MTG Salvation

Welcome to my primer! This deck is optimized for lightning fast combo and aggro kills, it's tuned for tournament play, and you won't find a faster or stronger Arcum list anywhere. It's also tons of fun when you're blowing up stuff and swinging with a blightsteel colossus or two. Or three. Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to ask questions, offer suggestions, or add comments.

Table of Contents

Introduction

• Why Arcum?
• Why not some other blue general?
• Is Arcum right for you?
• Background.
• Deck history and personal bio.
• Deck pics
• Q&A.
• How is this deck different?
Decklist

• Budget decklist
Analysis

• Tactics.
• An example of the one turn win.
• Politics.
• Weaknesses.
• Card breakdown.
• Notable omissions.
• Explanation of combos and synergies.
• Change log.
• Cards I wish I had room for.

Why Arcum?

Arcum is a top tier general that is fast, consistent, and powerful. This deck is tuned to kill so if you came here looking for a mediocre deck to play long sociable games, you came to the wrong place.

This is NOT a resource-denial style of deck that prevents people from playing (including yourself) and grinds the game down to a halt, resulting in a long and painful gaming experience that earns you the hatred of everyone you're playing against. This deck is fast, consistent, and it either blows up your opponents' permanents or smashes them with aggro.

Why not some other blue general?

To put it quite simply, there is no other general that does what Arcum can do. I have always had an affinity for artifacts (pardon the pun, heh heh) and the ability to seek out any artifact in a 100-card singleton format and put it directly onto the battlefield is right up my alley. The only thing I might like more is a red/blue general that does the kinds of things that goblin welder does.

Background

Arcum Dagsson was a researcher in the Kjeldoran city of Soldev during the Ice Age. He and the other Soldevi machinists studied ancient artifacts, particularly those from the Brothers' War, and used their designs to create their own versions. He intended to use the artifacts to aid Soldev and Kjeldor, but the excavated Phyrexian war beasts, as well as his own steam beasts, went out of control due to the meddling of the Soldevi Adnates and destroyed the city. Following this catastrophe, Dagsson devoted his life to making amends for the damage he had caused and played a significant role in stopping Heidar's Ice Phyrexians.

According to lore, Arcum focused on using his abilities to take menacing creatures and turn them into harmless artifacts. In EDH he does the opposite - he takes harmless creatures and turns them into menacing artifacts.

Deck history & Personal bio

I have played mtg since 1997. About five years ago, after not having played mtg for a year or two, I went to a local card shop with some vintage/casual decks because I heard they played mtg there. The only thing that people were playing there was edh, a format that I had never heard of before. So I went home and checked out various generals to see what piqued my interest.

I had a vintage deck called 'utility belt' that abused cards like tinker and goblin welder to put nasty artifacts on the battlefield. I loved the synergies and interactions in the deck and I was discouraged to find that I wasn't allowed to play tinker in edh, but I was allowed to play a tinker general, which is even better. I quickly made a basic deck using what cards I had available, and went back to the shop to see how it fared against other decks. To my surprise, this unfinished build pretty much thrashed every deck it went against. I still saw great room for improvement though and I have been tweaking it ever since. This decklist is the product of 5 years of playing and playtesting. I eventually pimped it out as well.

Deck pics

And here's the islands I used to use:

Q&A

Q: How fast is this deck?
A: It typically kills or gets a nevinyrral's disk/darksteel forge lock on turn 3-5. It can win on turn 1 and I have killed on turn 2 before. Like any deck, how fast it goes off is largely dependent on how much disruption it has to deal with.

Q: Mishra's workshop is expensive. Is it necessary?
A: Nope. But it can provide a HUGE boost and speed up the deck considerably.

Q: Have you ever played this deck in a tournament?
A: Yes. There was a local edh tournament with about 20 players. I played 4 tables of people and it killed every person at every table. I've tweaked it since then so its actually better now than it was then.

How is this deck different from some other decklists?

When building and tweaking your arcum deck I recommend that you check multiple arcum decklists on mtgs, all of which have great ideas to help you decide on how to build your deck.

• Competitiveness. This deck is optimized to be as fast and strong as possible. If you see a decklist that lacks a force of will, or uses weird things like dross scorpion or null brooch (that countermagic isn't even good enough for nonblue decks, let alone a blue one), that's not a competitive deck. Which is fine for playing friendly games with your buddies, but if you want to be able to compete with tier 1 decks like hermit druid, ad nauseum, and other decks that typically win around turn 3 or sooner, then this decklist is the one for you. My meta are all experienced players who use a lot of removal and they save it all for me when I play this deck. This list is the result of 6 years of tweaking and tuning to make it as cutthroat as possible in order to survive tons of hate from ruthless players.
• Politics. I have read elsewhere how some people ignore politics and just focus on winning. This makes no sense - why would ignoring tactics help you to win? I employ every tactical advantage I've learned in the last 16 years of playing this game to make this deck as cutthroat as possible. I explain some of the political strategies in the politics section. Politics isn't about making people feel better or trying not to hurt their feelings, its about getting people to do what you want them to do. EDH is interactive - player politics matter.
• Aggro. Although I only added one beefy creature - blightsteel colossus - in a toolbox deck like this he comes out regularly and always makes his presence felt. With all the copy/clone-type cards he often comes out in pairs or triplets.
• Speed. This primer puts great emphasis on killing your opponents quickly and on giving your opponents very little time to stop you once you are able to combo out. I read on other arcum lists that they often use arcum to fetch myr turbine first (a wasted arcum activation if you ask me), then nevinyrral's disk, then darksteel forge and then mycosynth lattice on following turns. That takes a long time so ask yourself this question - what is more likely to work in your meta: laying a bunch of combo pieces over multiple turns and giving your opponents that much time to disrupt you, or winning the game in one turn? If you chose the latter, then this primer is for you. My playgroup certainly won't durdle around for 3-4 turns and idly watch as I combo out. Plus, most of the disruption is 1cmc or less.
• Fun. Despite how powerful this deck is, it does not sacrifice fun to gain this competitive edge. Being able to destroy everybody else's stuff and turning 1-3 blighsteels sideways is a blast.

