Tezzeret Affinity

[Hanni]

I originally posted this in the Tezzeret SCD thread, but I'd like to start a thread for this specific direction.

Tezzeret Affinity

Lands (14)
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
4 Tree of Tales
2 Darksteel Citadel

Creatures (23)
3 Phyrexian Walker
4 Ornithopter
4 Memnite
4 Frogmite
4 Myr Enforcer
4 Master of Etherium

Spells (23)
3 Thoughtcast
4 Glimpse of Nature
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
4 Cranial Plating
4 Mox Opal
4 Springleaf Drum

That's the list I plan to start working from as soon as I can download a spoiler for my MWS.

I'll explain a little of my thought process with this:

The deck is basically a combo deck. I'll start with the engine:

3 Thoughtcast
4 Glimpse of Nature
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas

With Tezzeret, the deck now has the critical mass it needs to swarm the opponent. Glimpse of Nature with 11 0cc creatures + 8 Affinity creatures helps enable big draws, Thoughtcast provides an always solid draw 2, and Tezzeret is an overpowered Dark Confidant that both control decks and aggro decks will have a hard time dealing with.

Mana:

With 11 0cc guys, Mox Opal and Springleaf Drum come online consistently on turn 1, and the Affinity guys (Frogmite and Myr Enforcer) should be coming down very quickly as well.

The Kills:

Master of Etherium
Cranial Plating
Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas

The deck still has the ability to just win via quick turn 1 hand empties involving Memnites, Frogmites, and Myr Enforcers.

With so much explosiveness, Master of Etherium comes down as a monster in size, and pumps all of the other guys on the board.

Cranial Plating turns any and every creature in this deck into a win condition. It's preferrable to get it on an Ornithopter, since other guys can be chump blocked into oblivion, but Cranial Plating still puts an assload of pressure on very quickly.

Tezzeret is savage. He's either coming down and sealing it up by turning Mox Opal's and Phyrexian Walker's into 5/5's, or he's digging 5 deep for another artifact and then winning on the next turn with his ultimate. He's a house against aggro decks and control decks alike, and is great against combo when you simply win next turn.

I'm still not sure if the mana is right cause I haven't gotten to test it yet. 14 lands, 4 Mox, 4 Drum I'm hoping is enough to reliably cast Tezzeret. The deck does have the ability to draw into extra mana sources with Thoughtcast and Glimpse, so I'm banking on 22 mana sources + draw being enough for right now.

Obviously, I need to test this. I think cutting Ravager and Disciple for a more explosive and less sadomasochistic way to win has more synergy overall, but I could be wrong. I'd likely run the new Phyrexian Revoker in the sideboard, along with whatever else that I have no idea what I'd need right now.

[Barook]

I don't think that Glimpse Affinity is the right shell for Tezzeret. You only run 19 "free" creatures for Glimpse and it's off-color.

I would probably replace Glimpse with Bob for greater consistency, add a fourth Thoughtcast, get rid of Enforcer to not kill yourself with Bob and throw in some other goodness instead. Phyrexian Walker probably wouldn't fit into that variant as well.

4 Tezzeret also seems excessive, considering the mana cost and only being able to have one on the field. Three are probably enough.

[eq.firemind]

I second the suggestion that going 3-color will cause problems.
The good way to speed up Teez is Ancient Tomb and if you throw a :2:-land, you should think about adding Chalice of the Void, wich is even better since the deck already has a way to acquire 2 mana on turn 1.

My take on this:

Teez Affinity

4 Ancient Tomb
4 Vault of Whispers
4 Seat of the Synod
3 Darksteel Citadel
2 Glimmervoid
4 Mox Opal
2 Paradise Mantle

4 Ornithopter
4 Memnite
4 Dark Confidant
3 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Steel Overseer
4 Master of Etherium

4 Chalice of the Void
4 Cranial Plating
4 Thoughtcast
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas


1 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Tormod's Crypt
6 Something

Teez 2.0 is another draw engine (first ability), a way to deal lot of damage (both 2nd and 3rd ability) and reach+lifegain(3rd ability) all in one card. The only downside is cmc 4, but with Moxes and Tombs it seems to be manageable. And beating with Chalice or Paradise Mantle is so classy!

The average manacost is 1.2 and Teez's ultimate gains a nice chunk of life, so Dark Confidant seems safe even in long game.

Phyrexian Revoker and Chalice of the Void are made for each other. First one covers problematic cards (like Pridemage, Deed) and the second one shuts off their removal (StP, burn) and cantrips, so they can't get rid of Revoker so easy. Turn 1 Chalice at 1, turn 2 Revoker on Pridemage should be hillarious in game 1 against Zoo. Or turn 1 Revoker on LED, turn 2 Chalice at 1 vs Storm.
After sideboard, Revoker becomes even better 'cause you know what to name.

Engineered Explosives in sideboard are for matches where you side out Chalice or need removal against specific card. Deck's curve allows to safely blow EE on 1, 3 and 4, taking out Vial, Aggro Loam fatties, Shackles and sometimes even Jace or Elspeth.

[Hanni]

The list that Top 8'd the Kansas City SCG Open (http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=36116)


I don't think that Glimpse Affinity is the right shell for Tezzeret. You only run 19 "free" creatures for Glimpse and it's off-color.

I would probably replace Glimpse with Bob for greater consistency, add a fourth Thoughtcast, get rid of Enforcer to not kill yourself with Bob and throw in some other goodness instead. Phyrexian Walker probably wouldn't fit into that variant as well.

4 Tezzeret also seems excessive, considering the mana cost and only being able to have one on the field. Three are probably enough.

The list I linked used Glimpse just fine, and he only ran 2 Ornithopters and 0 Phyrexian Walker's.

This deck doesn't intend to use Glimpse the same way Elves does. It's not meant to draw your entire deck. 19 "free creatures" is roughly 1/3 of the deck. Even drawing just 3 cards off of Glimpse makes it an Ancestral Recall.

I'm not really sure how Bob enables greater consistency. Even if we somehow were able to define him as more consistent, he's still very slow at generating card advantage in a deck that's entire design is meant to be explosive.

I may agree with you on the 4th Thoughtcast. I haven't gotten to playtest the deck yet, and so my numbers are merely rough draft. The count of Phrexian Walker may be capable of being lowered, the number of lands may need increased, I don't know yet. I'm simply presenting a shell, and the basis from which I plan to test from.


I second the suggestion that going 3-color will cause problems.


I'd rather playtest this first. The list I linked above ran the exact same manabase with 1 less Mox and 1 less Drum. Albeit he wasn't playing Tezzeret (2UB), but the rest of his deck obviously performed well enough. I'm going to wait until a downloadable spoiler becomes available for MWS before I delve too much further into whether or not the manabase will work, etc. You may be right, maybe it's not stable enough. Problem is, I can't figure that out right now.

[Koby]

I've been testing this shell for several months after trying out Deep Blue (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?12129-[Deck]-Deep-Blue-(Affinity-x-Fairy-Stompy-s-Lovechild)).

With the addition of Grim Monolith earlier this year, this is adequate push for an Accelerated Blue/X Affintiy deck. I remember the Saga/Masques format that used Grim Monolith to cast large control cards early, then untap later for with mana sinks. It would cast threats with 3UU quite easily turn 3. Adding Tezzeret with 2mana lands is obvious. Good thing there's a million 2mana artifacts that also help to cast spells. Like Dimir Signet, or Prismatic Crystal.

