GGoober
01-19-2009, 04:39 AM
Here is my decklist that I've been playing with success. It is inspired by Faerie Stompy, following the development of Deep Blue. Why do I feel that this deserves a new thread? Unlike Deep Blue, which is based on the traditional Stompy shell running Chrome Mox, I have decided to entirely cut Chrome Mox. This stifles the traditional Stompy build with turn 1 3cc plays. In addition to that horrifying change, the other main changes include playing with a greater emphasis on 2cc spells. Yeah we are more prone to Spell Snares, but who cares if we land a turn 1 Chalice or SB Thorn of Amethyst or SB Defense Grid?
Many would be alarmed at cutting Chrome Mox since Chrome Mox is the reason for explosive turn 1 Sea Drakes, Efreet, Master of Etheriums, Esperzoas, etc. but sad to say, I think in this build, Chrome Mox has got to go. Explanations follow after the Decklist:
ETHERIUM STOMPY
Lands (19)
4 Ancient Tomb
4 City of Traitors
4 Seat of the Synod
7 Islands
Creatures (24)
4 Ornithopters
4 Etherium Sculptor
4 Master of Etherium
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Esperzoa
4 Faerie Mechanist
Equipments: (7)
4 Cranial Plating
3 Sword of Fire and Ice
Disruption (10)
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Winter Orb
4 Tangle Wire
Sideboard (not finalized)
4 Thorn of Amethyst (board in against combo, burn, Stax, MUC)
4 Defense Grid (board in against MUC, Landstill, Thresh)
2 Back to Basics (board in against TA, decks without basics, but I don't think Etherium Stompy can support BtB without Chrome Mox.)
2 Umezawa's Jitte (board in against gobs, pesky swarm aggro)
3 Pithing Needle (against recurring Wastelands, Survival, Deeds (ouch to affinity.decs)
For those who are unaware of the Conflux cards:
Esperzoa 2U
Artifact Creature - Jellyfish (uncommon)
Flying
At the beginning of your upkeep, return an artifact you control to its owner's hand.
4/3
Faerie Mechanist
Artifact Creature - Faerie Artificer (common)
Flying
When Faerie Mechanist comes into play, look at the top three cards of your library. You may reveal an artifact card from among them and put it in your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
2/2
24 Creatures with 7 Equip makes this a very threat-dense deck, with a total of 12 flyers makes equipping Platings and SoFI a nightmare for the opponent. The deck is entirely made up of artifacts with the exception of 13 lands. This gives the deck enormous synergy with Ravager, Etherium Scultor, Master of Etherium, Cranial Plating, Faerie Mechanist and Esperzoa. This is perhaps the reason why Chrome Mox is cut in this build, as compared to the builds in Deep Blue. Further reason on why the cut is validated will be explained below. Until they change the "non-artifact" wording of Chrome Mox, this deck can't fit Chrome Mox at the moment.
The deck plays as the regular stompy, laying down Chalice of the Void turn 1 ideally. There are however some differences. Card choices follow below:
LANDS (19)
4 Ancient Tomb: Needed in any stompy deck that starts the curve at 2cc. This deck cheats counterbalance but has a number of 2cc spells
4 City of Traitors: See above, but be careful not to be reckless with the card and believing that you can lock the opponent out with Turn 1 Chalice, and sacrificing your mana stability. Against combo, it's fine to go turn 1 City drop Thorn and Chalice @0. That would be more than ideal hand against combo.
4 Seat of the Synod: Pumps Master, sacs to Ravagers, Serum-visionable via Mechanist, keeps Esperzoa alive. No questions
7 Islands: I ran these over Darksteel Citadel not just to protect against waste effects but simply because the deck needs at least 10 blue sources to play normally without Chrome Mox. The weakest part of the deck, but at least it makes us less vulnerable to Wastelands.
CREATURES (24)
4 Ornithopters: I originally ran 2-3 but found myself loving these. They do everything the deck needs, evasive flyer with a plating, SoFI, feeds Esperzoa and Ravager and chump blocks T1 lackey. With Masters in play, they also fly for some damage.
