You definitely need at LEAST one battlesphere, I'd be most comfortable with 2, but I've played 3 or 4 when I was almost certain that the other players were packing exile target.
Basically my general strategy is as follows, If the metalworker can get online, you somhow drop your hand.
If you get the forgemaster online, you now have to make your choices carefully... this is the best part of the deck, if you are playing aginst white or the 2/3 game, always go battlesphere first. The assumption is that they will exile the or destroy the sphere, and then, you forgemaster again next turn for either another sphere.... OR once your confident you drained their responses, that's when you get blightsteel.
Tell you this much, I've won games on two loadstones that I should have never won. I know for a fact that thought-knot would have not done near that lockup, I'd have lost for sure. In addition, you may need to sac that loadstone for the combo, this I also had to do once.
The other potential card, which may be a sideboard is silent Arbiter.
You cannot go as fast as aggro, pretty much no matter what, you can however match near tron. The only question is the consistency, however I think I'm close.
Tried a bunch of the ideas, but they have dome points of concern.
1. While it looks like Tron makes sense in this deck, it doesn't actually fit well, and the whole time you're thinking...
This would work better with the Gx package, then you're cutting more artifacts to the point that may as well cut the artifact producing mana, and then forgemaster is stupid because you may as well just have a well rounded amount of CMC >= 7 monsters. Thus you end up at Gx Tron, and then... G/R Tron.
2. Cheating things into play sounds passable, but depending on transmuter is insane, because you will be starting at a hand of uncastable large artifacts. They also can then disrupt your hand... but most importantly it's just a totally different strategy, and you should combine quicksilvers with transmuters, cut forgemaster.. and go the grand architect route for your mana. Most of those of course are not artifacts, and architect is better with blue creatures. I still don't think this is even a good idea on it's own, because while it takes advantage of transmuters, it will be open to fizzling, and uses a lot of cards to bet the house on something... that something would HAVE to be Emrakul, otherwise once it was exiled you're in deep crap. Yes, the Sneak and Show style strategy is the only way to go, but it's very narrow in what it will beat consistently, namely an aggro deck without a sidebord nor any ability to respond.
So whatever will work, must not depend on either of those aspects, otherwise you're just not playing the right deck to maximize either strategy properly. Also winning decks don't do two finalized strategies. they do one solid one with some resistance to disruption. The forgemaster being the card thie strategy should be about.
With that said, I did find something I think could work, but it has a few concerns as well.
Their are still aspects of this I dislike, this deck must recover major card disadvantage early, which only really happens when forgemaster gets out. Regardless this is the only viable direction I believe for this deck concept. You can get the forgemaster out second turn, if the hand is perfect you could get out a wormcoil, and then activate the forgemaster for a battlesphere, you never want to go for the blightsteel first, only when you've had them empty their hand of exiles.
An alternate hand would have you begin with a key, then a coretapper. Third turn forgemaster, now you're forth turn better be epic, a battle sphere and a blightsteel. I've also turned it around with a battlesphere and a darksteel forge. Basically you need to cast a third turn wormcoil, or forgmaster at minimum. Second turn lodestone, may present itself, and I'm not sure what to do in that case. Only if you can still get the forgemaster or wormcoil out the third turn, at least that's what I'd do. Two lodestones, somtimes one being a sculpting steel is usually very oppressive. Or forgemaster the blightsteel, and then cast a sculpting steel, that MIGHT be able to leave you with one, and the game is yours. The ghost quarters for any Trons, Temples, or Abbys.
With Mud, you already have an accelerated mana base, with modern non-eldrazi... you never do, and this makes things far more difficult. The only advantage we have over G/R Tron, is that our mana base can handle a blood moon with ease, chalice is great... but it hurts us alot, and I don't think we can ramp under a chalice. MABYE you could use it to our advantage. play it out and ramp up the counters, then forgemaster it... in fact, that just might work.
Stony silence completely ends the game, we have no realistically castable way to remove it, we may need colors to deal with our sideboard problems.
Trying to cook up some ideas, so out of the 60 cards what should be the number of threating midrange/midrange+ creatures? So for the sake of the question, assume the mana is available.
is it 1/3? Like 20? what would be a passable range?
You got a partial strategies going on, I think you should go more aggro on this.
drop transmuter, nothing matched looks like a clear value, to offset initial investment, the cost is already low.
drop ornothopter, better options exist in almost any strategy, not sure what need more experianced deck builder to say... but I do know they'd recommend drop.
drop academy, unless you playing super casual, since banned.
see the problem with this deck though now, is that it's artifact aggro and it's not viable in legacy that I'd seen thus far... consider dropping the artifact lands and make something modern format.
Is it possible to combine agrro elements, what are some solid win states?
Tinker to Colossus was my first thought, but can I get enough flexibility on that to not be too boxed in.
Basically my general strategy is as follows, If the metalworker can get online, you somhow drop your hand.