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DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Commander (1) 1x Arcum Dagsson Foil Creatures (17) 1x Blightsteel colossus Foil 1x Etherium sculptor Foil 1x Hangarback walker Foil 1x Hedron crawler Foil 1x Kuldotha forgemaster Foil 1x Manakin Foil 1x Master transmuter Foil 1x Metalworker Foil 1x millikin Foil 1x Myr retriever 1x Palladium myr Foil 1x Phyrexian revoker Foil 1x Phyrexian metamorph Foil 1x Plague myr Foil 1x Silver myr Foil 1x Spellskite Foil 1x Trinket mage Foil Disruption (12) 1x All is dust Foil 1x Cyclonic rift Foil 1x Flusterstorm Foil 1x Force of will 1x Mana drain 1x Mental misstep Foil 1x Nevinyrral's disk Foil 1x Pact of negation Foil 1x Pongify Foil 1x Spell pierce Foil 1x Spine of ish sah Foil 1x Swan song Foil	Mana (10) 1x Basalt monolith Foil 1x Grim monolith Foil 1x Guardian idol Foil 1x Mind stone Foil 1x Lion's eye diamond 1x Mana crypt Foil 1x Mana vault Foil 1x Mox diamond Foil 1x Mox opal Foil 1x Sol ring Foil Utility cards (10) 1x Darksteel forge Foil 1x Lightning greaves Foil 1x Mycosynth lattice Foil 1x Power artifact 1x Rings of brighthearth Foil 1x Sculpting steel Foil 1x Staff of domination Foil 1x Swiftfoot boots Foil 1x Thousand-year elixir Foil 1x Voltaic key Foil Card draw/search (15) 1x Brainstorm Foil 1x Fabricate Foil 1x Fact or fiction Foil 1x Memory jar Foil 1x Muddle the mixture Foil 1x Mystical tutor Foil 1x Ponder Foil 1x Preordain Foil 1x Reshape Foil 1x Ring of three wishes Foil 1x Sensei's divining top Foil 1x Tezzeret the seeker Foil 1x Thirst for knowledge Foil 1x Transmute artifact 1x Whir of invention	1x Academy ruins Foil 1x Ancient tomb Foil 1x Blinkmoth nexus Foil 1x Buried ruin Foil 1x Cavern of souls Foil 1x Crystal vein Foil 1x Flooded strand 1x Gemstone caverns 1x Halimar depths Foil 1x Hall of the bandit lord Foil 1x Inkmoth nexus Foil 14x Island Foil 1x Minamo, school at water's edge Foil 1x Mishra's factory Foil 1x Mishra's workshop 1x Misty rainforest 1x Oboro, palace in the clouds Foil 1x Polluted delta 1x Scalding tarn 1x Seat of the synod Foil 1x Strip mine Foil 1x Tolaria west Foil

Budget Decklist

DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Commander (1) 1x Arcum Dagsson Creatures (18) 1x alloy myr 1x blightsteel colossus 1x etherium sculptor 1x hangarback walker 1x hedron crawler 1x junk diver 1x karn, silver golem 1x kuldotha forgemaster 1x manakin 1x master transmuter 1x myr retriever 1x palladium myr 1x phyrexian revoker 1x phyrexian metamorph 1x plague myr 1x silver myr 1x solemn simulacrum 1x trinket mage Disruption (12) 1x arcane denial 1x counterspell 1x curse of the swine 1x cyclonic rift 1x dispel 1x negate 1x pongify 1x rapid hybridization 1x nevinyrral's disk 1x spell pierce 1x swan song 1x spine of ish sah	Mana (9) 1x basalt monolith 1x grim monolith 1x guardian idol 1x expedition map 1x mana vault 1x mind stone 1x mox opal 1x sol ring 1x thran dynamo Utility cards (11) 1x copy artifact 1x darksteel forge 1x lightning greaves 1x mycosynth lattice 1x power artifact 1x rings of brighthearth 1x sculpting steel 1x staff of domination 1x swiftfoot boots 1x thousand-year elixir 1x voltaic key Card draw/search (14) 1x brainstorm 1x fabricate 1x fact or fiction 1x impulse 1x memory jar 1x muddle the mixture 1x mystical tutor 1x ring of three wishes 1x ponder 1x preordain 1x reshape 1x sensei's divining top 1x tezzeret the seeker 1x thirst for knowledge	Lands (35) 1x academy ruins 1x ancient tomb 1x blinkmoth nexus 1x buried ruin 1x halimar depths 1x hall of the bandit lord 1x inkmoth nexus 24x island 1x minamo, school at water's edge 1x mishra's factory 1x seat of the synod 1x tolaria west

The early game (turns 1-2)

The first two turns usually involve dropping lands and artifact mana.

A great opening hand would have 3-4 mana sources, including a couple that Arcum can sack for artifacts, something to give Arcum protection or haste, a combo piece, and some disruption. It is unlikely to get all of this of course, but there is plenty of draw/search cards to find what you need. The combo piece should be one of the following: rings of brighthearth, basalt monolith, sensei's divining top, staff of domination, metalworker, ring of three wishes, or power artifact. If you don't have a combo piece, a tutor is the next best thing: trinket mage (to fetch the top), fabricate, muddle the mixture, reshape, transmute artifact, tezzeret the seeker, mystical tutor, or whir of invention.

The mid-late game (turns 3-5)

By this time you want to cast arcum and have enough left over for a counterspell, you want to have fodder for him to use his ability on, and you want to be able to give him haste. If you don't have all these things and your meta plays a lot of removal, you might want to delay casting him for a round or two. Sometimes I'll cast arcum without haste if I can protect him well (counterspells, spellskite, etc) but against competitive players, you don't want to be the first person to drop bombs unless you can defend them. Holding back is often wise - people hold back counterspells/removal for the first person to threaten them and letting your opponents use up their resources on others is a strong tactical move.