4 Etherium Sculptor: This is the reason why the deck is actually viable. The deck plays much slower without him, with speed similar to a regular stompy with the eight 2-mana lands although delayed a turn without Chrome Mox. Once he resolves, he plays out everything fast and gives you many insane fast plays. Here are some examples:
Turn 1: 2 mana (0 blue): Tomb + Ravager/Cranial Plating/Chalice/Winter Orb
Turn 2: 3 mana (1 blue) Seat of Synod + Etherium Sculptor, float 1 colorless to play Ravager/Cranial Plating/Chalice/Winter Orb
Therefore even though we had a less explosive turn 1 start, we gain the tempo back when sculptor is in play.
Other scenarios include:
Turn 3: 4 mana (2 blue): (Sculptor in play) Any two of Master/Esperzoa/SoFI/Plating + Equip/Tangle Wire
Tuen 3: 4 mana (1 blue): (Sculptor in play) Any two of SoFI/Plating + Equip/Tangle Wire or Faerie Mechanist+2cc Artifacts etc. You get the idea.
He speeds you up a ton, and allows you to drop Tangle Wires @2, Platings@1, SoFI @2, Winter Orbs@1, not to mention help pay and tap for Tangle Wires by playing out more equipment to tap to Tangle Wires. He makes Faerie Mechanist a much viable card i.e. 2U non-evoked mulldrifter that serum-visions.
The style of playing compared to Deep Blue and Faerie Stompy in Etherium Stompy is to play out colorless 2cc spell turn 1, speed up on turn 2-3 and beat faster than Faerie Stompy due to the help of synergies with Cranial Plating and Master of Etherium.
4 Master of Etherium: A must in an affinity deck = a must in a deck that packs 45 artifacts. Playable on turn 2, and pumps everything up. Multiples = GG. He also easily puts an Esperzoa out of bolt range. Think of him as an artifact that comes into play with a Cranial Plating attached to both power and toughness, as if Cranial Plating wasn't easy enough for decks to handle.
4 Arcbound Ravager: In my opinion, he's the weakest creature in the deck. If you don't believe me, test him out. His weakness is that unlike master, he doesn't start big, so he involves you to sacrifice permanents to keep him alive. I usually sac enough to trade off a goyf or simply sac unnecessary artifacts to pump Ornithopter and the flying artifacts to swing for the win with equipments. He is still a must since he can be played turn1 and is probably the only best artifact creature for the deck.
4 Faerie Mechanist: Honestly, this was my main motivation to go Chrome-Moxless. It replaced Mulldrifter for Etherium Stompy. Many people in Deep Blue aren't willing to let go on Mulldrifter since it imprints for Chrome Mox but this deck is sacrificing Chrome Mox, for a greater synergy in the deck. Faerie Mechanist does what Mulldrifter does for Faerie Stompy. In fact she does better. Digging for artifact in the top 3 cards is much more relevant than drawing 2 random cards. Who prefers Serum Visions over Accumulated Knowledge? With a sculptor in play, you're "evoking" the Faerie-mulldrifter but keeping it alive. It also has great synergy with Esperzoa, and is a flyer that swings with dangerous equipments.
4 Esperzoa: I cannot believe WoTC actually printed this card. Sea Drake as an uncommon? Maybe the drawback is bad but the drawback is in fact an ability in this deck. Here's the analysis as to why:
Winter orb in play: Esperzoa on turn 2 via Tomb and Synod. Turn3: Untap Tomb, bounce Seat, play Seat and tap Seat and Tomb for 3 mana, play another spell.
Ornithopter in play: BFF (best friends forever)?
Tangle Wire in play: Esperzoa bounces Tangle Wire so you don't have to tap anything (not that it matters since Tangle Wire is assymetrical to begin with and tapping your equipments is cheating in this deck lol). The more important deal is Tangle Wire + Winter Orb spells doom to many decks in Legacy. Esperzoa + 2 Tangle Wire = tapping 7 permanents a turn for your opponent as early as turns 4-5.
Faerie Mechanist in play: Esperzoa allows you to Serum Visions everyturn? In addition, if Sculptor is in play, this is ridiculous recursion. Gives the deck a great mid-game.
None of those artifacts in play: Esperzoa just bounces other artifacts and swings for 4 damage. I think 4/3 flying is still hard to deal with.
EQUIPMENTS (7)
4 Cranial Plating: This is the only reason why Affinity is actually playable. 45 artifacts in the deck, and possibiliy on being dropped turn 1 off a tomb with Ornithopter and equipped next turn for evasive beating is much more golden than regular affinity.