This is the shell I've been working with:

4 Steel Overseer
4 Etherium Sculptor
4 Master of Etherium
3 Esperzoa
3 Etched Champion

4 Thoughtcast
3 Transmute Artifact
3 Tinker-targets

4 Grim Monolith
3 Voltaic Key
3 Sensei's Divining Top

4 Mox Opal
3 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
4 Wasteland
4 Seat of the Synod
5 Island

Island can be replaced with Underground River* (Sundering Titan is a bot) to include Tezzeret. 2UB is really easy for this deck. With Mox Opal, that maybe enough.

[Hanni]

I went ahead and built this on MWS, using the original Tezzeret as a proxy for the new one. I haven't played against live competition yet, just goldfishing. For goldfishing purposes, I cut 1 Phyrexian Walker for the 4th Thoughtcast.

I know that the goldfishing has been a goldfish, and against disruption it would be much less explosive and broken, but the deck has a nasty goldfish. Between chaining Thoughtcast and Glimpse over and over, to dropping a Tezzeret and just winning, the deck is strong. Very strong.

I can't wait till they release the MBS spoiler for MWS so I can play this against live competition. Unless someone wants to let me playtest it against them, using old Tezz as a proxy for the new Tezz...

[Justin]

I'm curious as to how Glimpse has worked for you. I have just tested it a little. My impression is that this is a card that you want in your opening hand with a green mana source. If you have a Tree of Tales, a Glimpse and some "free" creatures, you can have a huge first turn. On the other hand, if you don't have the Tree of Tales (and have a Mox or Drum), you get a slower start. With Mox or Drum, you have to cast a free creature before playing Glimpse and this costs you a card. Glimpse is also pretty weak in topdeck mode. If you top deck it, you have to wait until you draw a creature. Then, you will most often only draw one card off it, and two if you are lucky (23 of 60 cards are creatures). I'm wondering if it might not be a good idea to throw in some "rainbow lands" (i.e. Glimmervoid) to improve the chances of getting an explosive start with Glimpse. The downside to this is that rainbow lands weaken your affinity cards (Frogmite and Myr Enforcer), Mox, as well as Tezz himself. However, it might be worth it. I've tested a bit with your mana base and it is frustrating to have a Glimpse in the opening hand but no green-producing land to get maximum use out of it.

Edit: After more testing, I can see that you will often play Glimpse on turn two, not turn one. With drum, you just drop it on turn one and pass and then go off with Glimpse next turn. With Mox, you wait until it has metalcraft from two lands on turn two. On further review, I think that rainbow lands lack of synergy with Moxen is the main reason to avoid them.

[menace13]

Funniest play in Legacy is going to be to Tezzanimate Cranial Plating then equiping it to itself !!11one1!!!eleven1!!

Edit:
212.2i An Equipment that's also a creature can't equip a creature. Equipment that loses the subtype "Equipment" can't equip a creature. An Equipment can't equip itself. An Equipment that equips an illegal or nonexistent permanent becomes unattached from that permanent but remains in play. (This is a state-based effect. See rule 420.)

[Koby]

This won't work, just like it didn't work with March of the Machines

[menace13]

This won't work, just like it didn't work with March of the Machines
There goes the only reason I wanted to play the deck:frown:

[The Big Ragu]

You guys are going a bit overboard with the number of Tezzys you're running. He's the icing on the cake, but not the actual cake itself. Anything more than 2 is probably going to weigh you down. For the time being, I'm fully content with just one in my deck.

P.S. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only person who doesn't run Ravagers in their deck. Thought I was going crazy there.

[Justin]

Four Tezz as too much was my initial thought as well. However, this isn't just a nice card. It is a card that wins you the game. By playing four, you maximize your chances of drawing one. If you have a Tezz on the board, it does not matter that you have more in your hand. Your opponent must answer your Tezz fast or lose the game. Plus, it's nice to have extra copies in case your first one gets countered or removed. I think I agree with Hanni in that four is the correct number. However, this can only be confirmed though testing.

[Meekrab]

Tezz is a lot like Cranial Plating, there's never a time you DONT want him.

[ac3eb]

The difference between Tezz and cranial plating though is their casting cost. Having two tezz in your opening hand can almost be like taking a mull to 5. Four mana is definitely on the high side of the curve. 3 seems about right, though even 2 might be the ideal number. I don't think 4 is where it should be, especially when some lists are trying to fit in 3-4 thoughtcast and 4 glimpse. That's significant card-drawing power, so finding one shouldn't be that tough?

[Justin]

The difference between Tezz and cranial plating though is their casting cost. Having two tezz in your opening hand can almost be like taking a mull to 5. Four mana is definitely on the high side of the curve. 3 seems about right, though even 2 might be the ideal number. I don't think 4 is where it should be, especially when some lists are trying to fit in 3-4 thoughtcast and 4 glimpse. That's significant card-drawing power, so finding one shouldn't be that tough?

Well, you make a good point that multiple Tezz in your starting hand is really bad and will probably force a mulligan. However, going by Hanni's list, there are very few cards in this deck that are bad in your opening hand. Other than Tezz, only Master of Ethereum and Myr Enforcer can sometimes be bad in your opener. If you have good mana, you can power out a turn two Master. With all the "free" spells, you can often get an Enforcer on the board by turn two or sooner. Tezz is the only card in the deck that you will almost never want to see in an opening hand. The odds of a starting hand with more than one are small. You might be correct in that 3 might be more appropriate than 4, but I think the debate should be between 3-4, not 2-3. As I said before, Tezz wins games and you want to make sure that you draw it.

[Hanni]

After more goldfishing (still haven't gotten to playtest against a real opponent because I'm using old Tezz as a proxy), I wasn't satisfied with the instability. As a player, I prefer consistency over unstable explosiveness. With Mox Opal being Legendary, and the decks high demand for blue mana, I think the deck needs more blue mana sources. I haven't had many issues hitting 4 mana for Tezz, but getting UB can sometimes be difficult.

Glimpse can sometimes just go nuts on turns 1-2, drawing 10+ cards. Othertimes, it's a horrible topdeck that does nothing for me.

Here's a new list that I've been goldfishing, and am still rather pleased with:

Tezzeret Affinity

// Lands
4 [MR] Seat of the Synod
4 [MR] Vault of Whispers
4 [DS] Darksteel Citadel
4 [ZEN] Island

// Creatures
4 [M10] Ornithopter
4 [SOM] Memnite
4 [MR] Frogmite
4 [HOP] Myr Enforcer
4 [M11] Steel Overseer
4 [HOP] Master of Etherium

// Spells
4 [MR] Thoughtcast
4 [ALA] Tezzeret the Seeker
4 [FD] Cranial Plating
4 [SOM] Mox Opal
4 [LRW] Springleaf Drum

It's not quite as explosive, but I've been pleased with its level of consistency. Obviously, Tezzeret the Seeker is supposed to be Tezz 2.0

As far as the number of Tezz goes, I'd recommend the full 4. The card is nuts, and you want to see it every game, as often as possible. Multiples aren't dead either, because you can drop one, make a 5/5, make another 5/5, and then cast another to make another 5/5 (that's 3 5/5's in two turns). I like making Opal's, Drum's, and especially Citadel's into 5/5's. Plus, they still get buffed from Master and Overseer.

[Koby]

I've noticed a few Classic list run Gaea's Cradle purely for a "Tolarian Academy" stand in. Would running 1-of Gaea's Cradle to accelerate some artifact out be useful here? Is it win more?

