Paint Nought

[Weapon X]

Had this idea in my head for a while and finally snagged a set of sagas to build it.

4 Esper sentinel
1 Phyrexian dreadnought
4 hushbringer
4 patchwork automaton
4 Oswald fiddlebender
4 ingenious smith
3 painter’s servant
2 grindstone

4 march of otherworldly light
1 torpor orb
1 soul-guide lantern
1 shadowspear
1 portable hole
1 hope of ghirapur
1 haywire mite
1 ethersworn canonist

3 mox opal
4 Urza’s saga
1 karakas
2 eiganjo, seat of the empire
1 darksteel citadel
4 ancient den
8 snow-covered plains


Sideboard
2 Hanna’s custody
1 currency converter
3 deafening silence
2 stoneforge mystic
1 abolish
1 lion sash
1 kaldra compleat
1 sorcerous spyglass
2 swords to plowshares
1 teshar, ancestor’s apostle


So as a quick gloss over, it’s meant to be an aggro deck with 2 “grow creatures”. And since we can aim deck some generic hate we get some quick lines to dreadnought which is really still the same attack plan. That’s where the beauty of the painter plan shines. It’s a way to win without the combat step then can happen equally fast out of the blue. March works extra nice with painter and gives a strong main deck answer to a lot. Also have access to a saga package to help give some options game 1. Sideboard is still up in the air. I did want to be cute with reverent mantra, and will probably have Hanna’s custody in some number.

For something that stemmed from my desire to revisit the mighty quinn I am quite happy with how this turned out. There are even some cute plays with karakas and hope. Feels powerful in gold fishing and I’m aiming to take this to our next legacy event. Will update around that event. Enjoy!

[FourDogsinaHorseSuit]

https://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?33850-3-5-Colorless-Card-Monte
Poster Daniel Worobec (in addition to myself) Have seen the saga -> dreadnought/grindstone interaction and have been looking into it. I don't know what is the best way to marry the dreadnoughts with the painters but I do, firmly believe one of the missing pieces is chalice, and cavern of souls.

[FTW]

I like this plan.

There's normally anti-synergy combining Painter and Nought (combat step vs mill, non-overlapping pieces) but I like how you tied them together here. You have few copies of the most situational cards (Nought, Grindstone), tutoring them with Saga. No multiple copies of Torpor Orb. If you assemble the wrong artifact pieces, at least they all advance the grow plan.

Since you don't need your own grave, is Relic better than Soul-Guide? Relic slowly eating away is relevant vs DRC, Murktide, Uro, etc.

Does this deck want Mother of Ruins to protect all the creature pieces? (E.g. so Dreadnought doesn't get 2-for-1d with Bolt on Hushbringer)

[Weapon X]

I wasn’t convinced on mother especially when Hanna’s custody exists. As for the graveyard I had plans for Teshar in the 75 somewhere, as again he can turn on otherwise dead cards. The real thing I’ve been struggling with is how “cute” to get. Like hope and karakas is great for the grow plan, even bouncing as Oswald can make karakas add 2 for a march. It’s been gold fishing well so far with some Oops I hit a combo moments. That’s a kind of pressure I like.

@dogs: just looking at what you’re trying to do feels very clunky. You’re trying to make a shell of awkward and then make a deck. This approach was make a deck and see if things can slot in and improve it, and it works. I don’t see a need for chalice with my build; it’s just classic aggro with a combo.

[FTW]

The real thing I’ve been struggling with is how “cute” to get. Like hope and karakas is great for the grow plan, even bouncing as Oswald can make karakas add 2 for a march. It’s been gold fishing well so far with some Oops I hit a combo moments. That’s a kind of pressure I like.

The Hope + Karakas trick looks good. But is the 3rd Karakas too cute?

Do you have enough 0s for Oswald to effectively tutor for that toolbox of 1s? 4th Mox Opal seems good.

What does your SB look like? Any Swords to Plowshares? You've got Marit Lage covered between Karakas and March, but your maindeck can't answer a big Murktide Regent (which also flies over all your ground fatties).
Edit: Dispatch is an option but could be too cute.

You could run Nettlecyst for more beatdown. It's tutorable with Oswald sometimes. It also makes Esper Sentinel dumb in the late game and equips well with Hushbringer.

