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@Hanni
Your list has piqued my interest. I'm already running sfm in my affinity list along with batterskull, jitte, and of course plating. Also, I've considered expanding on the equipment package. Lasty, the fact you still included Tezz, such an awesome PW for affinity, has me sold on trying out a similar list.
Tezzeret? I think you misread something :P There's no Tezz in my build. It's mono white...Quote:
Today, 07:31 PMrxavage
@Hanni
Your list has piqued my interest. I'm already running sfm in my affinity list along with batterskull, jitte, and of course plating. Also, I've considered expanding on the equipment package. Lasty, the fact you still included Tezz, such an awesome PW for affinity, has me sold on trying out a similar list.
You're right i misread that somehow even thought I read it was monoW, sorry. I still want to check it out thought.
I just discovered an interesting interaction during playtesting. With Puresteel and a single Paradise Mantle, the deck can effectively tap down multiple creatures for mana. I had a game where I had double Puresteel and a Mantle, drew into a Swiftboots, chained a few equips into multiple Flayer Husks, tapping the Germs for mana and drawing a boatload of cards. I think I drew somewhere in the ballpark of 12 cards, made a bunch of mana, and swung with a triple Plated + a bazillion other equips Skirge for an insane amount of overkill damage for the win. :D
I recently decided to get into the whole Legacy scene, and since Mirrodin was one of my favorite blocks I went with Affinity. After testing a few different things I'm finally settled into an Esper build. So far it is:
Land
4x Glimmervoid
4x Seat of the Synod
4x Vault of Whispers
4x Ancient Den
1x Academy Ruins
Creatures
4x Arcbound Ravager
4x Memnite
4x Ornithopter
4x Disciple of the Vault
4x Vault Skirge
3x Master of Etherium
Mana Accel
3x Mox Opal
3x Springleaf Drum
Equipment
3x Cranial Plating
Draw/Removal
4x Thoughtcast
3x Brainstorm
4x Dispatch
Sideboard
4x Ethersworn Canonist
3x Krosan Grip
4x Tormod's Crypt
2x Pithing Needle
2x Engineered Explosives
I really like this build but I have a few things I'm not sure about.
1.) Is Disciple of the Vault still a relevant creature to run with Arcbound Ravager?
2.) Are Pithing Needle and Engineered Explosives good choices as sideboard options for this deck?
Thanks in advance for anyone with feedback!
@RumZ12
I would take out Disciple, Master of Etherium, Dispatch and Brain storm.
You are cluttering your build with Brain Storm and Dispatch, they seem nice, I have tried them but honestly the deck doesnt want or need to do that. You are never going to run into a creature that needs to be Dispatched, that you just cant chump block, and the occasion that you do, a Dispatch will not help you anyway.
Master of Etherium costs 3 and the only good 3 slot is Etched Champion, size does not matter when it comes to pro all colors. the +1/+1 is nice, but it will just get path'd anyway. if you really want to run Dispatch, and have a +1/+1 go with a tempered steel run anyway.
Ravagers, I used to run them, I love the card, but I was thinking about it one day, and I could not remember a time that Ravager won me a game let alone helped with a match, but I did remember many times they cost me games and matches, then I traded them for Inkmoth Nexus and have never been happier for a trade.
Signal Pest is actually a lot better than Master of Etherium too, it gives all attackers +1/+0 and can only be blocked with flying or reach, also it only costs one to cast.
I am a firm believer in Cranial Plating and Springleaf Drum taking up 8 slots in your deck. especially Plating being 4 of, you absolutely want to find it every single game, 3 of them.
I've been playing around with this list recently:
4x Frogmite
4x Ornithopter
4x Memnite
4x Signal Pest
4x Steel Overseer
4x Vault Skirge
3x Etched Champion
4x Galvanic Blast
3x Shrapnel Blast
4x Cranial Plating
4x Springleaf Drum
3x Mox Opal
4x Blinkmoth Nexus
4x Great Furnace
4x Vault of Whispers
3x Inkmoth Nexus
It's based heavily off of Modern Affinity lists that I've looked at. I really like the mono red feel.
Solid looking list, man. Etched Champion seems a little out of place though, in a deck where you want to be as aggressive as possible. 3 mana for a 2/2, regardless of being pro colors and a great Plating-wearer, seems clunky. I have yet to try the build, so maybe I'm wrong.