[Hanni]

Could be good, haven't tried it yet. Good suggestion.

[Hanni]

Anyone wanna add me to AOL IM and let me play a few games with this deck against them? I've tried 3 games now and I get Player Lost every time I try to explain that I'm using Tezzeret 1.0 as a proxy for Tezzeret 2.0...

My SN is: fiendishnature

[Grollub]

I like your latest list Hanni, you might want to consider that new UB neo-dual. The drawback should never really be a drawback in affinity's low land count, and having easier access to both colors with the sidebonus of being immune to Islandwalk looks nifty.

[Torgeist]

Anyone wanna add me to AOL IM and let me play a few games with this deck against them? I've tried 3 games now and I get Player Lost every time I try to explain that I'm using Tezzeret 1.0 as a proxy for Tezzeret 2.0...

My SN is: fiendishnature

Why don't you use the spoiler? I've played a few games with tezz 2.0 already on mws (using the list you proposed with glimpse) and he has been kicking serious ass.

[Hanni]

Where's the spoiler?

[TheG]

My List


// Lands
2 [MR] Darksteel Citadel
4 [MR] Vault of Whispers
4 [MR] Seat of the Synod
3 [MR] Glimmervoid

// Creatures
2 [SOM] Etched Champion
3 [ALA] Master of Etherium
4 [SOM] Riddlesmith
4 [M10] Ornithopter
4 [SOM] Memnite
4 [VI] Phyrexian Walker

// Spells
3 [LRW] Springleaf Drum
3 [MBS] Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
3 [FD] Cranial Plating
3 [FUT] Sword of the Meek
4 [SOM] Mox Opal
4 [MR] Thoughtcast
3 [ARB] Thopter Foundry
3 [UD] Carnival of Souls


the closers are classic: Cranial Plating/Master of Etherium/Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas/Thopter Foundry+Sword of the Meek.The deck is designed to win on the next own turn after we play a finisher (i hope ;( it is ). As you could see, it comes with a new one draw engine: the riddlesmith. I choose the riddlesmith to have a better manabase (bicolor) and a permanent drawer that glimpse is not. moreover, riddlesmith wokrs with every artifact and not only creatures, this give us more flexibility in building the deck. To assorb the riddle's drawback i use the large number of copies of one-use cards, like tezzeret, opal and the riddlesmih himself, but olso the others spells(cc0 and thoughtcast exepted) are barely "one shot-one kill" so they can be cycled when you need it. Carnival of souls comes to increase mana gain while cycling artifiacts with riddlesmih....while we are looking for our "solution" mana grows to cast it...maybe we could use olso a tendill for kill the enemy. moreover, carival + thopter + sword is an infinite, autoalimented combo. On the other hand, a big problem i encountred is mana screw while cycling: often i have a sufficient amount of black mana, good enough for colorless artifacts but not for tezzeret and Master that require blue. However i was thinking about the little greensplash for glimpse of nature wich could be and extra drawing engine and multani's presence on the Sideboard, but i'm not shure of this for the manabase and the usefullness of "mini glimpses" like i said and you noticed previously. So ,what do you think about?

Welcome to the Source! Please improve your style while you're here. Using capital letters and paragraphs (new line) will make your posts less painful to read. Thank you. ~Nihil Credo

[Torgeist]

Where's the spoiler?

http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=294046

[Justin]

After more goldfishing (still haven't gotten to playtest against a real opponent because I'm using old Tezz as a proxy), I wasn't satisfied with the instability. As a player, I prefer consistency over unstable explosiveness. With Mox Opal being Legendary, and the decks high demand for blue mana, I think the deck needs more blue mana sources. I haven't had many issues hitting 4 mana for Tezz, but getting UB can sometimes be difficult.

Glimpse can sometimes just go nuts on turns 1-2, drawing 10+ cards. Othertimes, it's a horrible topdeck that does nothing for me.

Here's a new list that I've been goldfishing, and am still rather pleased with:

Tezzeret Affinity

// Lands
4 [MR] Seat of the Synod
4 [MR] Vault of Whispers
4 [DS] Darksteel Citadel
4 [ZEN] Island

// Creatures
4 [M10] Ornithopter
4 [SOM] Memnite
4 [MR] Frogmite
4 [HOP] Myr Enforcer
4 [M11] Steel Overseer
4 [HOP] Master of Etherium

// Spells
4 [MR] Thoughtcast
4 [ALA] Tezzeret the Seeker
4 [FD] Cranial Plating
4 [SOM] Mox Opal
4 [LRW] Springleaf Drum

It's not quite as explosive, but I've been pleased with its level of consistency. Obviously, Tezzeret the Seeker is supposed to be Tezz 2.0

As far as the number of Tezz goes, I'd recommend the full 4. The card is nuts, and you want to see it every game, as often as possible. Multiples aren't dead either, because you can drop one, make a 5/5, make another 5/5, and then cast another to make another 5/5 (that's 3 5/5's in two turns). I like making Opal's, Drum's, and especially Citadel's into 5/5's. Plus, they still get buffed from Master and Overseer.

This may be too conservative. Were you getting torn up by Wasteland really bad in testing? I get the part that you have 8 lands that are immune to Wasteland, but drum and mox also get around it. Basic islands weaken a lot of cards in your deck, including Frogmite, Myr Enforcer, Thoughtcast, plating, master, Tezz, etc. I would replace those islands with artifact lands. Even if you are only using two colors in your main deck, you could play a third for your sideboard (i.e. Ethersworn Canonist, Persish, Engineered Plague, etc.).

I'm still not ready to dump Glimpse of Nature yet. Sometimes being patient with that card is the right thing to do, such as waiting until turn two to cast it or holding "free" creatures in your hand that won't help you much until you draw a Glimpse.

What do you think about Phyrexian Revoker in the Steel Overseer spot? Revoker seems good in a format with a lot of Aether Vial and Top.

[kortero]

Hello,

First of all I want to say that I have just recently acquired cards for Affinity so I'm not really familiar with the 'known problems' of the deck etc. Thus, I can't really say if the build I've been testing is any better than others in that aspect. Nevertheless, I feel that it can't really hurt if I share the list that I've been goldfishing for 10 hours (last night from 12 pm to 6 am, and 4 hours today - it's addictive you know!?) with excellent 'results'.

All The Cool Cards Grouped Together™

4 Vault of Whispers
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Ancient Tomb
1 Island

4 Mox Opal
4 Springleaf Drum

4 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Signal Pest
4 Disciple of the Vault
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Steel Overseer
4 Master of Etherium

4 Cranial Plating
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
4 Thoughcast

As one can see, the deck is really streamlined. Few comments about card choices:

Ancient Tomb: I don't know if the life loss makes huge difference in real games, but being able to power out first turn Steel Overseers with couple of Memnites/Ornithopters on the board sure feels good. Ancient Tomb makes casting Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas also easier, starting from turn 2. Without Frogmites and Myr Enforcers the loss of artifact lands 9-12 hasn't felt bad at all. All in all, they have felt excellent while goldfishing like a maniac.

Island: Since the deck has more sources that require blue than black, I figured that one basic Island to fetch could be good if your Master of Etherium happens to eat an opposing Path to Exile.

Signal Pest: I have to admit that this card (if it's real) doesn't feel that gamebreaking. However, with 8 free creatures and 4 Disciple of the Vaults I feel that it does more than Arcbound Worker as I wanted a creature that costs 1 colorless mana in the deck (or some other cheap creature for curve purposes). Frogmite might be another consideration in this 'slot', but one unarguable fact is that Signal Pest carries Cranial Plating like a champ, just like Ornithopter. With 8 'evasion' creatures for Cranial Plating, Etched Champion can be left for sideboard purposes.