[Weapon X]

That’s been the real tricky part, what to do with the board. Immediately I was thinking Urza’s targets that I won’t main deck… but that’s really just design process more then anything. I liked the idea of adding stoneforge and another equipment since that just adds to the main beatdown plan. Realistically it’s dreadnought stuff that’s most likely to get cut so that opens a lot of main deck space. Councils judgement is always on my radar as removal seems to be the most needed. It’s also why I’m opting to main deck the most generic one.

I have 2 weeks to sort out this puzzle before I play it.

[Weapon X]

Doing some research into cards… may have a sideboard dialed in with some minor deck updates. I’ll add proposed board to the main and probably just have an updated list in another post as I like to track changes as information is gathered.

Edit: just cut 2 karakas for eiganjo so the main post reflects that. As far as sideboard goes I’m also curious about a few main options: leyline, aether vial, orim’s chant, and pithing needle. I suspect storm and combo in general will be bad so I’m undecided if I should try to race with my own or try to hate and keep beating. That will dictate a lot of choices I think. The other main concern would be chalice of the void seeing as the deck is effectively only cmc 2. Already have answers to it, but should I really worry about it?

[FTW]

Some sideboard ideas...

For SB be prepared to face cards like Meltdown and Force of Vigor. Hanna's Custody sort-of protects against Force of Vigor, but they can Force before Hanna comes down (0cmc), Force in response to Hanna, or use Force to kill Hanna (best case scenario since they can't hit an artifact too). Hanna doesn't protect against Meltdown, Energy Flux, Serenity, Kataki, War's Wage, Seeds of Innocence, Blast Zone, Powder Keg, or Collector Ouphe though. Reverent Mantra has the same problem. It just protects against Force of Vigor and spot removal, but misses the mass artifact hate that the format already runs to fight artifact decks. Hanna at least protects against Boseiju, Who Endures, while Reverent Mantra can't even protect against colorless lands. 1 copy of Hanna seems fine, but you might want to hedge with another plan to beat artifact hate.

You could try to protect your board with mass-indestructible effects or graveyard recursion. Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle could work, though it may be hard to cast and slow to use if they destroy your artifact mana at the same time as everything else. Second Sunrise could be an option, if you have mana up that turn. Grand Crescendo seems to be the cheapest mass-indestructible effect (most are 3 cmc) and isn't completely dead as a topdeck (big bonus).

Also be prepared to have your artifact-heavy mana attacked. Blood Moon, Collector Ouphe, etc. 4x March already helps answer all of them, even if they catch you tapped out. Bonus!

Fast combo could race you. You can very easily board into more Ethersworn Canonist. 1 Pithing Needle is an easy include with your tutor engines.
Edit: Chant is interesting. It could work, especially if you're worried about Canonist being too slow. Decks like TES are usually stone cold to Chant. ANT can fight with discard, but that gives you time to try to reach Canonist or race.

Unsure about more Torpor Orbs. Turn 2 Orb on the draw could be too late to stop Initiative decks, so boarding into copies 6-8 of the same effect may not help the scenarios your maindeck isn't already winning. Maybe your better line is to board into more removal, just remove their creature, and attack back with more threats than they can remove. You're aggro. That should be viable.

Edit2: You definitely want answers to Chalice, but your maindeck already has 4x March so you're in a good position to start. Getting raced by combo, Initiative or Murktide seem like the bigger risks. Or surviving artifact hate.

Edit3: Just noticed Hushbringer shuts off Ingenious Smith's grow ability too. Just be careful of that interaction in games. It might affect sequencing choices.

[Weapon X]

That does seem like the smart route, more removal. Even mantra was just another cute idea because of painter. Granted to hit it one time would make it worthwhile to me :p

Chants I feel are overpowered and underused, it was why I loved Quinn, and a big part of my parfait list.

I don’t think I would want more torpor orbs as I suspect they will be a package that will get trimmed post board if combo is essential.

Teshar is my idea to combat mass artifact removal and feels strong with how the shell looks so far.

Second sunrise was also on my radar. I think if I had more cantrip baubles that would make it a stronger choice. Having it be reactive and proactive could move it up on the list, probably an eggs oriented shell.

I don’t feel to concerned about land hate. The deck has a low cmc and plays a lot of basics. I want to cut utility lands for more basics as it is but that feels wrong.

[FTW]

Good points on all counts.