4 Sword of Fire and Ice: One of the best equipment, and certainly the best if you have 12 flyers. Traditional affinity cannot run this since it does not have the manabase to support its use. Stompy builds can support this, and Etherium Stompy certainly can do better with a sculptor in play.
Disruption (10)
4 Chalice of the Void: Must have in every stompy build. Stops everything 0-1cc easily. In multiple Chalices, you can drop them at zero to feed Esperzoa.
2 Winter Orb: This is golden with Tangle Wire in play, and is included mainly to add to an additional 2cc slot to be played on turn 1 since this deck has a lack of turn 1 plays as compared to regular Faerie Stompy and Deep Blue. I honestly will up this to 3 and drop 4 Ravagers down to 3. This is one of the cards that actually work in synergy with the deck, and in my honest opinion is stronger than the 4th Ravager. Winter Orb increases many matchup such as MUC and Landstill, which are the tougher matchups that this deck will face.
4 Tangle Wire: This has been my favorite card 7 years ago when I ran it in RDW. I ran it in MUDStax and Monoblue Stax but it isn't doing as good in the meta as it should. The card has finally found another chance to live with the synergy with Esperzoa, making it one-sided, recyclable, and deadly in multiples with Esperzoa. With a Winter-Orb in play, Tangle Wire is perhaps multiple time-walks. I cannot stress how many games I have won on the back of Tangle Wire + Winter Orb.
Matchups: I'll post the matchups next week. I've been testing with friends, and it has shown many promises.
Combo:
Etherium Stompy has a super-favorable MU against Combo espcially post sideboard with Thorn of Amethysts and 3Sphere.
Goblins:
Etherium Stompy has as fast a clock as goblins thanks to Cranial Plating and Evasive flyers with equipments. Post-board Jittes and perhaps BEBs will make the matchup great. Be careful of wastelands which slow the deck down tremendously
Threshold
Mixed Matchup. If they counter kill spells, you're not doing good, otherwise your threat density + a few equipment should end the game. UGw and UGr (tempo) thresh are the more unfavorable MU. UGw Thresh is somewhat fine. They only have StP against you but UGr Tempo Thresh runs Wastelands that annoy your Tombs and City of Traitors. UGb thresh is more to our favor.
If they board in Trygon Predator, you're screwed unless you can resolve some flyers or chump with Ornithopter. It's not entirely game-over as the affinity v.s. Trygon or Stax v.s. Trygon MU is since you have 12 flyers, while UG Thresh only has 4. You can pretty much kill the Predator if you have an equipment.
Stax:
Moderate matchup. Depends on whether you can drop a flying threat faster than they can get Waste + Crucible or Magus of Tabernacle + Armageddon up fast. Post sideboard Thorn of Amethyst puts the MU heavily in your favor. In addition, Etherium Stompy gets past Dutch Stax running Moats, and recovers fast via Mechanist.
Team America:
Terrible MU. Their LD package is just bonkers. Post board Defense Grid gives you some chance against Dazes + Forces, and just hope that you have at least 3 mana (1 blue) to drop some threats. They'll probably end up nuking Masters and Esperzoas, but the crucial backbone of the deck is Etherium Sculptor. Not sure how to improve this matchup but we're lucky that TA has a low threat density and Tombstalker/Goyf isn't a problem as long as you get mana online. The main trouble against TA is surviving their LD package. At least you kill the Stifles. Maybe run Teferi's Response? LOL just kidding.
Dreadstill:
To be honest, easy as hell. Chalice@1 kills the deck. And you're fast enough to swing before they free the Chalice. To further rape the MU, board in 4 defense Grid, their Standstills won't be too dangerous. Tangle Wires + Winter Orb stops them from doing anything, and can tap the Dreadnoughts too since Dreadstill plays very little permanents.
FINAL COMMENTS
NO CHROME MOX?
I am very excited for this deck, and I have been doing many testing. As a long-time Stax and Stompy player, I feel that this is a very different list than regular Stompy list. It cannot play Chrome Mox, which is a tragedy and until the day they reword Chrome Mox's annoying non-artifact imprint cost, this deck has to play without Chrome Mox.