Steel Overseer: As Steel Overseer can be easily powered out on turn 1 (Ancient Tomb or arfifact land/Mox Opal/free creature), and as the deck is full of other arfifact creatures (24 total), I feel that Steel Overseer belongs to this build.

Arcbound Ravager/Disciple of the Vault: I somehow like this combination more that the 'affinity creatures' (Frogmite and Myr Enforcer). With also Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas now in the deck, it's nice to have different ways to 'attack' the opposing player, not just by swarming the opponent with creatures. This build does the swarming really well, but it can also win with Arcbound Ravager + Disciple of the Vault activations, or finish the job with Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas's ultimate. Someone said it well: 'Ravager and Disciple just win games'. Ravager also eats extra Mox Opals which sounds trivial, but sometimes enables interesting plays if you're lucky enough with what you have in hand and what you find with Tezzeret's first ability. :)

Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas: It is pretty clear that the new Tezzeret belongs to the deck, but I just wanted to comment on why I don't have a full playset of them in the build. A friend of mine and also a great deckbuilder once said that for a card that you want to see in every game, but that you don't want in the opening seven, 3 is the correct number. Three had felt good throughout the goldfishing period.

Rest should be pretty clear. 4 Master of Etheriums might feel like much, but in this build with Ancient Tombs they really never clog in the hand for too long.


Sideboarding might be harder without one additional color in the form of arfifact lands instead of Ancient Tombs, but I don't really want to stress about such things at this point of the testing process.

Try the list if it feels like it could suit your playstyle. I hope to be able to play few real games tomorrow with it and I'll post some findings if I'm lucky enough to find opponents at our local store.

Comments and critique are welcome as always!

[Koby]

You bring up a good point about Ancient Tomb.

If we consider this deck somewhat similar to Stompy variants, and keeping in mind that 8 of our bombs have a 2 mana cost tacked on, it makes sense to include it.

Consideration:
Turn 1 Ancient Tomb, Spring Leaf, 0-drop Mox Opal, Master of Etherium/Cranial Plating/Steel Overseer... etc Seems good!

I would start such a mana base thusly:
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
4 Island/basics

[kortero]

You bring up a good point about Ancient Tomb.

If we consider this deck somewhat similar to Stompy variants, and keeping in mind that 8 of our bombs have a 2 mana cost tacked on, it makes sense to include it.

Consideration:
Turn 1 Ancient Tomb, Spring Leaf, 0-drop Mox Opal, Master of Etherium/Cranial Plating/Steel Overseer... etc Seems good!

I would start such a mana base thusly:
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
4 Island/basics

Ancient Tomb is really good at least in the build I posted. I wouldn't play that many lands though, but I'm thinking of going -1 Springleaf Drum +1 Swamp or -1 Signal Pest +1 Swamp if I feel manascrewed too often, compared to the build in my first post.

EDIT: Thinking back at all of the hands I had to mulligan, I'm cutting one Signal Pest for now and replacing it with one Swamp bringing the land count up to 14. Hope it's enough, but only time will tell.

[Hanni]

This may be too conservative. Were you getting torn up by Wasteland really bad in testing? I get the part that you have 8 lands that are immune to Wasteland, but drum and mox also get around it. Basic islands weaken a lot of cards in your deck, including Frogmite, Myr Enforcer, Thoughtcast, plating, master, Tezz, etc. I would replace those islands with artifact lands. Even if you are only using two colors in your main deck, you could play a third for your sideboard (i.e. Ethersworn Canonist, Persish, Engineered Plague, etc.).

I was getting tired of having hands with a bunch of blue spells and no blue source. I wanted to up my blue source count. I mean, maybe I could run Paradise Mantle instead, I haven't tried that yet.

I understand that it lacks synergy with the rest of the deck, but it wasn't too big of a setback in my testing. I do like the fact that only 8 of my lands eat it to Wasteland, though.


I'm still not ready to dump Glimpse of Nature yet. Sometimes being patient with that card is the right thing to do, such as waiting until turn two to cast it or holding "free" creatures in your hand that won't help you much until you draw a Glimpse.


Glimpse is still a very powerful card, and I don't think either version is strictly better. Glimpse makes the deck much more explosive at the cost of some consistency. I'm the type of player that prefers consistency over explosiveness (generally), so it's a personal preference for me.


What do you think about Phyrexian Revoker in the Steel Overseer spot? Revoker seems good in a format with a lot of Aether Vial and Top.

I had briefly considered it, but I'm not really worried about being disruptive in game 1. I wanted a guy that was going to be a total bomb when I dropped him; something that my opponent would need to deal with right away or else lose. Revoker is bad in the red zone by the time he's capable of swinging (since he costs 2 mana). I've won a few games in testing off the power of Overseer, so I actually like his inclusion. A turn 1 consisting of Memnite, Frogmite, and Overseer quickly turns into a serious problem for the opponent in a few turns.

[Karhumies]

I think that kortero is up to something in his build. However, I would up the land count to 16-17 using either Darkslick Shores or Underground Sea (incl. max. 1x basic Island as tech for opposing PtE). Yet, I don't know which cards to drop in order to make room.

In the past, I have been displeased with Steel Overseer, but I would have to test kortero's new version of the list more before jumping into conclusions. At least, the +1/+1 counter synergy is not THAT significant when the modular count is low (only Ravager included).

I really like the inclusion of Signal Pest as the Cranial Plating guy #2. 4x Ornithopter is just not enough, and Etched Champion is expensive at cmc=3, and it still gets blocked to death by opposing Mishra's Factpry or Mutavault.

In case the deck needs additional beaters, you could consider 4x Esperzoa. In case the deck needs additional gas, 2x Jace 2.0 is not a bad choice as a brainstorm with the added blocker bounce utility - and it makes for a much better topdeck than a Glimpse.

[kortero]

I think that kortero is up to something in his build. However, I would up the land count to 16-17 using either Darkslick Shores or Underground Sea (incl. max. 1x basic Island as tech for opposing PtE). Yet, I don't know which cards to drop in order to make room.

In the past, I have been displeased with Steel Overseer, but I would have to test kortero's new version of the list more before jumping into conclusions. At least, the +1/+1 counter synergy is not THAT significant when the modular count is low (only Ravager included).

I really like the inclusion of Signal Pest as the Cranial Plating guy #2. 4x Ornithopter is just not enough, and Etched Champion is expensive at cmc=3, and it still gets blocked to death by opposing Mishra's Factpry or Mutavault.

In case the deck needs additional beaters, you could consider 4x Esperzoa. In case the deck needs additional gas, 2x Jace 2.0 is not a bad choice as a brainstorm with the added blocker bounce utility - and it makes for a much better topdeck than a Glimpse.

Thanks for the kind words fellow Finn. I cut 1 Signal Pest and 1 Springleaf Drum for 2 additional lands compared to the build in my first post (#26). I wouldn't change anything else as for now. 3 Drums has felt fine with 15 lands, and while Signal Pest has its merits I don't really feel bad for cutting one of them. :)

The curve looks and more importantly feels very good with 15 lands, 12 x 0cc, 10 x 1cc, 12 x 2cc, 4 x 3cc, 3 x 4cc and 4 x 5cc spells; though one essentially plays Thoughcast with 1 or 2 mana.