Looking at the sideboard you recently added above:


Sideboard
[CARDS]2 Hanna’s custody
1 currency converter
3 deafening silence
2 stoneforge mystic
1 abolish
1 lion sash
1 kaldra compleat
1 sorcerous spyglass
2 swords to plowshares
1 teshar, ancestor’s apostle

SB Swords looks good. Maybe even 3-4 copies. Removal + racing seems like your best plan vs Murktide and Initiative. Depending on how aggro you are, maybe you even want Path to Exile instead?

To make room for enough slots against combo and artifact hate, maybe there isn't space for cute stuff. I think there's no room for Stoneforge. At 2 copies it's inconsistent, it only works if you board out the Hushbringers + Dreadnought part, and the package eats up a lot of SB space. Same for Currency Converter. As much as I love that card, it's more of a grindy control card than an aggro card, and has no synergy with the deck engines. You already have enough Saga targets. Cutting those frees up some room.

Then you have room for grave hate. Tormod's Crypt has the most synergy with your deck (aggro grow, fast Metalcraft, Oswald fodder). Crypts + Soul-Guide + 1 Lion Sash?

Pithing Needle seems better than Spyglass, because you can tutor it more easily.

Instead of Abolish... Disenchant or Council's Judgment? When would you need the discard a Plains mode? Maybe you don't need this slot. If you board in Swords, you can save March to answer most artifacts and enchantments.

Another option for combo is to play 1-2 Enlightened Tutor in the board. It's bad in fair games but really boosts consistency of seeing hate vs combo. Then you can trim down on redundant copies (1 Deafening Silence, 1 Tormod's Crypt) and rely on the tutors to help fix them, while they also help assemble your game-winning combos. That may save you SB space too.

[Weapon X]

I have to admit the stoneforge may be on the cute side. It could probably be cut. It’s just hard making those calls without the pressure cooker that are the actual games. I think I may still end up with one as of right now, but as I get matchups in that may change. Realistically they could be enlightened tutors, but I’ll most likely make as broad a board as I can just to cover my bases and see where holes arise.

I kind of want to main the lion over soul guide, but the game 1 tutor potential suggests that is most likely the wrong call. Plus I like the cantrip artifacts. Drawing cards isn’t something white does a lot, it’s actually why I want currency converter.

My spyglass reasoning is mainly because of the peek. Info for combo is great so I would need to weight info vs tutoring most likely.

I chose abolish mainly because of the cmc. The free may come up but ways around chalice seem good especially when my party is 2. Could be council’s judgement instead if planes walkers become a real issue.

[kinda]

This deck isn't designed around Ratchet, Field Medic but I think 1 or 2 would still be very strong.

[Weapon X]

I feel like ratchet is trying to do what Teshar does and not as easily.

[Vacrix]

I think you would really like Tameshi, Reality Architect. Bounce a land, enter Urza's Saga. This could be ideal for playing through Wastelands. It can enter Dreadnought, Tormod's Crypt, etc. It can enter Esper Sentinel as well is good against Delver's burn. Bouncing the land is +1 draw each turn, or better if you want to play more bounce effects for the opponent's side of the turn cycle. Bounce forces opponent on Regent and Delver to play fair magic, tho this won't also trigger Tameshi..

worth noting, Tameshi can make an absurd amount of mana with LED, or Lotus Bloom, if you have a tutor from a non-hand zone. There doesn't seem to be much reason to play LED in this list but Urza's Saga can find it.

Tameshi could be a comparable with Emry, when Tameshi can also enter enchantments like Deafening Silence.

[Weapon X]

Now that’s interesting. I think it’s important to nail down a mono colour list first however. Down the road adding a colour can help fill in holes but I need mono to show where those holes are.

That said, still an interesting potential card. On the radar now!

[Weapon X]

Sideboard update

2 deafening silence
1 enlightened tutor
1 loran of the third path
1 lion sash
1 haywire mite
1 hex parasite
1 heliod’s intervention
1 Phyrexian revoker
1 aether vial
2 swords to plowshares
2 silence
1 kaldra compleat


The odd part is that I think kaldra may have to go. I don’t think it will ever be cast without stoneforge. And I think I should main a hex parasite. It will let me control sagas and kill planeswalkers. With that on my mind I think the main could be tweaked a little more. I feel like the direction is aggro as was intended. Keep beating, threaten a combo, and just hate on the opponents plan.

[FTW]

I assumed Kaldra was part of the Stoneforge package and would be cut if Stoneforge was cut. It's unplayable without Stoneforge. That slot could be a 3rd Swords maybe?