However, the deck is still very viable. In giving up Chrome Mox for "tribal" (artifact) synergy, we gain many other options. The challenge is to find the right shell to play without Chrome Mox. Experience tells the Stompy player that Chrome Mox is usually used to open with 3cc spells in Dragon/Faerie/Elephant/Demon/Deep Sea Stompy. Therefore instead of hoping for 3cc openings, we maximize 2cc openings. Etherium Stompy packs a total of fourteen 2cc spells:
4 Arcbound Ravager
2 Winter Orb
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Cranial Plating
The sideboard has another ten 2cc spell: 4 Thorn of Amethyst, 2 Umezawa's Jitte, 4 Defense Grid.
Therefore as long as you draw a tomb or cities, you're guaranteed a turn 1 play. Sometimes, it's safer to keep slower hands (with 2 Seats + Sculptor + Master etc, or City + land and play the land first before City) and the experience of a Stompy player tells you how to play such opening hands.
The deck recovers without Chrome Mox by relying on it's heavy 2cc slots, and great contributions from Etherium Sculptor. If he resolves, he speeds up all your spells tremendously and gives a fast aggressive hand by turn 3-4.
The drawbacks of Chrome Mox are: You cannot play with greater synergy: Ravager, Master, Esperzoa, Faerie Mechanist will all be less happy, and I feel that I've put a good arguement as to why the creature base is much needed in this deck, therefore Chrome Mox has to go, until Wizards rewords that annoying imprint cost lol.
POTENTIAL CARDS: WHY ARE YOU NOT RUNNING...?
Trinket Mage: Trust me, he was in my build for so long in testing Etherium Stompy, but was cut after realizing that his sole purpose was to fetch a Chalice (which is game-winning) or Seat of the Synod. Sigil of Distinction is really not needed in this deck since Cranial Plating is infinitely better than it. In fact, I think Cranial Plating is arguebly the most broken equipment as long as the deck can support enough artifacts. We have 45 artifacts.
Most importantly, Trinket Mage just doesn't fit in the deck. He receives no pumps, always costs 3cc, requiring a blue, where it could have been better spent playing a Master to pump all your other artifacts. Faerie Mechanist eventually took his spot firmly since she does what he does to a limited extent, but contributes to the deck as a evasive beater, and most importantly as an artifact.
Thirst for Knowledge: After Trinket Mage failed, I ran this card. It sounds great on paper, refilling an empty hand in the mid-game. But seriously, he's worse than Trinket Mage. Notice that the deck so far has zero non-permanents. The idea of the deck is to maximize as many artifacts for synergy, and to maximize it's threat density. It doesn't play out Draw-go as control decks do, rather, it goes straight for the throat by over-extending, and pray that your opponent doesn't deeds or wrath, as controlled using Winter Orbs + Tangle Wires.
Thoughtcast: Thoughtcast is good in Affinity, but I have always been a strong opponent to its use in Deep Blue (Affinity Stompy). To be perfectly honest, with Ancient Tomb + City, we don't care if it costs U or 5U to draw 2 cards. It's easily achievable regardless. The issue is the same as with TfK. It doesn't act as a creature/threat. Better candidates for Deep Blue is obviously Trinket Mage/Mulldrifter. And in Etherium Stompy, we have Faerie Mechanist, which is simply amazing. She digs 3 cards deep, lets you keep the best of the lot. Digging and "serum-visioning" for 3 cards is much better than drawing 2 random cards. And the fact that Mechanist is recurrable with Esperzoa and flies as a beater is just much better than a one-time Thoughtcast or TfK.
Tezzeret the Seeker: This is the most controversial card for me. I loved him in all my testing, but there were many times where I won without needing him to be played. I'm assuming he wins the bad matchups while remains useless in the good matchups. I ran 2 copies of him and loved him when he came out fetching Tangle Wire (with Winter Orb in play) or vice versa.
Fetching Esperzoas and Masters for beatdown and Ravagers for emergency modular tokens onto Ornithopter is priceless. Most importantly, his entire synergy with Tangle Wire is amazing. You search out Tangle Wire to tap your opponents down, while untapping your tapped artifacts tapped to Tangle Wire to pump him up. I've never used his last abilitly because the most priceless ability is his tinker ability. The only reason why I haven't included him in the deck is the inconsistency with double blue UU with 11 blue sources. It should be fine, but I still need to optimize a list with him. He would most likely be included as 2 copies, and replace 1 Ravager and 1 Faerie Mechanist.