I'd really like to see Atog and Disciple in that list, too. Those cards are extremely aggressive for Redfinnity.
Etched Champion is a must have. It is way to powerful, most of the creatures in Affinity are irrelevant in combat. they are small and easily destroyed. Etched Champion is the one card that is very difficult to deal with. no less than 3, I always run 4. game winner...
Glad someone liked the deck! I'll try out the Atogs and Disciples, but I'm not sure what else I'd cut to put both in. Maybe Ravagers might be better? Or just Atog or Ravager and no Disciple? Lots of things to try. I was also pondering Arcbound Worker as another weenie artifact dude that has a useful ability, so that could be another option too.
Arcbound Ravager is probably better than Atog, for the fact that it's an artifact to boost Cranial Plating, and the pump sticks around. I like Atog for the fact that you can goldfish really fast with him, but Ravager is likely the better creature.
Ravager + Disciple seems tailor made for a Sligh Affinity deck, though. I mean, each Disciple makes Shrapnel Blast hit for 1 more, and Ravager + Disciple can insta-kill an opponent once they get low on life.
Etched Champion is a must have in some builds of Affinity, like the Tezzeret lists, but I don't think it's a must have in a Sligh build like Zupponn posted. 3 mana for a 2/2 is really bad aggressively, regardless if he's a great Plating-carrier or not.Quote:
Etched Champion is a must have. It is way to powerful, most of the creatures in Affinity are irrelevant in combat. they are small and easily destroyed. Etched Champion is the one card that is very difficult to deal with. no less than 3, I always run 4. game winner...
The time has come and gone for Atog/Ravager. There's too much removal in the format, and they're exponentially worse in the deck without Disciple. Even with Disciple, I think traditional Ravager-Affinity isn't really viable in this format. It's too all-in when creatures are getting bigger each year and decks have increasingly more removal at their disposal.
I've been playing with the Tezzeret lists on MWS for a while:
4 Seat of the Synod
2 Glimmervoid
4 Great Furnace
2 City of Traitors
3 Vault of Whispers
4 Etched Champion
4 Master of Etherium
4 Frogmite
4 Signal Pest
4 Ornithopter
4 Memnite
1 Vault Skirge
4 Thoughtcast
4 Cranial Plating
4 Springleaf Drum
4 Mox Opal
4 Galvanic Blast
4 Mindbreak Trap
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2 Pithing Needle
3 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Cursed Totem
Look ma, I still have room for FOUR Galvanic Blasts! As much as I think Tezzeret is the shit, my goal in g1 is to win as fast as possible, and I think Galvanic Blast aids this. The original deck I netdecked for this list had 3 Dismember in the sb, but I just think Blast does the same thing as a removal spell, except it can just win games.
Note the flex slot of Vault Skirge. At first I put in Arcbound Ravager, but I changed it to Myr Enforcer because I think Ravager sucks now, plus it doesn't interact with Cursed Totem very well. Myr Enforcer was really good for a while and I haven't been disappointed by it. However, I just decided today to cut it for Skirge because I could use another cheap flier and I think the lifelink is a good ace-in-the-hole I could use.
The list we were discussing wasn't traditional Affinity, though. It was a hyper aggressive red Sligh variation. Ravager + Disciple is still really, really strong in that build. I agree that Atog is not as good as Ravager. Also, alot of decks in the format right now are running Lightning Bolt and Dismember as removal, and Ravager dodges those just fine. Obviously you don't start sac'ing permanents to Ravager unless you have a Disciple down, against a deck packing Swords/Path, and only as the killing blow or in response to something getting destroyed.Quote:
The time has come and gone for Atog/Ravager. There's too much removal in the format, and they're exponentially worse in the deck without Disciple. Even with Disciple, I think traditional Ravager-Affinity isn't really viable in this format. It's too all-in when creatures are getting bigger each year and decks have increasingly more removal at their disposal.
Sure, in that build, Ravager + Disciple is pretty good. I just think in general the Sligh approach isn't really viable, because it loses gas fast, especially with no Thoughtcasts.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hanni
I built sort of a budget(only used cards i owned) version recently and its been testing surprisingly well I'm beating decks i normally couldn't with the standard affinity build and i win 9 out of 10 mirror matches.