I believe 3 Darkslick Shores might be the best option for the additional lands since we need blue and black early for Thoughcasts and Disciples. Even though I own Underground Seas, I'm most likely going to play with the Shores since there is the additional bonus of not opening ourselves for Islandwalk against Merfolk which is really popular here in Finland.

I don't feel either that the deck needs any additional beaters. Real life play situations tell what the deck lacks and I won't be making any changes until I've played enough real games with the latest build. And by the way, Steel Overseer is really good.

[Barook]

Any thoughts about Inkmoth Nexus?

Sure, poison doesn't have any synergy with the general game plan, but with loads of pump effects (Ravager, Cranial Plating, Tezzeret, Overseer for the slower approaches), it should be able to win the game fast as well.

Swinging with 5/5 flying infectors is a 2-turn cloak. Ravager/Plating powered Inkmoths are potentially even faster.

[Koby]

I don't see how adding another attacked (w/ Poison) is going to help matchups where the regular old-fashion attackers aren't good enough. Flying maybe relevent, but we already play Ornithopter. Tezz adds a 2nd dimension to the deck by allowing you to Fireball the game over, and Poison is counter-productive to that plan.

[Karhumies]

@ Barook: If you plan to Infect, why not just play a Berserk Infect (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?18758-Pump-Infect-%5BSOM-spoilage%5D/page13) build? I hear those guys just gained a colorless Infect flyer.

[kortero]

I played few games today with my build against three different competitive decks: 5c Zoo, RGB Goblins and UW Tempo. The deck felt great and while I didn't keep any notes on the games, I won most of the games I played today.

I made just one small change to the build since I noticed in the games that the 'pseudo-evasion' of Signal Pest is just too good to pass (in combination with Cranial Plating, naturally). Thus I wanted to up the count of Signal Pests from 3 to a full playset. After tanking for the longest time about what to cut, I decided that I can live with 3 Steel Overseers. While I'm always happy to see the card and it is really good, it was the only card that I am willing to cut from my build. Other considerations were Arcbound Ravager and Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas, but if I'm playing the 'Ravager/Disciple combo', I want to have 4 of both in the build, and Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas is just so good that I don't really want to play less than 3 of those. I was thinking of the third Springleaf Drum as well, but the deck is already quite low on mana with 22 mana sources and with 4 Master of Etheriums and 3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolases up high on the curve, I can't really justify cutting the Drum. Besides, Drums and Moxes save you against opposing Wastelands.

Since I've posted quite many '+this -this' posts I'll type my current build once more. I encourage you to test it since it's been working like a charm for me, in goldfishing as well as in real games.

4 Vault of Whispers
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Ancient Tomb
3 Darkslick Shore

4 Mox Opal
3 Springleaf Drum
4 Cranial Plating
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
4 Thoughtcast

4 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Signal Pest
4 Disciple of the Vault
4 Arcbound Ravager
3 Steel Overseer
4 Master of Etherium

Enjoy!

EDIT: The best part of this build in my opinion is that it can win in many different ways. Depending on the draws, you can just swarm the opponent. Sometimes Ravager + Disciple finish the job out of nowhere, or one can just stall the board and win with the ultimate Tezz experience. :)

[rufus]

I was goldfishing with a list that had City of Traitors and Ancient Tomb as well as Sensei's Divining Top. SDT specifically seems very strong in combination with those two and the new Tezzeret since you can peek at the top 3, and the turn the SDT under or retrieve and recast it.

[Karhumies]

SDT specifically seems very strong

Top does not give card advantage, it is very mana hungry (and therefore slow), and it is not a creature. It would be difficult to justify dropping any mana (from kortero's list at least) or creatures for SDT. If we are talking about non-creatures, Thoughtcast is just plain better, and there's no reason to cut Plating or Tezzeret for it.

As for City of Traitors, I believe that card works better in a different type of MD shell (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?19573-UWx-Metalcraft-Control), although it could be tested in Tezzeret Affinity as well as a 1- or 2-of.



If there is a card I would try fitting into the list, it would be Phyrexian Revoker, not SDT or C.ofTraitors. But even then, P.Revoker seems to run better as a SB card in this list, because Steel Overseer is a better MD card in most MUs.

[Ramirez777]

Building off the deck from the introduction post, I gold-fished the deck multiple times, and was able to get an average kill around turn 4. My fastest kill was turn 3, and I would usually go to turn 5 if I played Glimpse of Nature. After continual play testing, if you plan to run the version with Glimpse of Nature, you will want to run it as a four of, with four Thoughtcasts. If you run Glimpse of Nature you need to be able to maximize its function, as late game draws of the card will feel like dead draws until you draw in to some more creatures. There are so many great cards we have the option of running in an Affinity shell, so it's becoming harder to pick and choose. Here is my amalgamation, based off the original deck. I will explain differing card choices.

Deck:

4 Vault of Whispers
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Tree of Tales
2 Glimmervoid
1 Ancient Tomb or Gaea's Cradle

3 Mox Opal
3 Spring Leaf Drum
4 Cranial Plating
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
4 Thoughtcast
4 Glimpse of Nature

4 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
2 Signal Pest
3 Disciple of the Vault
4 Arcbound Ravager
3 Master of Etherium
4 Frogmite

Sideboard:

3x Xantid Swarm
4x Phyrexian Revoker
2x Perish
2x Relic of Progentius
4x Mindbreak Trap

Choices:

While this deck is still an agro deck, it no longer is just that. New cards that we've been given from Mirrodin Besieged have opened new paths for our beloved deck. While still a tier 1.5/2 deck, in my opinion, the ability to up consistency has been great. The major issue with Affinity has always been running out of gas. How many times did you have an explosive hand, but weren't able to follow it up due to dead draws and no means to control your situation. I know that I'm raising my hand at the moment. So, what do we do about it? Glad you asked! We add enablers, so we can net more cards.

So, what are those enablers? Glimpse of Nature and Thoughcast; both are tools that we've had access to all ready, but we now have the ability to make it work in an agro/combo shell. Now here comes our pride and joy, Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas. This guy is your trump card, and he will win you the game the following turn. He fishes some form of protection, or board advantage the first turn he comes in to play. The following turn, before you even go in to combat, you will have probably all ready won the game. If he is so great, why do we run just three copies? Because, you don't want two in your opening hand; with eight draw effects, you are bound to draw in to another.

Now this deck still runs very similar to how we've ran the deck for years, and still plays many of the same cards, let me introduce you to some other new friends. Signal Pest is great, I don't know how else to put it. Chances are that he won't be blocked, and he carries Cranial Plating like a champion. He also grants a lord effect for all the free drops in your deck. I would not run more than three Signal Pests, as you typically have more pressing creatures to play, and he works best with Cranial Plating. Phyrexian Revoker is a house, but he is run sideboard to protect you from Pernicious Deed, & Engineered Explosives. You will sub out Arcbound Ravager to bring this guy in.

A wall that many of you have been hitting as well is the mana base of the deck. It can be a bit tricky when you're trying to resolve spells of three different colors with such a small mana base. I tried 14 lands, minus the Ancient Tomb/Gaea's Cradle, from above, and I didn't feel it was safe enough. That additional 15th land makes quite the difference, and you definitely need it, as compared to running another Mox Opal or Springleaf Drum.