That's all for now, hope you guys have faith with this deck by testing it out, not just on paper, but in real life. It's lots of fun, and for once, we have a Artifact stompy deck that is not 5/3. Have fun with the Ether!
Many would be alarmed at cutting Chrome Mox since Chrome Mox is the reason for explosive turn 1 Sea Drakes, Efreet, Master of Etheriums, Esperzoas, etc. but sad to say, I think in this build, Chrome Mox has got to go. Explanations follow after the Decklist:
ETHERIUM STOMPY
Lands (19)
4 Ancient Tomb
4 City of Traitors
4 Seat of the Synod
7 Islands
Creatures (24)
4 Ornithopters
4 Etherium Sculptor
4 Master of Etherium
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Esperzoa
4 Faerie Mechanist
Equipments: (7)
4 Cranial Plating
3 Sword of Fire and Ice
Disruption (10)
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Winter Orb
4 Tangle Wire
Sideboard (not finalized)
4 Thorn of Amethyst (board in against combo, burn, Stax, MUC)
4 Defense Grid (board in against MUC, Landstill, Thresh)
2 Back to Basics (board in against TA, decks without basics, but I don't think Etherium Stompy can support BtB without Chrome Mox.)
2 Umezawa's Jitte (board in against gobs, pesky swarm aggro)
3 Pithing Needle (against recurring Wastelands, Survival, Deeds (ouch to affinity.decs)
For those who are unaware of the Conflux cards:
Esperzoa 2U
Artifact Creature - Jellyfish (uncommon)
Flying
At the beginning of your upkeep, return an artifact you control to its owner's hand.
4/3
Faerie Mechanist
Artifact Creature - Faerie Artificer (common)
Flying
When Faerie Mechanist comes into play, look at the top three cards of your library. You may reveal an artifact card from among them and put it in your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
2/2
24 Creatures with 7 Equip makes this a very threat-dense deck, with a total of 12 flyers makes equipping Platings and SoFI a nightmare for the opponent. The deck is entirely made up of artifacts with the exception of 13 lands. This gives the deck enormous synergy with Ravager, Etherium Scultor, Master of Etherium, Cranial Plating, Faerie Mechanist and Esperzoa. This is perhaps the reason why Chrome Mox is cut in this build, as compared to the builds in Deep Blue. Further reason on why the cut is validated will be explained below. Until they change the "non-artifact" wording of Chrome Mox, this deck can't fit Chrome Mox at the moment.
The deck plays as the regular stompy, laying down Chalice of the Void turn 1 ideally. There are however some differences. Card choices follow below:
LANDS (19)
4 Ancient Tomb: Needed in any stompy deck that starts the curve at 2cc. This deck cheats counterbalance but has a number of 2cc spells
4 City of Traitors: See above, but be careful not to be reckless with the card and believing that you can lock the opponent out with Turn 1 Chalice, and sacrificing your mana stability. Against combo, it's fine to go turn 1 City drop Thorn and Chalice @0. That would be more than ideal hand against combo.
4 Seat of the Synod: Pumps Master, sacs to Ravagers, Serum-visionable via Mechanist, keeps Esperzoa alive. No questions
7 Islands: I ran these over Darksteel Citadel not just to protect against waste effects but simply because the deck needs at least 10 blue sources to play normally without Chrome Mox. The weakest part of the deck, but at least it makes us less vulnerable to Wastelands.
CREATURES (24)
4 Ornithopters: I originally ran 2-3 but found myself loving these. They do everything the deck needs, evasive flyer with a plating, SoFI, feeds Esperzoa and Ravager and chump blocks T1 lackey. With Masters in play, they also fly for some damage.
4 Etherium Sculptor: This is the reason why the deck is actually viable. The deck plays much slower without him, with speed similar to a regular stompy with the eight 2-mana lands although delayed a turn without Chrome Mox. Once he resolves, he plays out everything fast and gives you many insane fast plays. Here are some examples:
Turn 1: 2 mana (0 blue): Tomb + Ravager/Cranial Plating/Chalice/Winter Orb
Turn 2: 3 mana (1 blue) Seat of Synod + Etherium Sculptor, float 1 colorless to play Ravager/Cranial Plating/Chalice/Winter Orb
Therefore even though we had a less explosive turn 1 start, we gain the tempo back when sculptor is in play.