Once you have arcum in play and he is able to use his ability, there are two paths to winning:
1) Blow stuff up. At the end of the previous player's turn, use arcum to put nevinyrral's disk in play, then start your turn, put darksteel forge in play and blow the disk (the disk stays on the battlefield because of the forge). After this point, you can blow the disk every turn and your artifacts will remain. Most people concede at this point but they're welcome to wait until you get mycosynth lattice in play so you can destroy their lands too.
*Note: If you put disk in play, and then mycosynth lattice instead of darksteel forge, and you think that next turn you'll still have them and be able to put darksteel forge in play to crush your opponents...think again. Only a weak meta will let you get away with something like that. In competitive play, its better to put disk and forge in at once and use the disk to slow down your opponents, and then bring the lattice in after.
2) Make an infinite mana engine (such as rings of brighthearth + basalt monolith, or metalworker + staff of domination, or grim monolith + power artifact) and then abuse it with things like ring of three wishes or staff of domination to win the game, often with a blightsteel colossus or three (phyrexian metamorph and sculpting steel are great clones) delivering the final blow.

Before you decide which path to victory, consider the wincons and determine what would enable the easiest and quickest win. Sometimes I go for disk + forge, other times I tutor for rings of brighthearth first then use the rings to tutor away 2 mana dorks for 2 more combo pieces for the win. With all the win options though, I often don't need to tutor away 2 creatures since the last part of the combo I need is often in my hand. Essentially you should consider all the ways to win, decide which one is easiest to accomplish, then make it happen. Check out the wincons section to see what your options are.

Wincons

There are typically 3 pieces required to kill people, and the first two are for making mana. The third piece kills the person or gets me the card(s) I need to kill them. There are many ways that this deck can kill and in order to pilot the deck well you want to be familiar with all of them:

I typically kill my opponents by making an infinite mana combo and drawing/tutoring into blightsteel colossus and something to clone it with (phyrexian metamorph/copy artifact/sculpting steel), and I can usually equip them with lightning greaves and swiftfoot boots and attack. Another option once you have infinite mana is to make an infinitely big hangarback walker or better yet, sack it to arcum's ability for infinite thopter tokens.

metalworker + 3 artifacts in hand + staff of domination = infinite life + infinite mana + infinite card draw.
metalworker + 2 artifacts in hand + voltaic key + rings of brighthearth = infinite mana + infinite untapping of all my artifacts.
rings of brighthearth + basalt monolith + sensei's divining top = infinite card draw
rings of brighthearth + basalt monolith + ring of three wishes = tutor 5 times (fetch voltaic key or clock of omens first, then use it to untap itself and the ring of three wishes, then copy the tutor ability with the rings of brighthearth to grab 2 cards with each activation.)
rings of brighthearth + basalt monolith + staff of domination = infinite life + infinite mana + infinite card draw.
rings of brighthearth + basalt monolith + mycosynth lattice + arcum dagsson = infinite everything, basically (sack arcum to himself, getting thousand-year elixir, then recast him and sack him again and again for whatever artifacts you want).
power artifact + grim monolith or basalt monolith + ring of three wishes = tutor 4 times (grab clock of omens first and use it and the monolith to untap ring of three wishes. Then tutor for rings of brighthearth, then tap the clock (or any other artifact) and a monolith to untap the ring of three wishes and another artifact[paying 2 to copy the untap ability], so essentially you can tap one artifact (and a monolith, which you untap with mana) to untap 2 artifacts, which means you can untap all your artifacts repeatedly). I know that sounds complicated but work it out and you'll get it. Then use the ring of three wishes a final time, and copy the tutor ability to tutor for 2 cards.
power artifact + grim monolith or basalt monolith + mycosynth lattice + arcum dagsson = infinite everything, basically (sack arcum to himself, getting thousand-year elixir, then recast him and sack him again and again for whatever artifacts you want).
And there is also the traditional nevinyrral's disk + darksteel forge (+ mycosynth lattice if possible) = blow up your opponents' stuff every turn.

Strategy

EDH is a social game where the primary goal is not winning, but in having fu… oh who am I kidding – of course winning is everything. Lets talk about how to kill people.

There are two aspects that I consider when I want to win:
1) My tactical game.
2) My political game.

Tactics

This deck has 6 counterspells that cost 1cmc or less to play. And 2 creature removal that cost U as well. That's about more than just speed and efficiency too because smart players always look at what mana the blue players have untapped before they play their important spells; if two islands are untapped, they tend to hold back the important cards. It's a good idea to intentionally leave only one island untapped to lure them into playing important spells.

Arcum is a great tactical general because he can go from having very little in play to an all-powerful board-state in a single turn. The ability to put the deadliest artifacts into play at instant speed for zero mana makes him a killing machine. There are two things that I consider when I want to kill someone: what win condition to use and timing.

Timing is everything. I first played arcum by using him to put a new powerful artifact on the battlefield every turn and after a few turns I should be able to combo out and kill people. I have since learned that in a competitive meta you cannot expect flashy artifacts to remain for more than a turn or two. This deck strives to leave only the smallest window of opportunity for your opponents to stop you - 1 turn only. If I don't have what I need to win in one turn I tend to hold off until I can. I don't risk leaving essential combo pieces on the board unless my death is imminent.

Once arcum is in play, it is best to keep him dormant until the last player’s EOT step. That is when you activate arcum to get a combo piece. Then you start your turn, untap and draw, then activate him again and win on your turn. If your opponents don't have removal, they are tapped out, or their removal spells are sorceries (revoke existence and dust to dust are common in my meta) then you win.

An example of the one turn win:

This isn't about winning on turn 1. That's possible, but unlikely--I have killed on turn 2 before though.
This is about winning the turn after you have arcum in play and are able to activate him.