Sideboard:

I will briefly touch on this, as it is almost entirely meta dependant, but I find the following board to play pretty well. I will start with the obvious odd choice, Xantid Swarm. Why in the world would you play this in Affinity? Because, you're playing a semi combo deck now, and you might need to protect your win conditions; aka Glimpse//Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas. You will sub out Disciple of the Vault when you board in the Xantid Swarms. Perish is your out to bigger creatures, until you combo out, or win via evasion. Relic of Progenitus is there as a cantrip, & gy hate. Mindbreak trap is there for combo protection, I know I speak the obvious, but it is also free to cast. You don't want to sideboard cards in that just sit in your hand, because you don't have the mana available to resolve them.

[jedi_gof]

@kortero:
I like your list! I am looking for a deck abusing tezz in lolacy, and your might be a way to go.


What does your current SB look like and what are the most problematic opponents?

[swordoffireandice]

Hi, Thopter Foundry is seeing a lot of play.....I think that an extra sac outlet is most welkom....
It also does not lower your artifact count for the plating. And the tokens still can be sacced to ravager.

[GoldenCid]

My take on this:

Teez Affinity

4 Ancient Tomb
4 Vault of Whispers
4 Seat of the Synod
3 Darksteel Citadel
2 Glimmervoid
4 Mox Opal
2 Paradise Mantle

4 Ornithopter
4 Memnite
4 Dark Confidant
3 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Steel Overseer
4 Master of Etherium

4 Chalice of the Void
4 Cranial Plating
4 Thoughtcast
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas


1 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Tormod's Crypt
6 Something



I like this list...looks interesting. But Ancient tomb + BoB + Tezz + Thoughtcast isn't dangerous?

[Greenpoe]

I've been running Bob in Affinity for ages with Thoughtcast and other 4-drops (Tezzeret or Frogmite, depending on my build) and he's been fine, because:
1.Bob is a lightning rod. Your opponent will usually kill him ASAP.
2.The win conditions cause you to win fast. Master of Etherium swings like a truck. Tezzeret kills in a turn or two, so does Plating. Steel Overseer will buff everyone and with Confidant's CA, get an even bigger swarm.
3.More than half the deck flips for zero, so the ocassional 4 or 5 flip isn't too bad.

[APodeschwa]

i would play this list:

3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Etched Champion
4 Frogmite
4 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Cranial Plating
4 Thoughtcast
4 Mox Opal
4 Vault of Whispers
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Springleaf Drum
2 Glimmervoid
3 Darksteel Citadel
4 Myr Enforcer
4 Cabal Therapy
SB: 4 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 2 Perish
SB: 2 Nature's Ruin
SB: 2 Umezawa's Jitte
SB: 4 Thoughtseize

cabal therapy > disciple: disciple ist often only good with a discard outlet and this deck has only 4 ravager. cabal is stronger on his own and good versus combo.

etched champion has super synergies with plating and ravager.

i tried to max out synergies.

ancient tomb and chalice looks solid on paper but the loss of drum AND the low artefactlandcount isnt good with the rest of the deck compared to other choices.

any thoughts?

[Koplinchen]

I must say I have been testin the chalice list with my freinds in last days and I must say IT IS ACTUALLY VERY GOOD!

I like affinity expecially there has been so many efforts to make it vital legacy deck and they all failed. I love playing underdog deck with beautiful cards.

Starting with chalice wins you many games on its own. So dont underestimate it. It is very powerful.
I fell in love with revoker, it gives this deck an edge it never had before.

Opal is very important here keep right mana availabel and since this deck runs more 0 drops you can cast chalice run 1 very easily even without tomb.

You usually kill with plated ornithopter which cant be sworded.

The card I am not certain yet is steel overseer. It provides some great play like R1 SO+2 memnite but it seems a bit slow. I now run 2 and one thopter foundry. But otherwise I run the same list as stated above and works just fine!

Anyone has tried?


To Apodescha - your list looks very good. I always wanted run CTherapy. Etched Champion with ravager looks actually extremly good. Its beautiful card as well. Is plainswalker necesary? you have less mana sources than chalice list and it doesent seem all that needed. No revoker?

[twbird18]

@koplinchen- I like the chalice idea, I'm going to try it out.

I was wondering since a fair amount of you seem to be using the thopter foundry w/ tezz 2, what you would think of also playing a singleton moat & maybe even some enlightened tutors, which could get ravager, moat, or plating out for us. I need to work out a good mana base for this, but it was just an idea I had yesterday & I wanted to know what people thought. I'll post a list once I have developed a reasonable plan.

[Koplinchen]

hello twibird18,

try it out I would love to see your decklist. I think Enlighted tutor is a bit slow and you need whit mana but it might work.
What might not work is Moat. Just forget it. You would need to kill you opby flyers only, it costs 4 (WW) and it just doesent work at all. Its like playing Wraht of God in ZOO.

All the best!

[twbird18]

I'm talking about a deck that is more aggro-combo than straight affinity--thopter/sword combo makes plenty of flyers & you can easily win off of Tezz's abilities even with a Moat in play --my current list looks like this, but I'm still working it out. Also, it cost 4 isn't really an arguement against Moat...Tezz also costs 4.


4 Seat of the Synod
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
4 Vault of Whispers
4 Ancient Den
2 Glimmervoid

// Creatures
2 Frogmite
3 Arcbound Ravager
3 Disciple of the Vault B
4 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
2 Signal Pest
2 Steel Overseer

Spells
4 Cranial Plating
3 Springleaf Drum
3 Mox Opal
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2 Sword of the Meek
2 Thopter Foundry
1 Moat
2 Enlightened Tutor
3 Thoughtcast

Like I said, it was just a passing idea I had that I want to try out---last fall, I ran with moderate success an affinity list that was mostly U/B with JtMS in the MB, the looks on people's faces when I cast him out of an affinity deck were priceless.

[TheSleeper]

Anyone got any new testing results on this deck? Like others I've found intial results positive but its hard to nail down the optimal build.

Which plans to win do we have the option of winning? Maybe we do some deeper analysis.

Plan A: Tezzeret Ulti
Pros: Synergy with whole deck. Can break creature stalls, doesn't involve attacking. Versatile.
Cons: Requires a number of artifacts in play. Takes 2 turns.
Rating: 8

Plan B: Etched Champion/Ornithopter/Signal Pest/Inkmoth + Plating
Pros: Unblockable big damage.
Cons: Etched Champion can be slow by itself (3 for 2/2). Ornithopter dies to all removal.
Rating: 7

Plan C: Arbcound Ravager + Disciple
Pros: Can break creature stalls, doesn't have to involve attacking. Synergy with Etched Champion. Can run a fourth Mox Opal without as much drawback.
Cons: Either piece is weak on its own, takes up 7-8 card slots.
Rating: 6

Plan D: Beatdown (Master of Etherium)
Pros: Beefy and cheap (almost always outclasses Goyf/KotR. Synergy with other plans.
Cons: Can be chumped/removed, costs a blue mana.
Rating: 5

Plan E: Swarm (Steel Overseer + weenies)
Pros: Fairly fast, cheap. Synergy with other plans.
Cons: Steel is easy to remove and is then outclassed quickly.
Rating: 4

Personally I think the biggest question is whether to include Ravager+Disciple. The other 'plans' all have synergy and don't require as much commitment. At this stage I'm still testing with it, however I'd like to hear people's opinions. Considering how powerful Plating is with so much of our deck, an option of freeing up slots could allow 2 Stoneforge Mystic to fetch it. Going white also allows for Ethersworn in the board (for now I've left Tree of Tales for Nature's Claim).