Other scenarios include:
Turn 3: 4 mana (2 blue): (Sculptor in play) Any two of Master/Esperzoa/SoFI/Plating + Equip/Tangle Wire
Tuen 3: 4 mana (1 blue): (Sculptor in play) Any two of SoFI/Plating + Equip/Tangle Wire or Faerie Mechanist+2cc Artifacts etc. You get the idea.
He speeds you up a ton, and allows you to drop Tangle Wires @2, Platings@1, SoFI @2, Winter Orbs@1, not to mention help pay and tap for Tangle Wires by playing out more equipment to tap to Tangle Wires. He makes Faerie Mechanist a much viable card i.e. 2U non-evoked mulldrifter that serum-visions.
The style of playing compared to Deep Blue and Faerie Stompy in Etherium Stompy is to play out colorless 2cc spell turn 1, speed up on turn 2-3 and beat faster than Faerie Stompy due to the help of synergies with Cranial Plating and Master of Etherium.
4 Master of Etherium: A must in an affinity deck = a must in a deck that packs 45 artifacts. Playable on turn 2, and pumps everything up. Multiples = GG. He also easily puts an Esperzoa out of bolt range. Think of him as an artifact that comes into play with a Cranial Plating attached to both power and toughness, as if Cranial Plating wasn't easy enough for decks to handle.
4 Arcbound Ravager: In my opinion, he's the weakest creature in the deck. If you don't believe me, test him out. His weakness is that unlike master, he doesn't start big, so he involves you to sacrifice permanents to keep him alive. I usually sac enough to trade off a goyf or simply sac unnecessary artifacts to pump Ornithopter and the flying artifacts to swing for the win with equipments. He is still a must since he can be played turn1 and is probably the only best artifact creature for the deck.
4 Faerie Mechanist: Honestly, this was my main motivation to go Chrome-Moxless. It replaced Mulldrifter for Etherium Stompy. Many people in Deep Blue aren't willing to let go on Mulldrifter since it imprints for Chrome Mox but this deck is sacrificing Chrome Mox, for a greater synergy in the deck. Faerie Mechanist does what Mulldrifter does for Faerie Stompy. In fact she does better. Digging for artifact in the top 3 cards is much more relevant than drawing 2 random cards. Who prefers Serum Visions over Accumulated Knowledge? With a sculptor in play, you're "evoking" the Faerie-mulldrifter but keeping it alive. It also has great synergy with Esperzoa, and is a flyer that swings with dangerous equipments.
4 Esperzoa: I cannot believe WoTC actually printed this card. Sea Drake as an uncommon? Maybe the drawback is bad but the drawback is in fact an ability in this deck. Here's the analysis as to why:
Winter orb in play: Esperzoa on turn 2 via Tomb and Synod. Turn3: Untap Tomb, bounce Seat, play Seat and tap Seat and Tomb for 3 mana, play another spell.
Ornithopter in play: BFF (best friends forever)?
Tangle Wire in play: Esperzoa bounces Tangle Wire so you don't have to tap anything (not that it matters since Tangle Wire is assymetrical to begin with and tapping your equipments is cheating in this deck lol). The more important deal is Tangle Wire + Winter Orb spells doom to many decks in Legacy. Esperzoa + 2 Tangle Wire = tapping 7 permanents a turn for your opponent as early as turns 4-5.
Faerie Mechanist in play: Esperzoa allows you to Serum Visions everyturn? In addition, if Sculptor is in play, this is ridiculous recursion. Gives the deck a great mid-game.
None of those artifacts in play: Esperzoa just bounces other artifacts and swings for 4 damage. I think 4/3 flying is still hard to deal with.
EQUIPMENTS (7)
4 Cranial Plating: This is the only reason why Affinity is actually playable. 45 artifacts in the deck, and possibiliy on being dropped turn 1 off a tomb with Ornithopter and equipped next turn for evasive beating is much more golden than regular affinity.
4 Sword of Fire and Ice: One of the best equipment, and certainly the best if you have 12 flyers. Traditional affinity cannot run this since it does not have the manabase to support its use. Stompy builds can support this, and Etherium Stompy certainly can do better with a sculptor in play.