Lets say that you have Arcum in play, some lands (including a mishra's factory), a tapped mana vault, and a palladium myr and no cards in hand and that's it because your opponents have been mercilessly countering your spells, destroying your artifacts, and making you discard. You have a frustrated look on your face to show everyone that you're screwed...
....but inside you're smiling because this is actually a pretty strong board position. At the previous player's EoT you can sack your factory for nevinyrral's disk then start your turn, sack the palladium myr for a darksteel forge, and blow stuff up. Arcum dies too but that's okay because you now dominate the board - you can blow the disk every turn and your artifacts will remain.

Or lets say you sack the factory for a rings of brighthearth during his end step and then you start your turn. There is an excellent chance that the card you draw will lead to one of the wincons above. It could be basalt monolith, sensei's divining top, trinket mage (which would fetch me sensei's top), staff of domination, ring of three wishes, fabricate, muddle the mixture, reshape, transmute artifact, or tezzeret the seeker. If you draw any of those you win the game on the spot because you cast the card you draw and sack the myr for the 3rd piece you need to go infinite.

Or if you draw one of the ~20 cards that are artifact creatures or can become an artifact creature, you can instead use rings of brighthearth to sack 2 artifact creatures and grab 2 combo pieces for the win. Or perhaps you drew a fact or fiction, memory jar, thirst for knowledge, impulse, ponder, preordain, brainstorm, or other search/draw spell - there's a good chance that any of these cards will find you what you need.

In total there are about 30 different cards which would have ensured victory instantly, and numerous others which could tutor/search for one of those 30 cards. This is the power of Arcum - he goes from being totally harmless to being all-powerful in seconds.

What about exile effects and mass-removal?

Sometimes I will have every artifact I cast or put into play destroyed or exiled, and this is when Arcum struggles. This is when it is good to lay low, avoid putting anything threatening on the battlefield, and quietly draw and tutor for something to kill people with.

The fact that this deck is so geared to win in one turn helps to avoid mass-removal and exile effects because those cards are usually sorceries and they don't generally want to waste a boardwipe on their turn when you have nothing threatening in play. The best way to withstand mass-removal is to make your permanents indestructible using mycosynth lattice and darksteel forge.

There are also counterspells to prevent board wipes and exile effects but if they do manage to get through, Arcum rolls with the punches very well by rebuilding with the help of tutoring and card draw. Keep in mind there are also ways of getting artifacts back out of the graveyard after a mass-removal: buried ruin, academy ruins, myr retriever, and junk diver.

Politics

Politics is not about keeping others happy, it's about getting them to do what you want them to do. Appearing harmless while emphasizing how dangerous your opponents are is an example of a political play and this is important when you are using a top-tier general. Arcum is a good political general because the moment before he creates infinite combos, he looks harmless (assuming you’re following my advice about timing). This makes it easy to minimize how threatening you appear and emphasizing how threatening other players are.

I avoid bad political cards such as possessed portal. This card is fine in 1vs1 (so long as its part of a stax package with smokestack, tangle wire, etc) but in multiplayer games, it does 2 things: it hurts you as well as your opponents, and it makes the game archenemy against you.

Other political plays include forming temporary alliances, mentioning deadly cards that might lurk in your opponents' hands, asking 'innocent' questions about how powerful a player's creatures are to remind others of the threat they pose, offering helpful suggestions to others (that don't interfere with your own gameplan of course), and offering to accept a minor attack in the hope that the attacker will aim future (and more powerful) attacks elsewhere.

Weaknesses

One weakness of the deck is that it is very reliant on Arcum and it suffers if someone else takes control of him. If this happens this can make it very difficult to get the cards you need to defeat your opponents. Even so, with all the card draw and tutoring in this deck, he is often not needed. If I don't need him I might still cast him to absorb spot removal and make my opponents think that I have been slowed down.

Hellkite tyrant is nasty. Fear this creature. If someone is playing Kaalia and they cast a tutor before they attack you, expect to be introduced to this beast.

Although cards like null rod and stony silence would be very disruptive to Arcum, I never encounter them in my meta. One card that I do encounter though is humility. Fortunately, everyone else seems to hate humility as much as I do and if I don't kill it with something, somebody else probably will. Arcum has a lot of tutoring and card draw so if he is shut down with a card like this, the deck still has a lot of options and can usually find what it needs to recover.

Jester's cap can strip away key combo pieces, but being capped once should still leave Arcum with other options. If, for example, they took rings of brighthearth/power artifact/nevinyrral's disk from your deck, that would hurt but you can still beat them down with colossus. The various clone-type cards (sculpting steel, copy artifact, phyrexian metamorph) can copy the colossus or your opponents' creatures if you have mycosynth lattice in play. And with lattice in play, you can copy anything with those.

Stranglehold is difficult to deal with as well. When I see this I counter it if I can, or hope to find spine of ish sah or karn liberated to take care of it. Other times I manage to find the cards I need to win without using Arcum so it becomes irrelevant.

Wrath of god and their ilk can wipe the board of Arcum (and his myr friends if you can't get darksteel forge on the battlefield in time) but I'm pretty used to Arcum dying and being recasted so this slows you down, but it typically slows down your opponents too so its not so bad.

Card breakdown

Creatures

Two of the major roles provided by creatures in this deck are to create mana and to provide Arcum with fodder to sack for other artifacts. Manakin, plague myr, palladium myr, myr retriever, milikin, alloy myr, silver myr, and scuttlemutt perform both these tasks beautifully. Etherium sculptor and solemn simulacrum help to move things along mana-wise and provide Arcum targets as well.

