Empty the Warrens is fine in my opinion. At storm count 2 it at least reaches similar efficiency to Hordeling Outburst and Dragon Fodder (i.e. 1 mana = 1 token) and improves from there. It's not necessarily game ending if you don't have at least some support like free spells (including rebound) or rituals, but I'd say it's at least playable. I already run Manamorphose, Staggershock, and Rift Bolt as generally fine cards on their own, and a couple of "free" spells (e.g. Snap, Cloud of Faeries) so Empty is included.
Highly likely adds: Dauntless Bodyguard 2/1 for 1 with upside, get in Untamed Kavu Excelling kicker card which would be playable kicked or unkicked, though kicked makes better use of both keywords Divest Fairly decent discard spell that hits multiple relevant card types. Song of Freyalise
Maybes: Adventurous Impulse Somewhat like Oath of Nissa and gives green some early card filtering. Cast Down Not 100% if I want more virtually unconditional removal at 2 mana, but it does present some additional options in terms of rebalancing the removal suite. Ghitu Lavarunner Probably not good enough, but I'll have to double check my red 1 drops Danitha Capashen, Paragon Keyword soup with sometimes relevant other ability. Somewhat competing with Aerial Responder, but the fact that she dodges Cast Down makes her a possible inclusion if I it makes it into the removal suite. Shanna, Sisay's Legacy Probably not, since this type of effect is frequently win more. However, since tokens is a strong theme in GW and she has some some protection from permanent based removal, might end up being ok. Another possible including if Cast Down makes it in.
Something I just realised: exert might be a justification to try Reconnaissance again. I will take any excuse to test it once more.
I know Reconnaissance got changed, then rechanged, and maybe even changed again. What exactly is the current ruling? It confuses me.
Can you, currently, attack, deal combat damage, then untap? Or is it all you can do is untap the ones that you do not want blocked? Gimme that lowdown
Given that there is no timing restriction (e.g. activate only before the combat damage step), you can indeed use it to untap creatures after combat damage has been dealt.
Cast Out goes into my cube immediately. Very strong, really nice. Can't imagine ever being sad with this in hand. I don't think Exemplar of Strength makes the cut, tho. I haven't been too impressed with Longtusk Cub, and this seems worse. Oketra's Monument seems pretty good, might add it in. Also, no love for Tah-Crop Elite? seems solid, if nothing special.
I'mt not sure if I'll end up running Oketra's Monument since I already have Shrine of Loyal Legions. On the one hand, the monument doesn't require you to cash out, but it doesn't trigger off of spell based token generators like the shrine.
Ghirapur Aether Grid is our tool against Infect, they either need a pump spell for every single turn until the end of the game or wild defiance(which doesn't do much against us otherwise) It can also be good in the mirror and against abzan company/GW Hatebears. It is a narrow card but sometimes it is worth to play 2-3 copies, if you know there are decks that are soft to the Grid.
Wild defiance doesn't trigger from Aether Grid. What they really need is a pendelhaven, spellskite, or something like phyrexian crusader.
@zinamogg, with regards to ensoul artifact and master of etherium, the darksteel citadel enchanted by ensoul will be a 6/6 because master of etherium effect is static and not time stamped, therefore it doesn't matter which come first.
The real explanation is that Ensoul Artifact's power/toughness effect is applied in layer 7b while Master of Etherium's effect is applied in layer 7c.
We'll see how the metagame reacts. Affinity tends to have somewhat of a self balancing metagame share because if it rises too much people make like half their sideboard artifact hate. With twin more or less exiting the format (though kiki is still a possible combo piece), I get the feeling that any freed up sideboard slots are going to be pointed at Affinity and/or Tron.
With respect to boarding, I would take out all 3 steel overseer and 1 thoughtcast. Board in 2 stubborn denial, 1 etched champion and 1 whipflare. The reason being steel overseer sure will die without doing anything. It will be a tempo swing for them. The big cards remain are etched champion, master of etherium and cranial plating. The disruption suit is enough to slow them down while advancing your board state. In many case, if possible, go for infect win. That is the fastest way.
"Dies to removal" is a pretty bad reason. By that logic you may as well not run it at all since most decks have some sort of 1 mana removal be it path, bolt, or dismember (pseudo 1 mana). If you were worried about Forked Bolt and Electrolyze I might have agreed, but last I checked burn plays neither of these. While I agree that trimming on the number is fine (my default cuts are 1 memnite, 1 overseer, 1 colored spell), I don't think that cutting any of your payoff cards completely is correct in this type of matchup.