Should Hex Parasite take the maindeck slot of Haywire Mite? You already have 4x March to kill enchantments and artifacts in game 1. How badly do you need Mite in game 1 too, especially with 1 in the SB?

I think you won't need both Heliod's Intervention & Loran either. Loran + Haymire Mite should be enough. Maindeck already has 4x March to disenchant things like Chalice (X dodges Chalice). 7 disenchants is overkill (8 if you have 2 mites?). If you count March as creature removal and worry about not having enough Disenchants, just bring in Swords. Using Swords on creatures frees up March to disenchant. 3rd copy of Swords seems better than 7th disenchant.

In what matchups would you board in Aether Vial? Saga into Vial seems way too slow. If you're using it to resolve creatures vs slow blue, do you even need it? Saga already punishes blue by making 2 Constructs. Making 2 Constructs and then tutoring into anything card-positive should leave you in a good position. That slot could go to Teshar or other recursion to fight artifact hate (that's how blue decks will try to get you anyway, not by Forcing a bear).

[Weapon X]

You’re not wrong. I’m appreciating that making a sideboard is helping to shape the deck. I think I still want to shave a mana source in the main as I have pondered a sol land in the board but I also don’t think they’re good enough here. Teshar does feel like the vial replacement.

[Weapon X]

Think I’m looking at a finalized list all around here:

4 Esper sentinel
1 Phyrexian dreadnought
4 hushbringer
4 patchwork automaton
4 Oswald fiddlebender
4 ingenious smith
3 painter’s servant
2 grindstone

4 march of otherworldly light
1 torpor orb
1 soul-guide lantern
1 shadowspear
1 portable hole
1 hope of ghirapur
1 hex parasite
1 ethersworn canonist

3 mox opal
4 Urza’s saga
1 karakas
2 eiganjo, seat of the empire
1 darksteel citadel
4 ancient den
8 snow-covered plains


Sideboard
2 Deafening silence
1 enlightened tutor
1 loran if the third path
1 lion sash
1 haywire mite
1 phyrexian revoker
3 swords to plowshares
2 teshar, ancestor’s apostle
3 orim’s chant

[FTW]

Deck looks tight.

Do you have enough grave hate though? Maybe shave 1 Chant for 1 Tormod's Crypt or Grafdigger's Cage.

[Weapon X]

2 feels like enough, at least locally anyway. Chant just always feels good. I kind of want to go to 4.

And thanks for helping me to get past the silly ideas. I usually stick to them a lot longer when I clearly shouldn’t.

[Weapon X]

Starting to ponder one change; namely swap a few lands for wasteland and add a crucible. To be fair the reason I didn’t do this is because I think it’s possible to win fast so it’s unnecessary to play mana denial. And to further that, I think more darksteel citadels would probably add more then wasteland does.

Thoughts?

[Fox]

Starting to ponder one change; namely swap a few lands for wasteland and add a crucible. To be fair the reason I didn’t do this is because I think it’s possible to win fast so it’s unnecessary to play mana denial. And to further that, I think more darksteel citadels would probably add more then wasteland does.

Thoughts?

Karn exists so you don't have to play dead cards (Crucible) in the main. The best backup plan for yolo-wishing Liquimetal is nuking basics with March.

This has been discussed extensively in the parfait thread. The tldr is that if you're playing legacy and you want Crucible, put it in the board and main Karn. The only exception is you want a different card name for Loam b/c your deck is called RG Lands.

[Weapon X]

It’s not dead here in the main though. Half of the lands are already dead to themselves or to chain with Oswald. You’ve really lost me with your comments otherwise.

[Fox]

It’s not dead here in the main though. Half of the lands are already dead to themselves or to chain with Oswald. You’ve really lost me with your comments otherwise.

So here's how this goes:
1-you cast Crucible in 3rd mana and lose your turn (land drop already burned). Either you got Dazed or gg'd by Ending.
2-you wait another turn, but leave a land drop open. You again lose to Daze, but you beat Ending b/c you got something out of your card before it got hit an otherwise clean 1-for-1.
3-you say "but not every deck plays Daze or Ending" and you lose b/c Crucible really doesn't have text against the decks that lack these cards: artifact-based c-c-c-combo.

So if you're going to lose to Daze, play the card which doubly-beats Ending (ensures value and also outside the range of most Ending decks which stop at 3 colors) and also hits artifact combo - including: the mirror.

Also Karn wish Liquimetal and care not at all if they kill Karn b/c coated basics die to March. You wanted mana kill? This is how you do it competitively.