Blightsteel colossus is all the beatdown you need in a deck that is so good at tutoring and cloning creatures. His ability to enter the library after hitting the graveyard can be used to your advantage as well - I once won a game after having my library wiped out by vendillion clique + tunnel vision by using Arcum to sack the colossus (finding nothing in the library), which shuffled the colossus into my library so I didnt die on my draw step, and recasting it and attacking with it repeatedly. That was a fun game.

master transmuter is a versatile card that does the jobs that Arcum doesn't. I love using her to return a tapped mana vault or mana crypt to my hand and drop a combo piece or high-cost artifact into play. Sometimes she's the ultimate blocker, that puts herself in my hand and returns it to play. Or she removes spine of ish sah and returns it to play. With rings of brighthearth in play you can return 1 artifact and put 2 more on the battlefield.

Phyrexian metamorph is amazing. It can kill your enemy's legendary creature when it enters play, or copy your own colossus or an enemy creature such as a primordial. You might copy one of your own or someone else's utility artifacts. Its extremely versatile.

Spellskite is fodder for arcum and provides protection for him and other permanents you control. Usually when this guy is on the board I'm redirecting an opponent's spell or ability to him then sacking him in response. And its always fun when someone tries to cast a big enchantment on their creature and it goes on spellskite instead.

Trinket mage tutors for sensei's divining top, sol ring, seat of the synod, or ornithopter.

Ornithopter. Sometimes you just want free fodder for arcum, or a flying blocker, or both. It's fetchable by tolaria west and trinket mage, reshape only costs UU to get it, and tezzeret doesn't use up any counters to fetch it.

phyrexian revoker is pithing needle on a body that is also an arcum target. He has saved me a few times by shutting down my opponent's combo piece or prevented him from abusing cards like survival of the fittest.

Disruption

All is dust are great removal options for blue. All is dust typically does nothing or nearly nothing to hurt this deck, but is often crippling to every other deck - plus its a pretty sweet-looking foil. It comes in handy, especially if you are unable to cast spells because of cards like contamination or iona, shield of emeria.

The countermagic I use are 2cmc or less ones (mana drain, muddle the mixture, pact of negation, force of will, swan song, flusterstorm, mental misstep, etc). 3cmc counterspells (hinder, spell crumple, cryptic command, etc) are too slow for competitive play and even 2cmc spells like counterspell and negate are too slow for me (although mana drain gets a pass because it creates mana and muddle the mixture is a tutor).

Cyclonic rift is so good I almost have a hard time believing its a real card. It clears the board of all your enemies non-land permanents - really?! It pains me when I have to cast it without overload to save myself.

Pongify and rapid hybridization can disable top tier decks like hermit druid and animar for only one mana.

Spine of ish sah is huge in this deck. Arcum fetches this card regularly to destroy threats. It is a common card to copy with sculpting steel/copy artifact/phrexian metamorph and a favorite target for master transmuter to bounce and return to play.

Nevinyrral's disk is the signature board wipe of the deck. It is brutal when darksteel forge in play (since the disk doesn't die to its own effect) and if you manage to have forge and mycosynth lattice in play, it transcends from brutal and becomes obscene. When everyone's lands and other permanents are blown up, that's game over. It is also often used on its own to reset the board if needed.

Mana

My favorite games are the ones where I have mana crypt in my opening hand. Your opponents will have a very hard time trying to catch up when you begin the game with a big head start like that.

Basalt monolith is a decent stand-alone card for giving you mana when you need it. But usually it is there to combo with rings of brighthearth or power artifact to make infinite mana.

Grim monolith is a good stand-alone card for giving you the mana you need. It also combos with power artifact to make infinite mana.

guardian idol is a mana rock that can become an artifact creature if Arcum needs one.

Utility cards

Clock of omens can create a lot of mana by tapping artifacts that don't normally tap (rings, forge, lattice, etc) to untap mana artifacts like mana vault, thran dynamo, etc. When mycosynth lattice is in play it becomes really good - for example you can tap 2 lands to untap any permanent you control.

Darksteel forge is fantastic with nevinyrral's disk and it protects your stuff. There have been countless times where someone has casted something to destroy an artifact (or all artifacts) and I respond by putting the forge in play. And when someone casts armageddon and you can respond by getting forge and mycosynth lattice in play, then your lands are safe.

mycosynth lattice goes nicely with forge and disk to ruin your opponents day, but it also works nicely with clock of omens. Tapping any two artifacts to untap cards like thran dynamo, mana vault, mishra's workshop, etc can produce plenty of mana for things, and it can also untap arcum or other utility permanents you have on the board. With lattice in play, I often have Arcum sacrifice himself to his own ability.

Power artifact is used to make infinite mana when put on grim monolith or basalt monolith. Or mana vault, if you're desperate. You don't generally want to cast this unless you have one of the monoliths in play. It does not work on mana vault and it is usually not worth using on staff of domination. It might be worthwhile on ring of three wishes, however.

Rings of brighthearth is insanely good in this deck. It is the workhorse that helps to make infite mana, enable various combos, and is also great without a combo pieces as it doubles abilities of numerous other cards in the deck. You will want to know everything it doubles; for example ring of three wishes tutors for 2 cards, tezzeret fetches 2 things or untaps twice, muddle the mixture transmutes for 2 cards, arcum can sack 2 creatures to fetch 2 artifacts, minamo untaps arcum twice, master transmuter puts 2 artifacts in play, the list goes on and on.

Sculpting steel often copies a blightsteel colossus or spine of ish sah. If mycosynth lattice in play, it can copy anything such as your opponent's best creature - such as legendary eldrazi (with the upcoming legend rule that allows different players to have the same legendary creature in play).

Staff of domination is terrific in this deck. This deck can generate a lot of mana so it is great utility even when cast on its own without an infinite mana engine - it untaps creatures, gives you cards, gains you life, etc. But usually it is used to end the game after you make infinite mana.

lightning greaves, swiftfoot boots, thousand-year elixir, give Arcum haste which essentially speeds up everything one round. Speed is crucial. You do not want Arcum sitting on the battlefield and unable to use his ability if you can avoid it.

Card draw/tutoring

Card draw and tutoring and are key for combo decks, so cards like brainstorm, impulse, fact or fiction, fabricate, ponder, etc are self-explanatory.