As the saying goes, always bolt the birds. With respect to boarding, I'm not exactly thrilled with completely taking out Steel Overseer against burn (you're going down to just 8 "big" 2-drops). Sure it dies easily, but if it isn't answered it's a huge problem for them. I assume that you had a reason to bring in relic, but against typical builds I wouldn't do it. With your list I would probably do something like -1 Overseer, -1 Thoughtcast, +1 Champion, +1 whipflare/grid or even just -1 Thoughtcast, +1 Champion.
I've been thinking on this for a whole now, has anyone ever tried a white version if affinity with grand abolisher? Or if that's too hard to cast, maybe defense grid? Didn't know of it would slow the deck too much but the idea of not worrying about opponents doing stuff on our turn seems nice
The double colored cost on Grand Abolisher is almost certainly too prohibitive except maybe in a Tempered Steel list. Even then, my instinct is that the effect isn't powerful enough (at least moreso than spellskite) to warrant going through those hoops. As an example, I was running Thopter Spy Network in the sideboard as a joke during FNM and I still had it in my hand for a turn before I could cast it due to colors.
GPT Detroit Tournament Report: 2nd place (2-1 in Swiss)
Swiss
Round 1: UW Tron 0-2
Game 1: I keep a hand that went wide with Steel Overseer. Opponent casts T3 Wrath off of T2 Azorius Signet prior to T4 Gifts. Elesh Norn does what Elesh Norn does.
Game 2: Mullgan to 5 keeping a hand that works when drawing any 0-1 drop or land. Opponent drops chalice on 0 and I continue to draw 2 drops. Gifts->Elesh Norn again.
OUT: Thoughtcast, 1 Galvanic Blast, Welding Jar, 1 Steel Overseer
IN: Grafdigger's Cage, Relic of Progenitus, 1 Ghirapur Æther Grid, 1 Thoughtseize
Finals: GR Tron 1-2
Game 1: Opponent mulligans to 4, plays no lands by turn 3 and concedes
Game 2: I mulligan and keep a hand that is playable, but questionable vs Pyroclasm. My opponent has two of them (and apparently Ancient Grudge + Vanalblast in hand.
Game 3: I mis-sequence plays on a mulligan to 5 and get Pyroclasmed out of the game again.
OUT: 1 Thoughtcast, 2 Etched Champion
IN: 1 Ancient Grudge, 1 Thoughtseize, 1 Galvanic Blast
Thoughts on Ray of Revelation vs Back to Nature if I'm expecting Bogles? On an unrelated note, the full spoiler is up. I don't see anything really compelling (no big surprise). I get the feeling that Natural State might make its way into some sideboards (e.g. maybe bogles), but I don't think it replaces Wear // Tear in any deck that runs it.
Dauntless Bodyguard 2/1 for 1 with upside, get in
Untamed Kavu Excelling kicker card which would be playable kicked or unkicked, though kicked makes better use of both keywords
Divest Fairly decent discard spell that hits multiple relevant card types.
Song of Freyalise
Maybes:
Adventurous Impulse Somewhat like Oath of Nissa and gives green some early card filtering.
Cast Down Not 100% if I want more virtually unconditional removal at 2 mana, but it does present some additional options in terms of rebalancing the removal suite.
Ghitu Lavarunner Probably not good enough, but I'll have to double check my red 1 drops
Danitha Capashen, Paragon Keyword soup with sometimes relevant other ability. Somewhat competing with Aerial Responder, but the fact that she dodges Cast Down makes her a possible inclusion if I it makes it into the removal suite.
Shanna, Sisay's Legacy Probably not, since this type of effect is frequently win more. However, since tokens is a strong theme in GW and she has some some protection from permanent based removal, might end up being ok. Another possible including if Cast Down makes it in.
Given that there is no timing restriction (e.g. activate only before the combat damage step), you can indeed use it to untap creatures after combat damage has been dealt.
I'mt not sure if I'll end up running Oketra's Monument since I already have Shrine of Loyal Legions. On the one hand, the monument doesn't require you to cash out, but it doesn't trigger off of spell based token generators like the shrine.
Except you still have a double colored cost to contend with regardless of how many artifacts you control.
Wild defiance doesn't trigger from Aether Grid. What they really need is a pendelhaven, spellskite, or something like phyrexian crusader.
The real explanation is that Ensoul Artifact's power/toughness effect is applied in layer 7b while Master of Etherium's effect is applied in layer 7c.
"Dies to removal" is a pretty bad reason. By that logic you may as well not run it at all since most decks have some sort of 1 mana removal be it path, bolt, or dismember (pseudo 1 mana). If you were worried about Forked Bolt and Electrolyze I might have agreed, but last I checked burn plays neither of these. While I agree that trimming on the number is fine (my default cuts are 1 memnite, 1 overseer, 1 colored spell), I don't think that cutting any of your payoff cards completely is correct in this type of matchup.
