Koby
02-04-2014, 01:06 PM
Ever since Matt Elias (voltron00x) wrote about the concept (http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/standard/18785-The-Long-Winding-Road-Introducing-Two-Card-Monte-A-Vintage-Primer.html) on SCG a number of years back, the idea of Workshop fueling artifact based combo has been brewing in my mind. The ability to use one of the most powerful unrestricted lands in Vintage to combo off as early as turn 1, and regularly on turn 2 is something not to be discounted.
The premise of the deck is to utilize a number of simple two-card combos that are compact and mana efficient. The deck uses:
Leyline of the Void (0) + Helm of Obedience (4) + activation (1)
Painter's Servant (2) + Grindstone (1) + activation (3)
To end the game quickly. A key feature is being able to use all colorless mana and at least 3 mana from Workshop to achieve this result. Additionally, but unreliablly, Time Vault and Voltaic Key can be included in the list; however at the expense of tutoring power.
To help fill the rest of the cards in the deck, Goblin Welder is introduced to provide protection against counterspells & removal, as well as help beat prison Workshop matches.
Additional support for the archetype has been printed in Return to Ravnica with the addition of Chromatic Lantern, allowing the deck to utilize its artifact focus and convert its lands to free-roll City of Brass. Adjusting some elements from Matt's initial posting, we arrive at this shell:
1 Myr Battlesphere
4 Goblin Welder
4 Painter's Servant
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Vampiric Tutor
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Tinker
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Memory Jar
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
4 Chromatic Lantern
4 Grindstone
4 Helm of Obedience
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Bazaar of Baghdad
3 Ancient Tomb
3 Gemstone Mine
4 City of Brass
4 Mishra's Workshop
Additional tutors include: Entomb for filling up the graveyard with conjunction of Goblin Welder, Transmute Artifact for additional Tinker'ing ability, and Intuition which serves both to tutor a specific card, or the entire Grindstone combo with an active Goblin Welder. Entomb and Intuition rely heavily on an active Goblin Welder, so perhaps it is not the best.
Sundering Titan can also easily replace Myr Battlesphere, as it works great against Big Blue decks while not affecting this deck's mana base in the slightest. However, that approach seems discongruent with the goals of the deck, and perhaps Triskelion for a more controlling tertiary creature to interact with Welder.
I recommend an initial reading of Elias's article, and look forward to discussion about the archetype.
(Now off to find those City of Brass...)
The premise of the deck is to utilize a number of simple two-card combos that are compact and mana efficient. The deck uses:
Leyline of the Void (0) + Helm of Obedience (4) + activation (1)
Painter's Servant (2) + Grindstone (1) + activation (3)
To end the game quickly. A key feature is being able to use all colorless mana and at least 3 mana from Workshop to achieve this result. Additionally, but unreliablly, Time Vault and Voltaic Key can be included in the list; however at the expense of tutoring power.
To help fill the rest of the cards in the deck, Goblin Welder is introduced to provide protection against counterspells & removal, as well as help beat prison Workshop matches.
Additional support for the archetype has been printed in Return to Ravnica with the addition of Chromatic Lantern, allowing the deck to utilize its artifact focus and convert its lands to free-roll City of Brass. Adjusting some elements from Matt's initial posting, we arrive at this shell:
1 Myr Battlesphere
4 Goblin Welder
4 Painter's Servant
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Vampiric Tutor
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Tinker
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Memory Jar
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
4 Chromatic Lantern
4 Grindstone
4 Helm of Obedience
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Bazaar of Baghdad
3 Ancient Tomb
3 Gemstone Mine
4 City of Brass
4 Mishra's Workshop
Additional tutors include: Entomb for filling up the graveyard with conjunction of Goblin Welder, Transmute Artifact for additional Tinker'ing ability, and Intuition which serves both to tutor a specific card, or the entire Grindstone combo with an active Goblin Welder. Entomb and Intuition rely heavily on an active Goblin Welder, so perhaps it is not the best.
Sundering Titan can also easily replace Myr Battlesphere, as it works great against Big Blue decks while not affecting this deck's mana base in the slightest. However, that approach seems discongruent with the goals of the deck, and perhaps Triskelion for a more controlling tertiary creature to interact with Welder.
I recommend an initial reading of Elias's article, and look forward to discussion about the archetype.
(Now off to find those City of Brass...)