32 Core
3 Mox Opal
3 Springleaf Drum
4 Ornithopter
4 Cranial Plating
4 Thoughtcast
4 Frogmite
4 Master of Etherium
3 Etched Champion
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas

12 flex
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Disciple
4 Myr Enforcer
4 Signal Pest

16 land
4 seat of synod
4 vault of whispers
4 tree of tales
2 glimmervoid
2 blinkmoth nexus

[Nidd]

I wonder why no one here is discussing Caleb Durward's list.
*Link* (http://www.channelfireball.com/articles/legacy-weapon-winning-pins-and-red-line-tech/)

I've been goldfishing it quite a bit and I'm convinced of it's strength - cutting Disciple is the right thing to do, if you ask me.
The only thing I found to be an improvement was to cut the Ravagers and play 2 Steel Overseer instead - if you are afraid of other cards you might want to play more Revokers instead.
The build is incredibly explosive while also maintaining a strong midgame - Dark Confidant is freaking good when you don't have to worry about your life totals. Remember, you're the aggressor in about 90% of the MUs, the moment your lifepoints start to matter you've pretty much lost already.
Last but not least, Thopter Foundry is the nuts with Steel Overseer/Signal Pest.

[PaRa]

I think Caleb's list is very interesting!

I'm testing following list at the moment:

acceleration:

3 Mox Opal
3 Springleaf Drum

Draw:

4 Thoughcast
4 Glimpse of Nature

Creatures:

3 Ornithopter
4 Memnite
4 Frogmite
3 Myr Enforcer
4 Disciple of the Vault
4 Arcbound Ravager
2 Etched Champion


business:

4 Cranial Plating
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2 Thopter Foundy

lands:

4 seat of synod
4 vault of whispers
4 tree of tales
2 Darksteel Citadel

Please believe me the Glimpse is totally sick...

I'm still thinking of adding Signal Pest instead of Disciples as once you resolved a Glimpse u usually have the board full of creatures and ofc with Thopters it is even better! Still the Disciple also shines with Thopters..

Also the Inkwell Nexus is worth a try i think. With Tezz and the Plating it is a bomb

[Hanni]

Necro!

Well not literally, but Necropotence would be nice...

Anyway, I was trying to build a Puresteel Paladin list and everytime I thought about it, I kept coming back to Affinity just being a vastly superior weenie rush deck. So I decided to look at my old Affinity list, and I saw a few things I wanted to change.

First of all, Vault Skirge is absolutely awesome. A 1 mana 1/1 flyer with lifelink is great. He increases the decks ability to swarm the board early, and his evasion makes him the best Cranial Plating wearer, even without the lifelink. The lifelink is great against aggro matchups. He dodges Mental Misstep (which seems to be relevant right now), and can be hardcast later since the deck has plenty of ways of making black mana.

Secondly, I really want to fit Umezawa's Jitte into the deck. A swarm of 0/2's, 1/1's, and 2/2's isn't impressive, but when you toss a Jitte on one of them, they immediately become a serious threat. It gives the deck a much improved midgame, and the deck has plenty of mana acceleration to get Jitte going early.

Here's the current decklist:

Lands (14)
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Seat of Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
2 Underground Sea

Creatures (23)
4 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Vault Skirge
4 Frogmite
3 Steel Overseer
4 Master of Etherium

Spells (23)
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
4 Thoughtcast
4 Cranial Plating
2 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Mox Opal
3 Paradise Mantle
3 Springleaf Drum

I cut the Myr Enforcers because, while they get insane with Master of Etherium and Steel Overseer, they are rather slow, and aren't backbreaking on their own. With the Lords, Equipment, and Tezz, the tiny guys become big anyway.

I dropped down to 3 Steel Overseer, although this may be a mistake. I needed to cut something, and it was either Steel Overseer or Tezzeret, and I felt Tezzeret was the stronger card. However, I may end up going back to 4 Overseer and cutting down to 3 Tezz. This needs to be tested.

I also decided to go with a 3/3/3 split on the mana accelerants, which has been working beautifully so far, and I cut the land count down (and went with U Sea's instead of Islands since I'm running the Skirges).

I don't have a sideboard built yet, but I'm thinking some combination of Spell Pierce, Mental Misstep, and Force of Will would be necessary for answering combo, Phyrexian Revoker for randomness like Pernicious Deed, and some artifact/enchantment hate and maybe even some Diabolic Edicts or something too.

Thoughts?

[Philipp2293]

Phyrexian Metamorph for the SB?

[Justin]

I'm glad that someone has necroed this thread. I don't see anyone playing Aether Vial in Affinity anymore. I think that Tezz Affinity is closer to established than Vial Affinity now. By the way, did you see the Tezz list that won SCG LA back in March? http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=37278

I have a few thoughts on your list. Vault Skirge seems cool, but Affinity is not a deck that is going to need lifelink most of the time. I think that Signal Pest should be in any Affinity build. I know that it is a true one-drop and can be hit with MM, but I think Pest is better than Skirge or Overseer. Like Skirge, it is an evasive flyer for one mana, but it is better at dealing damage to your opponent in a swarm affinity deck. I actually like it better than Overseer. Both creatures pump your other artifact creatures +1 on the offense, but Pest costs one mana less and can attack itself (equipped with a plating sometimes) while doing it. The advantage of Overseer is that it gives counters and pumps on the defense, but these advantages do not outweigh those of Pest. Pest is a really nice turn one play when you have multiple "free" creatures hitting the board as well.

Etched Champion is another card that I would like to fit in (maybe two of them), because it is really outstanding in certain situations.

I also have to question the use of Jitte. The card has been around since 2005 and I've never seen it in a successful Affinity deck in any format. I think it's too slow at four mana (to cast and equip). If I'm going to play that much mana in Affinity, I'd prefer it be for a card that wins me the game (like Tezz). If you need removal, you might consider splashing red for Galvanic Blast, which is much cheaper and can be aimed at the opponent's dome.

Finally, I have some suggestions about your mana base. If you are going to run a non-basic, non-artifact land, I would go with Blinkmoth Nexus over Underground Sea. The advantage of having extra evasive artifact creatures seems better than the extra color fixing. You are playing nine rainbow producing artifacts. You should not get color screwed very often and probably do not need the Seas. The other way you could go is to cut some of your mana artifacts. Most Affinity lists run 6-7 instead of 9. Are you sure you need that many?

[Hanni]

I have a few thoughts on your list. Vault Skirge seems cool, but Affinity is not a deck that is going to need lifelink most of the time. I think that Signal Pest should be in any Affinity build. I know that it is a true one-drop and can be hit with MM, but I think Pest is better than Skirge or Overseer. Like Skirge, it is an evasive flyer for one mana, but it is better at dealing damage to your opponent in a swarm affinity deck. I actually like it better than Overseer. Both creatures pump your other artifact creatures +1 on the offense, but Pest costs one mana less and can attack itself (equipped with a plating sometimes) while doing it. The advantage of Overseer is that it gives counters and pumps on the defense, but these advantages do not outweigh those of Pest. Pest is a really nice turn one play when you have multiple "free" creatures hitting the board as well.


Vault Skirge isn't in the deck for the lifelink, it's in the deck for the fact that it is a 1/1 flier for 1. The lifelink is just a nice bonus that helps improve Zoo and other red aggro matchups. Signal Pest cannot wear a Jitte unless it is either pumped by something else, or the Jitte already has counters on it, where Vault Skirge is a beast with a Jitte.

However, I can see where there are both pros and cons for both Signal Pest and Vault Skirge.