The build looks like this:
4x ancient den
4x great furnace
4x seat of the synod
2x city of brass
2x glimmervoid
0-1x contested war zone
3x mox opal
3x frogmite
4x vault skirge
2x ornithopter
4x memnite
4x signal pest
2x stoneforge mystic
3x master of Etherium
2-3?x etched champion
4x cranial plating
4x galvanic blast
4x dispatch
4x thoughtcast
Why run so much removal? I thought the same too until i tested it. The removal is 80% of the reason this deck has been testing so well for me. Imperial painter, elf, merfolk, mirror, goblin, and maverick all seemed to be winnable matches but were a struggle at times and seemed sometimes entirely dependent on the die roll but when i added 4 galvanic and 4 dispatch i did much better in these match ups.
why no spingleaf drum and aether vial? simply put i dont own them. the deck doesn't seem to have problems though with 11 chances to hit on each mana source . Through a lot of play testing it was rare that i ran into any situations where i didn't have the color i needed.
why no ravager and disciple of the vault- I didn't feel like they fit in this build. there were other cards like vault skirge and etched champion that i felt worked much better in those spots.
anyway i plan on taking this to a few local tournaments where combo isn't a big thing. any suggestions you have would be much appreciated.
Should i just invest in four ravagers , build glimpse affinity or just stick with what I've got?
Yes, some of those matchups are miserable, such as Painter and elves. But packing more 1-for-1 removal MD isn't going to help. If you really want to shore up those matchups you need strong SB removal that translates into card advantage, the physical kind or the virtual kind.Quote:
Originally Posted by barackielsackiss
If you're worried about tribal, ala Elves/Folk/Goblins, try Whipflare. Much more powerful than Dispatch and it's in red, so you can keep it in with Galvanic Blast. Whipflare isn't bad against Maverick either, since it can at least hit Stoneforge, but you're gonna need some luck to have Whipflare in hand before Mystic untaps.
Specifically against Elves, try Cursed Totem. First, it stops the Glimpse combo cold. A lot of their mana comes from Elves, so with Cursed Totem, you effectively shut off a large portion of their manabase alone! I tried Whipflare for a bit against them, but they can still recover. Moreover, they can sometimes blank your Whipflare with a huge Joraga War-caller. You can say that Dispatch can dispatch (!) Joraga, but like I said, you need stronger removal, and Cursed Totem is the best tool I've found to be devastating against Elves.
Cursed Totem is good against Maverick since almost all their creatures besides Goyf have mana abilities, including Dryad Arbor (don't forget, it can't tap for mana under Totem). It's actually really fucking effective, since it's self-protected from Qasali Pridemage.
Against Painter, you want 2 Pithing Needle, and you always want to name Grindstone. Cast all your Needles immediately, naming Grindstone. 1 Needle isn't gg, since they can drop Painter and Pyroblast. Two means you're in good hands, seeing as how you can bait their Pyroblast with Galvanic Blast targeting Painter. I've done it before.
Luckily for you, Whipflare, Cursed Totem and Pithing Needle are relatively cheap. SCG has Whipflare for $1.50, Cursed Totem for <$1, and Pithing Needle for $3. I would just get 2 of each.
LOL Springleaf Drum isn't used just for color fixing, it's also for increasing affinity for artifacts! By using it with Memnite or Thopter, it improves your consistency of hitting turn 1 Frogmite and it can help you cast Etched Champion and Master of Etheirum on turn 2! It's a $0.75 common. Get four.Quote:
why no spingleaf drum and aether vial? simply put i dont own them. the deck doesn't seem to have problems though with 11 chances to hit on each mana source . Through a lot of play testing it was rare that i ran into any situations where i didn't have the color i needed.
Vial is obsolete.
@ hanni:
in your mono-white list, is Batterskull really needed, i mean, you are the aggrodeck, vault skirge provides livelink allready if needed plus batterskull is not that big of a wall to stop a goyf or knight, or do you regularily have enough mana to bounce it and replay it?
also why no etched champion, IMO he would be just awesome in a epuipmentheavy list
i definitely love this list, its beautifull, i really had enough of all the standard lists, so your list is quite refreshing and picked my intrest again, plus now i am again intrested in affinity^^
I added the Batterskull just out of habit.
To be honest, I very rarely fetch it up. Most of the time, Jitte or Plating are just straight up better.
Etched Champion costs 3 mana for a 2/2 pro colors, which is cool, but I'm already running Mother of Runes, so I'm not sure that I'd want him. If I was going to fit in another creature, I'd Auriok Edgewright or Kor Duelist, because those guys can literally kill an opponent in 1-2 turns with a Jitte or Plating.