Another card that is almost always strictly more-winning than Crucible is Sevinne's Reclamation. Pretty much the same value without walking into the 1-for-1. However, the issue Sevinne's runs into is that, like Crucible, it doesn't add control (Karn passive does).

The problem of decks like this is walking into really bad scenarios without effects that circumvent these bad things from happening to you. Adding variance (aka dead topdecks aka Crucible) b/c you can "go big" really only works if you're actually going big. Unlike RG Lands, you can't combo Crucible into Exploration effects.

[FTW]

Starting to ponder one change; namely swap a few lands for wasteland and add a crucible. To be fair the reason I didn’t do this is because I think it’s possible to win fast so it’s unnecessary to play mana denial. And to further that, I think more darksteel citadels would probably add more then wasteland does.

Thoughts?

What lands would you swap?

Plains/Den? Bad idea. You need a minimum number of white sources to reliably cast your cards.

Wasteland fights for colorless slots. But Saga and Darksteel have more synergy with your deck. There's no room for Wasteland.

Either Karn or Crucible seem like a bad idea here. You're a low-land aggro deck. Crucible+Waste isn't really where you want to be. That would fit a more controlling deck or a more taxing deck (Thalia, etc). Karn could be good with the Painter combo side, but do you have the mana to cast it? Ancient Tomb would take you in a different direction.

[Weapon X]

@fox Why are you casting it? The whole idea is that Oswald would find it if needed. A point you seem to be ignoring.

@ftw Karn isn’t even a consideration here. Even crucible is more that I think I’d like 1 cmc 3 artifact just because of the excess of 2 drops for Oswald. By no means do I think this necessary to do, but I am curious if it can open up another avenue for the deck. Wasteland/crucible being the first to come to mind. I think plains, opal, and darkstee were my first thoughts, but not convinced it’s worth it. But as a thought experiment I do think there could be value ina 3 cmc artifact.

[FTW]

Ah I see the purpose now.

I think Plains and Opal are both too important to cut. Both tap for W and help cast that turn 1 Esper Sentinel. Opal accelerates you and is a 0 for Oswald. Opal is your only green source for Haywire Mite. High Plains count gives you resilience against Blood Moon or Collector Ouphe turning off your mana. Darksteel is the safest cut for mana stability, but being indestructible and an artifact has higher synergy with your deck than Wasteland, so Darksteel seems better. You're not a Thalia deck. I think you don't need Wasteland.

The first 3 I'd consider is Nettlecyst. More X/X beatdown that also turns your extra bears into X/X beatdown. That's a 3 that will help when you're flooded on mana or flooded on 2s without attack power.

[Weapon X]

You know what, I actually really like that. I get flooded sometimes goldfishing and it feels so bad; in part that’s why I wanted to cut a land. I wasn’t even thinking about nettlecyst, but that feels like the one of I want.

[Weapon X]

Pulling the pin on it… I cut a hushbringer and the darksteel citadel for a nettlecyst and darkmoss bridge.

Sadly I won’t get to play it this weekend as the tournament has moved due to Easter.

[Weapon X]

Winner winner chicken dinner! The delayed tournament finally happened and I ended up second due to my first round draw.

The aggro/construct game was very much the main victory plan throughout the night. That said I did have dreadnought and painter wins as well. Getting some painter shenanigans were probably the highlights for me. Almost got to try hex parasite with saga. Sadly it only shrunk a murktide regent. Biggest minus was the draw; should have had a nought swinging for lethal on turn 5 but I mixed up turn numbers.

Tl;dr This deck is the real deal. Would like to see it gain at least one more way to draw cards. When I drew duds those games got long, when I drew gas they end fast.

[FTW]

Winner winner chicken dinner! The delayed tournament finally happened and I ended up second due to my first round draw.

Great result! Congrats!


The aggro/construct game was very much the main victory plan throughout the night. That said I did have dreadnought and painter wins as well. Getting some painter shenanigans were probably the highlights for me. Almost got to try hex parasite with saga. Sadly it only shrunk a murktide regent. Biggest minus was the draw; should have had a nought swinging for lethal on turn 5 but I mixed up turn numbers.


How good did you find the Dreadnought side?