If you get the forgemaster online, you now have to make your choices carefully... this is the best part of the deck, if you are playing aginst white or the 2/3 game, always go battlesphere first. The assumption is that they will exile the or destroy the sphere, and then, you forgemaster again next turn for either another sphere.... OR once your confident you drained their responses, that's when you get blightsteel.
The other potential card, which may be a sideboard is silent Arbiter.
You cannot go as fast as aggro, pretty much no matter what, you can however match near tron. The only question is the consistency, however I think I'm close.
1. While it looks like Tron makes sense in this deck, it doesn't actually fit well, and the whole time you're thinking...
This would work better with the Gx package, then you're cutting more artifacts to the point that may as well cut the artifact producing mana, and then forgemaster is stupid because you may as well just have a well rounded amount of CMC >= 7 monsters. Thus you end up at Gx Tron, and then... G/R Tron.
2. Cheating things into play sounds passable, but depending on transmuter is insane, because you will be starting at a hand of uncastable large artifacts. They also can then disrupt your hand... but most importantly it's just a totally different strategy, and you should combine quicksilvers with transmuters, cut forgemaster.. and go the grand architect route for your mana. Most of those of course are not artifacts, and architect is better with blue creatures. I still don't think this is even a good idea on it's own, because while it takes advantage of transmuters, it will be open to fizzling, and uses a lot of cards to bet the house on something... that something would HAVE to be Emrakul, otherwise once it was exiled you're in deep crap. Yes, the Sneak and Show style strategy is the only way to go, but it's very narrow in what it will beat consistently, namely an aggro deck without a sidebord nor any ability to respond.
So whatever will work, must not depend on either of those aspects, otherwise you're just not playing the right deck to maximize either strategy properly. Also winning decks don't do two finalized strategies. they do one solid one with some resistance to disruption. The forgemaster being the card thie strategy should be about.
With that said, I did find something I think could work, but it has a few concerns as well.
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Sundering Titan
Occasionally Castable:
2 Myr Battlesphere
1 Spine of Ish Sah
Normally Castable:
4 Wurmcoil Engine
4 Kuldotha Forgemaster
4 Lodestone Golem
2 Sculpting Steel
Mana Acceleration:
4x Coretapper
2x Voltaic Key
4x Surge Node
4x Mox Opal
4x Everflowing Chalice
4x Astral Cornucopia
1x Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1x Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1x Inventors' Fair
4x Sea Gate Wreckage
4x Ghost Quarter
4x Darksteel Citadel
1x Gemstone Caverns
1x Academy Ruins
4 Sun Droplet
4 Scarecrone
4 Ratchet Bomb
1 Duplicant
1 Platinum Emperion
1 Darksteel Forge
Their are still aspects of this I dislike, this deck must recover major card disadvantage early, which only really happens when forgemaster gets out. Regardless this is the only viable direction I believe for this deck concept. You can get the forgemaster out second turn, if the hand is perfect you could get out a wormcoil, and then activate the forgemaster for a battlesphere, you never want to go for the blightsteel first, only when you've had them empty their hand of exiles.
An alternate hand would have you begin with a key, then a coretapper. Third turn forgemaster, now you're forth turn better be epic, a battle sphere and a blightsteel. I've also turned it around with a battlesphere and a darksteel forge. Basically you need to cast a third turn wormcoil, or forgmaster at minimum. Second turn lodestone, may present itself, and I'm not sure what to do in that case. Only if you can still get the forgemaster or wormcoil out the third turn, at least that's what I'd do. Two lodestones, somtimes one being a sculpting steel is usually very oppressive. Or forgemaster the blightsteel, and then cast a sculpting steel, that MIGHT be able to leave you with one, and the game is yours. The ghost quarters for any Trons, Temples, or Abbys.
With Mud, you already have an accelerated mana base, with modern non-eldrazi... you never do, and this makes things far more difficult. The only advantage we have over G/R Tron, is that our mana base can handle a blood moon with ease, chalice is great... but it hurts us alot, and I don't think we can ramp under a chalice. MABYE you could use it to our advantage. play it out and ramp up the counters, then forgemaster it... in fact, that just might work.
Stony silence completely ends the game, we have no realistically castable way to remove it, we may need colors to deal with our sideboard problems.
is it 1/3? Like 20? what would be a passable range?
drop transmuter, nothing matched looks like a clear value, to offset initial investment, the cost is already low.
drop ornothopter, better options exist in almost any strategy, not sure what need more experianced deck builder to say... but I do know they'd recommend drop.
drop academy, unless you playing super casual, since banned.
see the problem with this deck though now, is that it's artifact aggro and it's not viable in legacy that I'd seen thus far... consider dropping the artifact lands and make something modern format.
4x Seat of the Synod
4x Sol Ring
Is it possible to combine agrro elements, what are some solid win states?
Tinker to Colossus was my first thought, but can I get enough flexibility on that to not be too boxed in.