful and the deck has enough colorless sources to cast it reliably (hopefully on turn 3).
I would probably consider cutting: Thassa, God of the Sea, Sword of Light and Shadow and a couple of Whirler Rogue for 4x TKS.
Matter Reshaper can also be an option to stall on the ground and replace himself.
Or the artifact equivalents: Solemn Simulacrum and Treasure Keeper.
What do you think ?
I really liked it, and have since bought up my own list that is currently undefeated on the day in the tournament practice room, going against Living end x2, mono red hate cards (it was like the free win red deck, but played a bunch of clunkers and weird things like zozu the punisher), Jund, and Eldrazi tron, among another 4-5 bad homebrews.
4 Glint-Nest Crane
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Treasure Mage
4 Metalwork Colossus
Ins / Sorc:
2 Fabricate
1 Mechanized Production
1 Whir of Invention
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 Spatial Contortion
Artifacts:
3 Thopter Foundry
4 Mind Stone
2 Talisman of Progress
2 Sword of the Meek
2 Ratchet Bomb
4 Hedron Archive
4 Fieldmist Borderpost
3 Mistvein Borderpost
10 Island
2 Academy Ruins
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Inventors' Fair
1 Turn Aside
3 Negate
2 Padeem, Consul of Innovation
2 Thunderstaff
3 Pithing Needle
4 Relic of Progenitus
So far it's been really sweet. People see the boarderposts and expect to be up against some weird restore balance deck or something, so when you counter their spells they're thrown off guard, the side offers two of the best hate cards in the format in needle and relic which have single-handedly won me a couple of games today, and the colossus being able to sac two thopters to come back for free is just back breaking for the one-for-one decks. With the thopter sword package in, the deck has a lot more reach (literally), and can recover much more nicely than I assume some of the other versions in the thread are able to. The deck is very very weak to artifact hate, but honestly there's not too much of that going around right now except for a renegade stony silence, not many people are packing their shatterstorms like they used to. I feel like this sort of strategy could get somewhere with enough work. I'm still leery of course because i've only tested against a few decks in the format, but it plays very well against everything i've played so far.
Modern:
GR Tron
WU Emeria Control
Legacy:
R Painter
Commander:
Atraxa Superfriends
1 Memnarch (a 7 mana cost colorless creature to set off Sanctum of Ugin - other than that not so useful so far.)
3 Treasure Mage (helps tutor artifacts I need)
4 Metalwork Colossus (duh)
2 Padeem, Consul of Innovation (So far I've gotten a ton of value out of this guy, and he constantly gets removed so I added a second - I am thinking of replacing the second one with Thassa, God of the Sea however)
3 Lodestone Golem (slows the opponent down, but also slows me down a bit as I have a good amount of blue spells in the deck. In general though he's been good as an early beater and is worse for my opponent than me :))
Enchantment:
2 Ensoul Artifact (makes a 5/5 beater out of a borderpost. pretty usefull, but I'm not super attached to it.)
Artifact:
1 Akroma's Memorial (most useful card in the entire deck by far)
4 Fieldmist Borderpost (mana ramp for colossus)
4 Mistvein Borderpost (mana ramp for colossus)
1 Dreamstone Hedron (more mana ramp for colossus - added because it can be tutored by Treasure Mage if I haven't been pulling noncreature artifacts and need to get colossus out)
1 Ratchet Bomb (noncreature artifact for colossus, but also useful in destroying multiple blockers with same cmc)
1 Key to the City (useless so far, but I just recently added it and haven't been able to actually make use of it. Looking for a better replacement.)
1 Batterskull (great value. would even be good as a 2 of, but it's honestly a costly for my blood)
4 Stoic Rebuttal (basically Counterspell once you have 3 artifacts out. Great fun)
3 Vapor Snag (good to slow your opponent down while you are putting together your combo)
4 Serum Visions (card draw, cantrip to thin out your deck and scry)
2 Thirst for Knowledge (card draw for an artifact deck)
Land:
2 Inventor's Fair (lifegain and tutor)
2 Buried Ruin (bring back dead artifacts)
4 Sanctum of Ugin (to tutor up colossus and get that combo going)
1 Academy Ruins (bring back dead artifacts)
10 Island
So far, I've just been playing it in casual circles. When it goes off, it really goes off! The main problem I have had is this deck almost completely depends on Akroma's Memorial. If I lose Akroma's.. I usually lose. The tutoring and ability to get it back from the graveyard has saved my ass many times, but since I mainly play against the same few people, they know to target Akroma. I added Key to the City in order to add more ways to make my creatures unblockable, but it seems to be a very weak card honestly.
I'd really like some feedback on my build from folks that have had more experience playing with the same basic framework.
Thanks everyone!
*edit* - just as an update, I was looking at Thassa, and saw something I didn't notice prior - the requirement for a 5 devotion to blue. I don't think I'll ever actually obtain that devotion with my deck. Is the card still worth it as an enchantment, to be able to scry 1 and also make creatures unblockable?
Just as an aside... it's nice to see a few other Emeria Control players here as well
And I also thought about Cloud Key naming artifacts will reduce the cost of almost every spell you play and -4 to colossus cost
"Well, then we will at least fight in the shadow"
"There is no glory to be gained in the kingdom of the dead!"
Post by Narah about unbanning Mind Twist in legacy and that this would be evil:
If you want to play on MTGO add me I'm HeskatetAS, playing Modern and Legacy
The mana filtering isn't needed in my build and will enter with only one "charge" counter anyway
(unless you count on resolving a borderpost first in which case you don't really need it).
Cloud Key seems a bit gimmicky to me, a borderpost offers the same reduction and also taps for mana.
Border post reduces cost of Colossus by 3 since it does return a land you can't really count that as 4. Can come down turn 1
Cloud key reduces Colossus by 4 but can't be played until turn 3.
So borderpost is more explosive but comes at a little greater cost. Since I'd wager every deck with white Mana will bring in Stony Silence. All in all I'd take the borderpost main over cloud key because I'd run prism. Cloud key prism... Not so good. That combination reduces Colossus by 3 for a one shot effect, but the ability to recur it is the big plus there.
You pretty much should be running shackles in this deck if you ask me. It's too good at taking out problem creatures. Stealing a visor, druid, sac outlet, Finks, etc buys you the time you need. Plus stealing a lone blocker to smack them with the xman is pretty good also.