The double colored cost on Grand Abolisher is almost certainly too prohibitive except maybe in a Tempered Steel list. Even then, my instinct is that the effect isn't powerful enough (at least moreso than spellskite) to warrant going through those hoops. As an example, I was running Thopter Spy Network in the sideboard as a joke during FNM and I still had it in my hand for a turn before I could cast it due to colors.
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Darksteel Citadel
3 Glimmervoid
1 Mountain
Creatures
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Steel Overseer
2 Etched Champion
2 Master of Etherium
1 Spellskite
4 Signal Pest
4 Vault Skirge
4 Ornithopter
2 Memnite
4 Cranial Plating
3 Galvanic Blast
1 Thoughtcast
4 Mox Opal
4 Springleaf Drum
1 Welding Jar
1 Etched Champion
1 Spellskite
1 Choke
2 Ghirapur Æther Grid
1 Galvanic Blast
1 Torpor Orb
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Wear // Tear
1 Back to Nature
1 Thoughtseize
1 Stain the Mind
GPT Detroit Tournament Report: 2nd place (2-1 in Swiss)
Swiss
Round 1: UW Tron 0-2
Game 1: I keep a hand that went wide with Steel Overseer. Opponent casts T3 Wrath off of T2 Azorius Signet prior to T4 Gifts. Elesh Norn does what Elesh Norn does.
Game 2: Mullgan to 5 keeping a hand that works when drawing any 0-1 drop or land. Opponent drops chalice on 0 and I continue to draw 2 drops. Gifts->Elesh Norn again.
OUT: Thoughtcast, 1 Galvanic Blast, Welding Jar, 1 Steel Overseer
IN: Grafdigger's Cage, Relic of Progenitus, 1 Ghirapur Æther Grid, 1 Thoughtseize
Round 2: Jeskai Geist running Mantis Rider, Lightning Angel etc
I don't remember a whole lot about this one. Game 1 was just running over him. Game 2, Spellskite protecting an [card]Inkmoth Nexus with 4 counters on it wins. It's possible that I should have just left in a master, but I needed to balance my colored spells and 3 drops.
OUT: 1 Thoughtcast, 1 Steel Overseer, 1 Memnite, 1 Master of Etherium
IN: 1 Thoughtseize, 1 Spellskite, 1 Etched Champion, 1 Ghirapur Æther Grid
Round 3: Merfolk 2-0
Game 1: I don't remember too much about this one and I might be mixing it with game 2. There were misplays on both sides which pushed our clocks back by a turn. Etched Champion and Galvanic Blast pull out the win.
Game 2: I keep a relatively loose hand primarily based on a turn 2 Ghirapur Æther Grid. I kill Silvergill Adept and the first Lord with this. Master of Waves is problematic, but I'm able to keep the board in check.
OUT: 1 Memnite, 1 Steel Overseer, 1 Signal pest, 1 Spellskite, 1 Thoughtcast
IN: 1 Thoughtseize, 2 Ghirapur Æther Grid, 1 Steel Overseer, 1 Galvanic Blast
Top 4
Semifinals: Jund 2-1
Game 1: This goes horribly for me with Inqusition of Kozilek and Lightning Bolt taking out Cranial Plating and Steel Overseer, respectively. Goyfs close out the game before I draw much of relevance
Game 2: Turn 1 Etched Champion off of double Mox Opal gets there.
Game 3: I again go for a quick Ghirapur Æther Grid which ended up paying off. My opponent casts a Liliana of the Veil which is kept in check and ultimately killed by the grid. Opponent draws only spells and I eventually draw Cranial Plating which closes out the game, but I don't remember if it ended up with damage or poison.
OUT: 1 Master of Etherium, 1 Steel Overseer, 1 Memnite, 1 Galvanic Blast
IN: 1 Ghirapur Æther Grid, 1 Thoughtseize, 1 Etched Champion, 1 Spellskite
Finals: GR Tron 1-2
Game 1: Opponent mulligans to 4, plays no lands by turn 3 and concedes
Game 2: I mulligan and keep a hand that is playable, but questionable vs Pyroclasm. My opponent has two of them (and apparently Ancient Grudge + Vanalblast in hand.
Game 3: I mis-sequence plays on a mulligan to 5 and get Pyroclasmed out of the game again.
OUT: 1 Thoughtcast, 2 Etched Champion
IN: 1 Ancient Grudge, 1 Thoughtseize, 1 Galvanic Blast