Memory jar is outstanding card draw that is always one-sided. My opponents rarely cast anything they draw from it. If I have rings + basalt in play, I hope to have either sensei's top, staff of domination, planar portal or something to tutor one of those in my hand. But if I don't, memory jar usually does the trick to find me the card I need.

Tezzeret the seeker might be the best planeswalker in edh and he shines brightest in Arcum. He always finds you what you need and with rings of brighthearth in play, he fetches 2 artifacts - which of course is game over. Or he can untap your mana vault/gilded lotus/etc for a big mana boost. I love Tezzy.

Transmute artifact is a terrific old-school card that finds you the artifact you need.

Lands

Lands that can become artifact creatures are essential for Arcum - not only to mishra's factory, inkmoth nexus, and blinkmoth nexus make great targets for Arcum, they are subtle enough to make it look like you're defenseless when actually you can tap a few things and create an unbeatable board position.

Ancient tomb and mishra's workshop provide a big boost that lets you cast things earlier than you should.

Academy ruins and buried ruin return that lost combo piece or artifact creature you need. With rings of brighthearth these lands move 2 artifacts from the graveyard. As awesome as academy ruins is, I would say buried ruin is even better in this deck.

Cavern of souls is great to get Arcum in play against other blue decks.

Minamo, school at water's edge is essentially an island that can untap Arcum. How awesome is that.

Oboro, palace in the clouds has an ability that isn't useful very often. Occasionally its good against land destruction or sometimes I'll have lots of colorless mana but not enough blue mana - so I'll tap it for blue, use colorless mana to return it, then lay it again for another blue mana.

Seat of the synod is an artifact land so its fetchable by trinket mage and tezzeret the seeker and it has synergy with clock of omens. Like Oboro, it doesn't hold much of a benefit over a basic island but it doesn't have much of a drawback either.

Tolaria west comes in tapped unfortunately but it can tutor for mishra's workshop, hall of the bandit lord, or pact of negation - which I love. And if you have rings of brighthearth in play you can pay 2 and tutor for 2 cards.

Cards that I cut

I cut some really great cards, but there is method to my madness.

Until recently, I had lifeline in the deck. It was such a great card and so much fun to abuse. Arcum would often get destroyed by something and respond by fetching lifeline. Not only did this bring arcum back, it also brought back every artifact creature he sacked from then on. But, it's a little janky and it got cut in order to make the deck as quick as possible.

Karn, silver golem is another great card that works well in the deck. He can turn any artifact into fodder for arcum and he has great synergy with mycosynth lattice (together they become 1, destroy target land) but ultimately I felt that spending 5 mana to cast him slowed me down too much.

Memnarch was kind of a win-more card that usually died before I could use him effectively and he didn't really fit well in the deck. Plus he made everyone angry.

Future sight combos beautifully with sensei's divining top (together they create: 1, draw a card. And with etherium sculptor it is: 0, draw a card) but I ended up hating future sight's casting cost and it rarely worked as well as I hoped.

Mind's eye is great card draw in a lot of decks, but blue has better options.

Jace, the mind sculptor ended up being a 4cmc brainstorm every time. This deck doesn't have much for blockers so as soon as jace hit the field, all the aggro came my way to kill it.

cryptic command is a fantastic card but I just can't keep 4 mana open without holding myself back a turn. Also, smart players notice when the monoblue deck has 4 mana open and they hold back key spells accordingly.

Mindslaver has saved me a few times but most of the time all it does is tap my opponent's mana.

Rhystic study is a great card and I'd like to make room for it again. Maybe one day.

Mulldrifter and raven familiar are good, but they just didn't do enough for 3 mana.

Relic of progenitus might merit a spot in this deck, I just haven't found room for it.

I had a nice foil Tamiyo, the moon sage in there for a while. It looked pretty.....but it didn't really do anything. And if I was able to use her ultimate then I probably should have won already.

Notable omissions

Epochrasite can be sacked and return a few turns later, after the game is already over, which is useless.

Myr battlesphere was in the deck for a brief time. But it was expensive to cast and did not synergize well.

Karn, silver golem is a great card and has great synergy with mycosynth lattice for destroying lands. But I found that his casting cost made him too slow for the deck.

Snapcaster mage is an incredible creature. If there was an artifact version of him that would be amazing. I`m not convinced he is good enough to merit inclusion in the deck though.

Rhystic study was in before and I often wonder if I should put it back in. I cut it when I began making the deck more focused toward achieving its win conditions. Admittedly, card advantage and slowing your opponents down mana-wise was a way of achieving that, but I took it out for something that would dig through my library for answers faster.

Myr moonvessel is 'free' but it is better to have artifact creatures that make mana before they die. If I am already to the point where I am sacking it with arcum's ability, I usually don't need the mana anymore.

Cryptic command is such a fantastic card and I had it in there for a long time and it worked great. The problem was holding back four mana usually held me back a turn.

Scarecrone was in my deck for a while but her ability was very rarely used.

Hinder has a 3 cmc and is too slow for this deck.

Spell crumple has a 3 cmc and is too slow for this deck.

arcane denial, delay, and remand are fast and easy to cast, but there just isn`t room for them in the deck.

Elixir of immortality would usually be a dead draw. I would much rather draw a tutor or combo piece. If there was a lot of mill decks in my meta I might have considered it.

Future sight was nice card advantage, especially if sensei`s top is in play, but I cut it because of the casting cost.

Null brooch is mediocre countermagic for nonblue decks that don't have access to counterspells. Even in those decks I don't see null brooch being played. In a monoblue deck it seems silly to me.

Ensnaring bridge is definitely interesting. Combo typically beats aggro and arcum is no exception - I am more concerned with disruption and control than I am with creatures so I haven't put this in. Also, I have pongify and rapid hybridization to deal with troublesome creatures.