A while back I tested a version that cut the Dreadnought package for more X/X beatdown. I found the aggro plan was overperforming, while Hushbringer on its own can be underwhelming in many matchups. It also bugged me that casting Hushbringer meant spending 2 mana on a non-artifact that didn't trigger anything else. The X/Xs often got to 9/9 or 10/10, almost Dreadnought-sized without a 2-card combo. 4 Saga + 4 Nettlecyst is a lot of X/Xs. So I tried a version cutting the Dreadnought package to go up to 4 Nettlecyst.

This is what I tested.

//Creatures: 27
4 Esper Sentinel
1 Hex Parasite
4 Ingenious Smith
4 Patchwork Automaton
4 Oswald Fiddlebender
3 Painter's Servant
3 Ethersworn Canonist
4 Nettlecyst

//Spells: 4
4 March of Otherworldly Light

//Artifacts: 7
2 Grindstone
2 Portable Hole
1 Retrofitter Foundry
1 Shadowspear
1 Soul-Guide Lantern

//Mana: 22
4 Mox Opal
4 Urza's Saga
4 Ancient Den
7 Plains
1 Karakas
1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
1 Darksteel Citadel

//Sideboard: 15
3 Swords to Plowshares
2 Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle
2 Enlightened Tutor
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Pithing Needle
1 Haywire Mite
1 Deafening Silence
1 Lion Sash
1 Torpor Orb
1 Hanna's Custody
1 Loran of the Third Path


I didn't post it earlier because it's no longer "Paint Nought". But it preserves most of the deck plan. Now with WPA banned, maybe you won't miss Hushbringer? It depends if your meta is still full of Initiative and Cephalid Breakfast, or if they're on other things like Delver, Shadow and combo.

I also went up to 3 maindeck Canonist and 2 Portable Hole to improve the interaction with faster decks in Game 1. Canonist's asymmetry is very strong in many matchups. Oswald can turn a redundant Canonist/Painter into Nettlecyst.

Retrofitter gave me an "aggro" target for Saga when I just wanted more bodies than they have answers. Creating tokens triggers Ingenious Smith! (but not Patchwork Automaton) Tokens can sacrifice to Oswald or be equipped by Nettlecyst.

Between Retrofitter and more Nettlecysts, it gave more mana sinks to help when you flood and run out of gas.


Tl;dr This deck is the real deal. Would like to see it gain at least one more way to draw cards. When I drew duds those games got long, when I drew gas they end fast.

Unfortunately card draw can still be an issue. I thought about blue splash for
Thought Monitor
Emry, Lurker of the Loch
Razortide Bridge
However that really changes the direction of the deck. I didn't see a good answer in mono W.

[Weapon X]

I found the small dreadnought package to be enough. Sometimes it just immediately triples your damage output. Othertimes the rest of the package was providing some random hate. It honestly felt like the right amount of cards. The original 4 hushbringer was too many, but 3 and orb feels perfect. The incidental life gain from hushbringer proved to be helpful at times. So all that said I think 3/1/1 is perfect for such a tutorable package.

I think I’ve had some card draw ideas, simplest being baubles, but I think it may just have to be a sacrifice.

[FTW]

Fair enough. Have you tried just adding more Nettlecysts, even keeping the Dreadnought package?

I tested this today. It beat up on UR Delver and Elves.


//Creatures: 27
4 Esper Sentinel
1 Phyrexian Dreadnought
4 Oswald Fiddlebender
4 Ingenious Smith
3 Patchwork Automaton
3 Painter's Servant
3 Hushbringer
1 Ethersworn Canonist
4 Nettlecyst

//Spells: 4
4 March of Otherworldly Light

//Artifacts: 7
2 Grindstone
2 Portable Hole
1 Shadowspear
1 Soul-Guide Lantern
1 Torpor Orb

//Mana: 22
4 Mox Opal
4 Urza's Saga
4 Ancient Den
7 Plains
1 Karakas
1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
1 Darksteel Citadel

//Sideboard: 15
3 Swords to Plowshares
2 Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle
2 Enlightened Tutor
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Pithing Needle
1 Haywire Mite
1 Hex Parasite
1 Deafening Silence
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Lion Sash
1 Hanna's Custody


Nettlecyst has been quite strong for me in both builds. It increases the threat count and gives you more to do when you run out of gas. Lion Sash too. Equipping Esper Sentinel or Hushbringer are strong plays.