Disruption (10)
4 Chalice of the Void: Must have in every stompy build. Stops everything 0-1cc easily. In multiple Chalices, you can drop them at zero to feed Esperzoa.
2 Winter Orb: This is golden with Tangle Wire in play, and is included mainly to add to an additional 2cc slot to be played on turn 1 since this deck has a lack of turn 1 plays as compared to regular Faerie Stompy and Deep Blue. I honestly will up this to 3 and drop 4 Ravagers down to 3. This is one of the cards that actually work in synergy with the deck, and in my honest opinion is stronger than the 4th Ravager. Winter Orb increases many matchup such as MUC and Landstill, which are the tougher matchups that this deck will face.
4 Tangle Wire: This has been my favorite card 7 years ago when I ran it in RDW. I ran it in MUDStax and Monoblue Stax but it isn't doing as good in the meta as it should. The card has finally found another chance to live with the synergy with Esperzoa, making it one-sided, recyclable, and deadly in multiples with Esperzoa. With a Winter-Orb in play, Tangle Wire is perhaps multiple time-walks. I cannot stress how many games I have won on the back of Tangle Wire + Winter Orb.
Matchups: I'll post the matchups next week. I've been testing with friends, and it has shown many promises.
Combo:
Etherium Stompy has a super-favorable MU against Combo espcially post sideboard with Thorn of Amethysts and 3Sphere.
Goblins:
Etherium Stompy has as fast a clock as goblins thanks to Cranial Plating and Evasive flyers with equipments. Post-board Jittes and perhaps BEBs will make the matchup great. Be careful of wastelands which slow the deck down tremendously
Threshold
Mixed Matchup. If they counter kill spells, you're not doing good, otherwise your threat density + a few equipment should end the game. UGw and UGr (tempo) thresh are the more unfavorable MU. UGw Thresh is somewhat fine. They only have StP against you but UGr Tempo Thresh runs Wastelands that annoy your Tombs and City of Traitors. UGb thresh is more to our favor.
If they board in Trygon Predator, you're screwed unless you can resolve some flyers or chump with Ornithopter. It's not entirely game-over as the affinity v.s. Trygon or Stax v.s. Trygon MU is since you have 12 flyers, while UG Thresh only has 4. You can pretty much kill the Predator if you have an equipment.
Stax:
Moderate matchup. Depends on whether you can drop a flying threat faster than they can get Waste + Crucible or Magus of Tabernacle + Armageddon up fast. Post sideboard Thorn of Amethyst puts the MU heavily in your favor. In addition, Etherium Stompy gets past Dutch Stax running Moats, and recovers fast via Mechanist.
Team America:
Terrible MU. Their LD package is just bonkers. Post board Defense Grid gives you some chance against Dazes + Forces, and just hope that you have at least 3 mana (1 blue) to drop some threats. They'll probably end up nuking Masters and Esperzoas, but the crucial backbone of the deck is Etherium Sculptor. Not sure how to improve this matchup but we're lucky that TA has a low threat density and Tombstalker/Goyf isn't a problem as long as you get mana online. The main trouble against TA is surviving their LD package. At least you kill the Stifles. Maybe run Teferi's Response? LOL just kidding.
Dreadstill:
To be honest, easy as hell. Chalice@1 kills the deck. And you're fast enough to swing before they free the Chalice. To further rape the MU, board in 4 defense Grid, their Standstills won't be too dangerous. Tangle Wires + Winter Orb stops them from doing anything, and can tap the Dreadnoughts too since Dreadstill plays very little permanents.
FINAL COMMENTS
NO CHROME MOX?
I am very excited for this deck, and I have been doing many testing. As a long-time Stax and Stompy player, I feel that this is a very different list than regular Stompy list. It cannot play Chrome Mox, which is a tragedy and until the day they reword Chrome Mox's annoying non-artifact imprint cost, this deck has to play without Chrome Mox.
However, the deck is still very viable. In giving up Chrome Mox for "tribal" (artifact) synergy, we gain many other options. The challenge is to find the right shell to play without Chrome Mox. Experience tells the Stompy player that Chrome Mox is usually used to open with 3cc spells in Dragon/Faerie/Elephant/Demon/Deep Sea Stompy. Therefore instead of hoping for 3cc openings, we maximize 2cc openings. Etherium Stompy packs a total of fourteen 2cc spells:
4 Arcbound Ravager
2 Winter Orb
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Cranial Plating
The sideboard has another ten 2cc spell: 4 Thorn of Amethyst, 2 Umezawa's Jitte, 4 Defense Grid.