Possessed portal is political suicide. Everyone would probably gang up on you for the rest of the game. And if you are lucky enough to pull off a win, you probably won't win the next game because this is the kind of card that people remember and hate. You can't expect to win a multiplayer game when people are saying "oh look out guys, this is the deck with possessed portal in it."

Mindslaver can occasionally crush your opponent but usually all it really does is tap their stuff.

Torpor orb hurts some other players' creatures, but it also screws over your own solemn simulacrum, trinket mage, and duplicant.

Unwinding clock is interesting but I prefer clock of omens for untapping things - especially since that way I can untap the same artifact more than once which plays into infinite combos with rings of brighthearth.

Explanations of combos and synergies

When you use nevinyrral's disk and you have darksteel forge in play, the disk is no longer destroyed by its own effect. So you can use it repeatedly to clear the board of nearly everything but your own artifacts. If you also have mycosynth lattice in play, you destroy everything but your own stuff, including everybody else's lands and planeswalkers.

rings of brighthearth and basalt monolith are a key part of this deck. Rings can NOT copy the mana ability of the monolith, but it can copy its untap ability. So it works like this:
1. Tap the monolith for 3.
2. Activate the monolith's untap ability, rings trigger.
3. Pay 2 for the rings' triggered ability, coyping the untap ability. There are now two untap actvations on the stack.
4. Let the first untap (the copy) resolve. Monolith untaps.
5. Tap the monolith for 3.
6. Let the second untap (the original) resolve.

At this point you have spent 5 and produced 6 and your monolith is untapped again. You repeat this process millions of times and you'll have millions of mana.

rings of brighthearth and basalt monolith and sensei's divining top. After putting infinite mana in your pool with rings and monolith,
1. Activate the top's draw ability, rings trigger.
2. Pay 2 for the rings' triggered ability, copying the draw abilitity. There are now two 'put sensei's top on top of the library and draw a card' abilities on the stack.
3. The first one resolves (the copy) - you draw a card and put sensei's top on top of the library.
4. The second one resolves - draw a card (which will be sensei's top) and since sensei's top is no longer there to be placed on the library, this part of the ability doesn't happen.

The end result is you pay 3, draw a card. Repeat as many times as you like.

rings of brighthearth + basalt monolith + planar portal (if you use the portal over the ring of three wishes). After making infinite mana you activate the portal and copy it with rings to fetch 2 cards. If one of them is a voltaic key, you can tutor infinitely quite easily.
1. Cast voltaic key. Activate voltaic key, rings trigger.
2. Pay 2 for the rings' triggered ability, copying the untap ability. There are now two 'untap target artifact' abilities on the stack.
3. The first one resolves (the copy) targeting the planar portal.
4. The second one resolves, targeting the voltaic key.

At this point, the portal and key are both untapped again and the end result is 9, tap planar portal and voltaic key, search your library for a card and put it in your hand, untap planar portal and voltaic key. Or if you choose to copy the portal's tutor ability as well the result is 11, search your library for any 2 cards and put them in your hand.
Another way to untap planar portal (and any other artifact) is by using clock of omens.

rings of brighthearth + basalt monolith + clock of omens is a good engine for untapping artifacts.
1. Activate clock of omens to tap rings of brighthearth and basalt monolith to untap target artifact. Rings triggers.
2. Pay 2 for the rings' triggered ability, copying the untap ability. There are now two 'untap target artifact' abilities on the stack.
3. The first one resolves (the copy) targeting the clock.
4. The second one resolves, targeting an artifact of your choosing.
5. Pay 3 to untap the monolith.

The end result is 5, untap target artifact.

rings of brighthearth and basalt monolith and staff of domination. This is pretty straightforward. You create infinite mana with rings and monolith then use staff of domination repeatedly, paying 1 to untap it between each activation.

power artifact + grim monolith (or basalt monolith) + ring of three wishes can provide multiple uses of ring of three wishes. Power artifact + a grim monolith (or basalt monolith) enables you to make infinite mana. At this point what I often do is:
1. Use portal to tutor for clock of omens.
2. Activate clock of omens to tap itself and basalt monolith to untap ring of three wishes.
3. Pay 2 to untap the monolith.
4. Use the portal to tutor for rings of brighthearth.
5. Cast rings of brighthearth.
6. Activate clock of omens to tap rings of brighthearth and basalt monolith to untap target artifact. Rings triggers.
7. Pay 2 for the rings' triggered ability, copying the untap ability. There are now two 'untap target artifact' abilities on the stack.
8. The first one resolves (the copy) targeting the clock.
9. The second one resolves, targeting an artifact of your choosing.
10. Pay 2 to untap the monolith.

The end result is you have 4, untap target artifact. This allows you to use ring of three wishes multiple times.

power artifact + grim monolith + staff of domination is pretty straightforward. You make infinite mana then use the staff repeatedly to gain infinite life, draw cards, tap creatures, etc.

Change log

2011

+ spellskite (fodder for Arcum that also protects him. Occasionally steals other players creature enchantments too)
+ lifeline (I swapped myr turbine for this and never looked back).
+ brainstorm (I wanted more consistency).
+ impulse (I wanted more consistency).
+ possessed portal (I thought I'd try it out)
- possessed portal (Terrible against strong players. It makes the game archenemy against you and prevents you from drawing something that might help you survive that.)
- memnarch (Bad synergy. Always got killed before it did anything)
- myr turbine. (Good card, but I like lifeline better).
- future sight (casting cost was too high)
- kuldotha forgemaster (kinda slow and klunky)

