Thopter/Sword of the Meek

[Zappa]

I was wondering if I may have some assistance for a UW deck that uses Thopter Foundry and Sword of the meek.

I have a friend of mine, who wouldn't even touch magic, unless someone makes him a sword deck. Referencing the anime/manga/game "Fate/Stay night" as "Unlimited Bladeworks". A couple of weeks ago I pointed him to this deck, and he liked it as it resembles what he is imagining, creating a bunch of weapons. However, he is very budgeted, so I tried to construct him a deck thats on the budget.

4 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Seat of Synod
4 Ancient Den
2 Tolaria West
1 Academy Ruins
5 Island
4 Plain

4 Thopter Foundry
3 Sword of the Meek

4 Thirst for Knowledge
3 Muddle the Mixture

4 Counterspell
4 Forbid
3 Dissipate

4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Path to Exile
2 Sunscour

1 Dispeller's Capsule


That's the deck I could come up for him that matches his description, as he wouldn't touch anything unless it resembles unlimited bladeworks from fate/stay night anime. He played it yesterday and today, and interestingly, he picked up the deck just fine, being as his first time. But he seems to be having some problems against a few things that he told me.

- Hand Destruction (from Pox)
- Problematic Enchantments/Artifacts

Is there any possible way to upgrade this deck, on a budget, but be able to withstand exessive hand destruction, and some ways to fend off problematic enchants and artifacts, while maintaining the Thopter Foundry + Sword of the Meek idea? Also, if anyone has any idea or suggestion on possibly a better budgeted shell, please let me know.

His meta consists mainly of just random jank aggro, as it is casual after all.
Thank you.

[Jeff Kruchkow]

Academy ruins should be able to answer said hand d by recovering your stuff. Also, you could add a crucible to ensure that you will have it.
As far as the problem arti/enchants, enlightened tutor is legal in legacy and you should be playing a few. That way you can go for silver bullets

[Pastorofmuppets]

if you make it U/B you can use Time Sieve for a potential extra few turns, by which I mean once you have 5 mana you have infinite turns.

[Iron_Blood]

// Lands
1 Calciform Pools
1 Academy Ruins
1 Dreadship Reef
1 Tolaria West
2 Snow-Covered Island
2 Island
2 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Arcane Sanctum
1 Coastal Tower
1 Swamp
1 Snow-Covered Swamp
1 Snow-Covered Plains
1 Plains
1 Vault of Whispers
1 Salt Flats
1 Mystic Gate
1 Sunken Ruins
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Ancient Den

// Creatures
1 Trinket Mage

// Spells
1 Forbid
1 Negate
1 Spell Pierce
1 Spell Snare
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
2 Mana Leak
2 Path to Exile
3 Swords to Plowshares
2 Counterspell
3 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Rout
4 Thopter Foundry
4 Sword of the Meek
4 Tainted Pact
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Mystical Teachings
1 Duress
1 Executioner's Capsule
1 Dispeller's Capsule

If he is trying to combo out I think Tainted Pact could help a lot. This might be a good idea.

[Zappa]

I've brought the time sieve to his attention and he said he's not sure, because he said that when he gets thopter foundry and meek going he's already winning, but he just needs to get there. Enlightened Tutor is a good idea, I was thinking about it when I was piling the list of cards for him to get, but refrained from doing so coz of the price. I'll try to persuade him though tat it would improve his deck much more with its inclusion.

@Ironblood whats your reasoning with the with the 1-ofs?

[gamegeek2]

You definitely don't need to go infinite. The 2-card combo is fine on its own.

Obviously this needs Force of Will, but I assume your friend doesn't have those.

[Iron_Blood]

Tainted pact?

[Zappa]

You definitely don't need to go infinite. The 2-card combo is fine on its own.
Obviously this needs Force of Will, but I assume your friend doesn't have those.

It's his very first deck, and he said it will be his only deck. He wouldn't even touch magic before. But regarless i'm glad he's giving magic a try even though its just because of that fate/stay night theme. *sweat*

Also his play group is pretty much just casual, so there's really nothing pressuring him that requires him to answer now or lose. He tends to get swarmed by 1/1s and 2/2s, due to the other casual players playing jank weenies. But nothing pressuring like Tarmogoyf, or merfolk build up. Here's the current list that I got for him and he approved, and managed to get the approval of spending a little bit more money.