Therefore as long as you draw a tomb or cities, you're guaranteed a turn 1 play. Sometimes, it's safer to keep slower hands (with 2 Seats + Sculptor + Master etc, or City + land and play the land first before City) and the experience of a Stompy player tells you how to play such opening hands.
The deck recovers without Chrome Mox by relying on it's heavy 2cc slots, and great contributions from Etherium Sculptor. If he resolves, he speeds up all your spells tremendously and gives a fast aggressive hand by turn 3-4.
The drawbacks of Chrome Mox are: You cannot play with greater synergy: Ravager, Master, Esperzoa, Faerie Mechanist will all be less happy, and I feel that I've put a good arguement as to why the creature base is much needed in this deck, therefore Chrome Mox has to go, until Wizards rewords that annoying imprint cost lol.
POTENTIAL CARDS: WHY ARE YOU NOT RUNNING...?
Trinket Mage: Trust me, he was in my build for so long in testing Etherium Stompy, but was cut after realizing that his sole purpose was to fetch a Chalice (which is game-winning) or Seat of the Synod. Sigil of Distinction is really not needed in this deck since Cranial Plating is infinitely better than it. In fact, I think Cranial Plating is arguebly the most broken equipment as long as the deck can support enough artifacts. We have 45 artifacts.
Most importantly, Trinket Mage just doesn't fit in the deck. He receives no pumps, always costs 3cc, requiring a blue, where it could have been better spent playing a Master to pump all your other artifacts. Faerie Mechanist eventually took his spot firmly since she does what he does to a limited extent, but contributes to the deck as a evasive beater, and most importantly as an artifact.
Thirst for Knowledge: After Trinket Mage failed, I ran this card. It sounds great on paper, refilling an empty hand in the mid-game. But seriously, he's worse than Trinket Mage. Notice that the deck so far has zero non-permanents. The idea of the deck is to maximize as many artifacts for synergy, and to maximize it's threat density. It doesn't play out Draw-go as control decks do, rather, it goes straight for the throat by over-extending, and pray that your opponent doesn't deeds or wrath, as controlled using Winter Orbs + Tangle Wires.
Thoughtcast: Thoughtcast is good in Affinity, but I have always been a strong opponent to its use in Deep Blue (Affinity Stompy). To be perfectly honest, with Ancient Tomb + City, we don't care if it costs U or 5U to draw 2 cards. It's easily achievable regardless. The issue is the same as with TfK. It doesn't act as a creature/threat. Better candidates for Deep Blue is obviously Trinket Mage/Mulldrifter. And in Etherium Stompy, we have Faerie Mechanist, which is simply amazing. She digs 3 cards deep, lets you keep the best of the lot. Digging and "serum-visioning" for 3 cards is much better than drawing 2 random cards. And the fact that Mechanist is recurrable with Esperzoa and flies as a beater is just much better than a one-time Thoughtcast or TfK.
Tezzeret the Seeker: This is the most controversial card for me. I loved him in all my testing, but there were many times where I won without needing him to be played. I'm assuming he wins the bad matchups while remains useless in the good matchups. I ran 2 copies of him and loved him when he came out fetching Tangle Wire (with Winter Orb in play) or vice versa.
Fetching Esperzoas and Masters for beatdown and Ravagers for emergency modular tokens onto Ornithopter is priceless. Most importantly, his entire synergy with Tangle Wire is amazing. You search out Tangle Wire to tap your opponents down, while untapping your tapped artifacts tapped to Tangle Wire to pump him up. I've never used his last abilitly because the most priceless ability is his tinker ability. The only reason why I haven't included him in the deck is the inconsistency with double blue UU with 11 blue sources. It should be fine, but I still need to optimize a list with him. He would most likely be included as 2 copies, and replace 1 Ravager and 1 Faerie Mechanist.
That's all for now, hope you guys have faith with this deck by testing it out, not just on paper, but in real life. It's lots of fun, and for once, we have a Artifact stompy deck that is not 5/3. Have fun with the Ether!