2012

- mind's eye (Blue has better options for card draw)
- mind stone (If it was a creature too, I'd love this card in here)
- karn, silver golem (Too high of a casting cost. I wanted to speed up the deck)
- voltaic construct (He was only in here because Karn was)
- jace, the mind sculptor (I got sick of casting brainstorm for 4 mana)
- tamiyo, the moon sage (This card didn't really do anything)
- ghostly flicker (I love how he protects and untaps things - but not quite good enough)
- mindslaver (Usually all this did was tap out my opponents lands. Not good enough).
- raven familiar (Man I wish this was an artifact creature)
- scarecrone (Usually a dead draw other than being fodder for Arcum. Rarely used its ability)
- neurok stealthsuit (I'd rather have haste than shroud)
- into the roil (doesn't do enough)[/CARD])
+ mystical tutor (I wanted more consistency).
+ clock of omens (I learned about this after reading forums. Great synergy).
+ mox opal (I want more speed)
+ master transmuter (Great utility. At worst, its fodder for Arcum).
+ all is dust (The damage is always one-sided and its a sexy foil).
+ reshape (This is kind of the ugly cousin of transmute artifact, but it is still worth it)
+ pact of negation (I was reluctant at first because I feared dying from not being able to pay it, but this card is great)
+ scuttlemutt (I decided that 3 cmc artifact creatures that produce mana were worth it).
+ alloy myr (I decided that 3 cmc artifact creatures that produce mana were worth it).
+ phyrexian revoker (A pithing needle that is also fodder for Arcum).
+ etherium sculptor (It speeds up the deck and is fodder for Arcum).
+ ponder (More consistency for the deck).

2013

- rhystic study (Great card, I'd like to include it. Just can't find the room)
- citanul flute (If I'm using arcum for a tutor artifact, it will be planar portal, not this).
- remand (Great card, I wish I had the room for it).
- cryptic command (Great card but I wish I didn't have to hold back 4 mana).
- arcane denial (I love the 2cmc counters but I just don't have room for it).
- vedalken shackles (I love this card, but it doesn't have great synergy with the deck).
- junk diver (Great card. I hope I can find room for it one day).
- flusterstorm (took this out for swan song)
- copy artifact (took this out for curse of the swine)
+ cavern of souls (Because I'm not the only one playing blue).
+ cyclonic rift (Because....its awesome!)
+ cunning wish (I should have had this earlier. great utility).
+ karn liberated (I hate the casting cost but love the ability. Sometimes I get shut down and need to exile something).
+ timetwister (I would have gotten one earlier if it wasn't for the price. I found a cheap beta one).
+ staff of domination (Boy was I happy when this was taken off the ban list).
+ copy artifact (A great utility card. Cheap to cast and has tons of uses).
+ swan song (great cheap counterspell for protecting my combos)
+ curse of the swine (good removal)

2014

- ponder (great card but everyone targets me so I need countermagic more than card search)
- alloy myr (OMG they unbanned metalworker!)
+ flusterstorm (great countermagic for 1 mana)
+ metalworker (OMG they unbanned this!)

2015

-1 scuttlemutt (slow creature mana)
-1 duplicant (too slow)
-1 counterspell (too slow)
-1 cunning wish (too slow)
-1 lifeline (not essential for combo/tutoring/etc)
-1 timetwister (it helped my opponents too much)
-1 curse of the swine (too slow)
-1 karn liberated (too slow)
-1 time warp (too slow)
-1 gilded lotus (thran dynamo is faster)
-1 solemn simulacrum (too slow)
- island (gonna give gemstone caverns a try)
+1 gemstone caverns (early ramp and its drawback is not too bad in an artifact deck)
+1 kuldotha forgemaster (another sneaky creature for cheating artifacts into play)
+1 preordain (cheap card draw)
+1 ponder (cheap card draw)
+1 mental misstep (cheap counterspell)
+1 spell pierce (cheap counterspell)
+1 pongify (cheap removal)
+1 rapid hybridization (cheap removal)
+1 mind stone (fast mana)
+1 crucible of worlds (reuse fetch lands/strip mine, MLD protection)
+1 mox diamond (fast mana)
+1 hangarback walker (multiple fodder in the early game, and a potential late game wincon.)

2016

+1 hedron crawler
+1 lion's eye diamond (I'm finding the mana boost from this is worth losing a card or two, if any)
-1 crucible of worlds (this just didn't do enough)
-1 clock of omens (nifty, but too slow)

2017

+1 whir of invention (Wow. Just, wow.)
-1 impulse (making room for whir of invention)

Cards I wish I had room for

Ugin, the spirit dragon is so awesome but by the time I have 8 mana the game is probably over and I know it would just be a win more card.

Karn, silver golem is a great card, is themed well for the deck, and it has great synergy with mycosynth lattice (1, destroy target land).

expedition map is one that I'm considering putting in. When you have great lands like Mishra's workshop, being able to tutor any land is powerful.

Echoing truth can destroy token armies, bounce clones and their copied targets, or protect a permanent of mine by bouncing it to my hand.

Junk diver was in the deck until just recently. Great blocker, great utility.

Rhystic study always makes my playgroup groan when it hits the board. That's the sign of a good card.

Temporal manipulation generally lets you break even at worst, and at best it gives arcum another round to abuse his power.

2 cmc counterspells like remand, delay, and arcane denial don't slow down the deck too much.

Vedalken shackles was in the deck until recently. The most troublesome generals for me also happened to have low power - kaalia, azami, azusa, zur, etc.

Crucible of worlds might actually be worth including. Might try it out again one day.

Jester's cap can not only ruin other combo decks, but it has flavor text from Arcum himself.

Mulldrifter and raven familiar are great but..its too bad they aren't artifact creatures.

Quote from LnGrrrR »

Oh bull. He specifically said a "casual" experience. Casual is a broad term, but locking players out of the game through hand destruction and taking ten minute turns is not casual. A game lasting an hour isn't fun if people don't actually get to do stuff for that hour.

Quote from habanero »

Here is my my deck:

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/sidisi-brood-tyrant-of-zombies-1/

While I was hoping to play my newly constructed deck and evaluate its performance to make a few tweaks, I don't think I want to make significant changes based on that experience.

Quote from rockondon

I just got a beta twister for my arcum deck. I don't care how played it is - its beautiful to me.