//Mana Sources
2 Tolaria West
4 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Seat of Synod
4 Ancient Den
5 Island
4 Plains
1 Academy Ruins

//Card Draw and Tutors
2 Fact or Fiction
4 Enlightened Tutor

//Win-Condition
4 Thopter Foundry
3 Sword of the Meek

//Infinite
1 Krak-Clan Ironworks

//Permission Spells
4 Forbid
4 Counterspell
4 Negate

//Removal
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Path to Exile
2 Oblivion Ring

Not sure though if 2 FoF is enough or if it needed to be boosted to 3. But I can imagine between the tutors and FoF that finding the pieces should be easy enough.

[xTrainx]

I have a UWg Thopter deck that I use in most of my tournaments while I build up my ADN deck.

Mine looks like:

x2 Arid Mesa
x1 Misty Rainforest
x1 Scalding Tarn
x1 Marsh Flats
x4 Terramorphic Expanse
x2 Forest
x6 Island
x4 Plains

x4 Lorescale Coatl
x3 Sejiri Merfolk

x3 Stoneforge Mystic
x4 Brainstorm
x4 Ponder

x3 Fathom Seer

x2 Sword of the Meek
x3 Thopter Foundry

x2 Path to Exile
x2 Oblivion Ring

x2 Daze
x2 Spell Pierce
x2 Mana Leak

x2 Basilisk Collar
x1 Trailblazer's Boots

------------

Probably not quite so much what he was looking for, I have a couple money cards I've gotten in the past couple of months(Fetches, Stoneforge's), but for the most part it is a budget deck. Judging from what his budget looks like, you could probably run UW it with:

Your artifact lands, then Terras and Plains/Islands.

Ponder's - they help to add consistency

I dunno. I really have fun with my list though.

[(nameless one)]

This took 1st place at the recent Budget Legacy Tournament:


1 Illissius - Thopter-Foundry combo
// Lands
7 [ZEN] Island (1)
3 [ZEN] Swamp (1)
4 [10E] Underground River
4 [MI] Bad River
4 [4E] Mishra's Factory
1 [TSP] Academy Ruins

// Creatures
3 [FD] Trinket Mage

// Spells
3 [CST] Brainstorm
3 [BD] Impulse
3 [AL] Lim-Dul's Vault
4 [ARB] Thopter Foundry
4 [FUT] Sword of the Meek
3 [CS] Counterbalance
1 [V09] Sensei's Divining Top
1 [ALA] Executioner's Capsule
4 [7E] Force Spike
4 [9E] Mana Leak
2 [ON] Smother
2 [OD] Ghastly Demise

// Sideboard
SB: 4 [M10] Duress
SB: 3 [GP] Repeal
SB: 2 [DD2] Bottle Gnomes
SB: 2 [7E] Engineered Plague
SB: 1 [TSB] Tormod's Crypt
SB: 1 [SHM] Faerie Macabre
SB: 1 [HOP] Relic of Progenitus
SB: 1 [M10] Pithing Needle

I still think this deck can be pushed to its fullest potential (and still be budget)

[Zappa]

I've brought that deck list to his attention but he seems more satisfied running UW. That and he said he's already invested a lot of money on cards within 1 month, since he is new to the game, that is his very first collection/cards. So we just went with UW for now, until he is ready to branch out a bit more to UB. He does, however, have a pretty good question, with white's tutor package and ability to handle artifacts and enchantments, does black really bring much more to the table, to what he will be spending?

His current deck list looks like this.

//Mana Sources (24)
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
4 Esper Panorama
4 Adarkar Wastes
4 Mystic Gate
4 Seat of the Synod
1 Ancient Den
3 Island
1 Plains
2 Academy Ruins

//Card Draw and Tutors (7)
4 Enlightened Tutor
3 Mystical Tutor

//Win-Condition (7)
4 Thopter Foundry
3 Sword of the Meek

//Infinite (1)
1 Krark-Clan Ironworks

//Permission Spells (11)
4 Forbid
4 Counterspell
3 Negate

//Removal (8)
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Path to Exile

//Sweeper (2)
2 Scourglass


He said he prefers the tutor package since he can find everything that he needs. He's also just using sideboards based on his meta. But yeah, can't really move to other things until he is ready to spend money on other things.