[Vacrix]

How about The Mycosynth Gardens to copy Dreadnought? The whole line costs about 3 mana, and its vulnerable to Wasteland. 1c + 1t: + (-1c virtual mana for the tapped land). Perhaps for a green splash? Haywire Mite and Urza's Saga each bin for 2 card types in the yard to support Traverse the Ulvenwald, which can find Phyrexian Dreadnought, or The Mycosynth Gardens, or Karakas.

The Mycosynth Gardens can also dodge Wasteland by changing card types, but I would think this is an uncommon application

Traverse is comparable to Crop Rotation without the additional cost. when Traverse can also find Wasteland, recover from Wasteland, or find Karakas early I would think it invaluable in a green splash. Building around Traverse could be risky though considering it needs a fed yard, or it could be boarded out.

There are a number of artifacts it doesn't copy well like Mox Opal, it complements pieces like Patchwork Automaton, Esper Sentinel, maybe Thorn of Amethyst. It could function as pseudo protection for some pieces, ie. copy Ethersworn Canonist in response to removal.

Swift Reconfiguration can change Dreadnought's cards type so it can avoid being sacrificed to its trigger, and one could then remove the Swift Reconfiguration. I'm not sure that there is an ideal way to get rid of it tho as even Engineered Explosives set to 1 also shoots Dreadnought. Swift Reconfiguration can cause opposing removal to lose targets, ideally temporarily in a local target range, and it can also enchant an opponent's creature as an instant speed pseudo Pacifism. Repeal could be ideal, cantrip + use Swift Reconfiguration again to turn off an opponent's creature when also returning Dreadnought to its normal card types.

[Fox]

Phyrexian Dreadnought looks for it's own card name as the default sacrifice. It does not care what it's own card type is. Swift Reconfig is not Stifle.

[Weapon X]

Oh yeah… court of grace or similar was my main idea for card draw. The 4 mana zone is a big ask for that, but considering that mystic forge felt the strongest and was my main candidate. Just not sure if it’s worth inclusion. If I were to add something I think I’d lose an Oswald. 4 did feel like too many.

[FTW]

Some other card draw options to consider:

Equipment + Esper Sentinel (opponent cannot pay tax)
Currency Converter
Eye of Vecna
Glimmer Lens
Halo Fountain
Staff of the Storyteller
Smuggler's Copter
Tocasia's Welcome
Welcoming Vampire

Court of Grace is a good card but more of a control card. Might be slow for aggro.

Edit: Of course Skullclamp is banned.

[Weapon X]

I do recall considering eye of vecna. Mystic forge feels like the best answer though, again as a 1 off. The virtual card draw is all I’d really require to get back to some gas. Next time I’ll have to try it, until then other old brews I’ve made that I’m trying to revive.

[FTW]

ThrabenU recently ran a similar deck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT51X2lii7k

Mono W Painter. A lot of the same tech, without the Dreadnought stuff and less aggro.


//Lands: 23
4 Urza's Saga
4 Ancient Den
2 Karakas
2 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
6 Plains
4 Wasteland
1 Horizon Canopy

//Artifacts: 13
1 Mox Opal
3 Aether Vial
3 Grindstone
2 Portable Hole
1 Pithing Needle
1 Retrofitter Foundry
1 Soul-Guide Lantern
1 Crucible of Worlds

//Creatures: 24
4 Esper Sentinel
3 Mother of Runes
1 Skrelv, Defector Mite
1 Hope of Ghirapur
4 Ingenious Smith
4 Oswald Fiddlebender
4 Painter's Servant
3 Ethersworn Canonist

//Sideboard: 15
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 March of Otherworldly Light
2 Hushbringer
2 Hallowed Moonlight
2 Soul-Guide Lantern
3 Leyline of the Void

[Weapon X]

Honestly I don’t put much faith into what he does after he played my parfait list. That said there are a variety of mono white decks that are either painter or dreadnought right now. Being able to play them alongside an aggro plan, notably with patchwork automaton, is where I was breaking ground. I think the aggro plan with a different angle combo of some sort is one of my favourite things to do. Being able to attack multiple axis is strong. This is also why I felt trimming the dreadnought plan becomes the right call since it is already what the deck is doing, but being able to do it faster is why it should be included.

Honestly I’m surprised he’s not playing a shadowspear at a minimum to strengthen the sentinels.

[Weapon X]

Why? Chalice with an aggressively costed plan feels like a non-bo. Trinisphere would suit that kind of thing better.

[FourDogsinaHorseSuit]

Why? Chalice with an aggressively costed plan feels like a non-bo. Trinisphere would suit that kind of thing better.

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