My problem with the Pest is that it's only truly good if you have a large swarm; otherwise, making a few small guys +1 on offense isn't very scary for most (aggro) decks.

Signal Pest is not comparable to Steel Overseer. While costing 1 less is relevant, the power level difference is substantial. Pest only makes the aggro swarm +1 on offense on a turn by turn basis (i.e temporarily), and most decks aren't scared of 3/2 Frogmites and 2/1 Memnites. Overseer puts permanent +1/+1 counters on everything. Overseer doesn't create a problem right away... but if you tap him a few times, the opponent is going to be hardpressed when dealing with 5/5 Frogmites, etc.

I would totally advocate for Signal Pest is a more rush-oriented version, especially the Sligh-like red list with Galvanic Blasts and such. Actually, I really like the red version alot, but it's a different deck.

I just want to say that there are a number of ways and variations that can be taken on Affinity, since there is such a large number of good cards that can be used. My goal with my build was to maintain the initial Affinity swarm, while drastically improving my midgame; I want an aggro deck that can still race combo and control, but I want to have a strong midgame to improve midrange matchups. I feel like I've found a really good mix for that goal, and the only thing I'm really questionable about are the numbers (like if I should go down to 3 Tezz, etc).


Etched Champion is another card that I would like to fit in (maybe two of them), because it is really outstanding in certain situations.


Etched Champion is a good card, and I know how much of a pain in the ass he can be to deal with, but 3 mana for a 2/2 is a slow clock without other cards to make him better (like Cranial Plating). Compare him to Master of Etherium, who is an absolute house on his own. For 3 mana, that's the sort of power level that I want. So I'm not saying that he's not an amazing card in Affinity... I just don't have room for him in my list.


I also have to question the use of Jitte. The card has been around since 2005 and I've never seen it in a successful Affinity deck in any format. I think it's too slow at four mana (to cast and equip). If I'm going to play that much mana in Affinity, I'd prefer it be for a card that wins me the game (like Tezz). If you need removal, you might consider splashing red for Galvanic Blast, which is much cheaper and can be aimed at the opponent's dome.


Since 2005, I haven't seen any Affinity lists without Disciple and Ravager... until recently. Alot has changed, and just because Jitte wasn't played in Affinity before, doesn't mean it's a bad card in Affinity. The card pool for what Affinity has available has changed, and the metagame/format has changed. When half of my deck is little creatures that swarm early and then get shitty later, Umezawa's Jitte is exactly the card I want to draw. Jitte's not there simply as removal, it's there as a midgame engine just like Tezzeret. I only run 2, so I don't see the problem.


Finally, I have some suggestions about your mana base. If you are going to run a non-basic, non-artifact land, I would go with Blinkmoth Nexus over Underground Sea. The advantage of having extra evasive artifact creatures seems better than the extra color fixing. You are playing nine rainbow producing artifacts. You should not get color screwed very often and probably do not need the Seas. The other way you could go is to cut some of your mana artifacts. Most Affinity lists run 6-7 instead of 9. Are you sure you need that many?

Maybe in a vacuum, but when I playtested with this deck before, color sources were an issue. Tezzeret wants both U and B, and nothing is worse than having a gamebreaking Master of Etherium in hand that cannot be cast because the deck doesn't have access to U. 9 rainbow artifacts doesn't mean I'm guarunteed to see one, and a single Wasteland on Seat of Synod can trap cards in hand. I think that suggesting Blinkmoth Nexus instead of U Sea has merit, and I wouldn't rule it out, but I just want it to be known that color screw can and does happen with this deck, which is why I've opted for U Seas.

Also yes, I am sure I want that many mana accelerants, because it not only helps me dump my hand faster early (and build up a bigger artifact count on the board), it allows me to more consistently ramp into Master of Etherium, Tezzeret, and Jitte. I've been liking that config, at any rate.

[Justin]

I think that most of your answers are pretty reasonable. I just wanted to say a few more things about Signal Pest. This was a card that I didn't like when it first came out, but it won me over with testing. You mention that Signal Pest is not comparable to Steel Overseer, but I don't totally agree. I look at Pest as a one-mana "lord." It pumps your team +1 every turn that it attacks and it can really ramp up the damage if you get it in multiples. It also has evasion and can pick up Cranial Plating (although you do point out that its zero power is a substantial drawback in a list with Jittes). Pest shines the most when you can drop it on turn one along with multiple "free" creatures. A start like Memnite, Memnite, Frogmite, Pest is pretty nasty. It puts pressure on the opponent right away. I've found that it will usually draw removal from an opponent, probably more than a Vault Skirge will.

[Greenpoe]

Have you tried cramming Chalice into the deck by going:
-3 Springleaf Drum (I know this card wins games, but it's the only card that gets hit by Misstep)
-4 Darksteel Citadel
+4 Ancient Tomb
+3 Chalice of the Void
Granted that makes it harder to drop a Tezz, but he can come down a turn faster, and Chalice+dodging Misstep is pretty cool.

[sco0ter]

I thought about Chalice, too and considered Paradise Mantle as possible substitution for Springleaf Drum. It fixes color and accelerates as well. Only a little bit slower, but I guess, for accelerating into Tezzeret turn 3, it does the same job as Drum.

[Modus Pwnens]

maybe this thread should be merged with the Vial affinity one, no one plays vial anymore, okay, but there are a lot of discussions in that thread that are worth reading.

well anyway, I've been playing with UB Tezz-affinity for a while, i played with it last weekend in a small tourny (about 32 dudes playing there) and finished 2-3-0 =/; I got paired against a T.A., High Tide, sneak attack (that played some "Stompy" things in his list), Stiflenought, and a GW agro.
Of those 5 matches, I lost to T.A., High Tide and the Stiflenought.
I dunno why but Misstep raped me in those, since i always keep mana tight hands, and every Springleaf drum that gets countered makes me unable to cast MoE/Tezz, So i end up with a bunch of Ornithopters, signal pests and memnite against Tarmos, Stalkers and Jaces.

Here is the list that i Played:
UB Tezz
Lands: 17
4 Seat of the Synod
2 Vault of Whispers
2 Blinkmoth Nexus
2 Glimmervoid
4 Darksteel Citadel
3 Ancient tomb

Creatures: 26
4 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Frogmite
2 Master of Etherium
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Etched Champion
4 Signal Pest

Spells: 17
4 Thoughtcast
3 Springleaf Drum
4 Cranial Plating
3 Mox Opal
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas

Sideboard:
3 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Cabal Therapy
3 Perish
3 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Tormod's Crypt

btw, i've been thinking about cutting Ravager too, maybe i will put Vault Skirge in his slot.

PS: Im sorry about my English, its not my native language.

[waSP]

Has anyone been testing Phyrexian Revoker in either the Frogmite or Signal Pest slots? He shuts off Jace and Jitte (and Deed and Pridemage and CC and...).

Signal Pest is fun and all, but I am rarely in a position to win games because of his abilities. Mostly he's just a cheerleader for my better creatures. Vault Skirge seems like the most direct comparison, IMO.

In most cases, I could just wait until I found a Tezz (less than 4?) and Drain Life for the win. Etched Champion is very strong at stalling games and especially Jittes.

I have very, very rarely regretted drawing into Phyrexian Revokers. They are only a liability when you're racing a strong aggro curve. Against everything else, it'll shut something down.

Does anybody have a strong reason Bob isn't universally played in the deck? I'm thinking about cutting Myr Enforcer in my build for him.