I would actually prefer Etched Champion over both of the other 2 creatures simply because he can passby any blocker, ( ok Mother of Runes does provide the same thing but it not like you will allways have a Mother in play)
i actually was thinking of either replacing mother of runes in that list for echted champions or adding the echted champions as an additional threat in the slots that are not extremely needed
since the list allready has lots of creatures with evasion and therefore, at least in my thought-process mother should not be that needed, so why not add another threat that is hard to deal with
either way i think that ancient tomb would fit the manabase better than blinkmoth nexus, speeding up the deck a bit, and life should not be an issue with 4 skirges, + jitte + possibly batterskull
what are your thoughts about it?
Mother of Runes protects all of my creatures, and is a 1 drop. Protecting Puresteel Paladin has been great. Protecting Vault Skirge has also won me alot of matchups. I like Etched Champion in U/B Affinity because it's alot easier for that deck to make 3 mana early, but Paradise Mantle is alot slower at making mana than Springleaf Drum is. I don't know... he could be good here, I didn't really test him much. I still like Mother of Runes in this deck.
EDIT: Ancient Tomb could be decent, I haven't tested it. I like that Blinkmoth can give me another artifact early if I need to activate Opal to hit WW for Paladin, and I like that he's another evasive flier to carry a Plating. He's also decent against control decks. Blinkmoth is not an MVP for the deck though, so it could be dropped.
Hi there, i just got all the missing pieces for my affinity version, which i plan to play in the future.
The build looks like the following:
3 Ornithopter
4 Memnite
4 Vault Skirge
4 Frogmite
4 Etched Champion
4 Cranial Plating
3 Mox Opal
4 Thoughtcast
3 Darksteel Citadel
3 Springleaf Drum
2 Seat of the Synod
3 Ancient Den
3 Tree of Tales
4 Glimpse of Nature
4 Glint Hawk
1 Plains
1 Forest
3 Stoneforge Mystic
3 City of Brass
SB: 3 Ethersworn Canonist
SB: 3 Dispatch
SB: 3 Pithing Needle
SB: 2 Ancient Grudge
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 2 Relic of Progenitus
(Copy & pasted right out of the .dec) before you wonder, i find 3 Stoneforges enough, but testing 4 also. Don't know about that, at the moment i own only 3 so that is what i should concentrate on i think.
Also the Basiclands are in for path to exile and wasteland screws, which can happen quite often in my area. (look at the decks i'll mention later)
I like that build, it can be amazingly fast, got a good draw, which is crucial in a deck that runs out of gas that easily, but on the other side i never won against Stoneblade or Nic Fit in the test games on Cockatrice.
Especially Nic Fit is a matchup i should improve the list for, as it is played quite often in my area, along with Dredge, Canadian, Reanimator and Canadian.
Any suggestions to improve those matchups?
Can you explain to me the merit of using Glimpse Affinity? It seems the most you can do is create a overwhelming board presence that threatens for lethal next turn, and even then you're overwhelming board presence contains 7 Kobolds + 0 Signal Pests... I'd at least cut the Stoneforges for Signal Pest if you're going to stick to using Glimpse.
Also, why on earth would you care about fetching basics from your opponent's Path? Running basics defeats plan A of the deck, which is to win games via explosives hands.
Just like with glimpse elves u shouldn't just think of glimpse as a combo enabler, but as a way to apply pressure and still pass the turn with a grip full of cards in case something bad happens. As for running basics. I could see it being fine if u know your metta has a lot of paths...seems more relavent in modern than legacy though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shawon
I disagree on what to cut actually. Stoneforges are going to be better than Etched Champion as you have plenty of bodies to interact with SFM. Without SFM, Champion is just 3 mana for a 2/2 that can't die. Might as well be playing Mother of Runes in that slot.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shawon
Speaking of which.. I'm hoping that Hanni's list gets more attention. Its much better than the other affinity variants people are playing. Puresteel Paladin can be as explosive as Glimpse with Paradise Mantle and its a 2/2 body. The 0 equip cost makes it a fantastic card because you won't spend an entire turn on equip costs. Also, Mother of Runes is powerful along side Cranial plating. Considering all the UR Delver and RUG Tempo running around, you can expect that your opponent will have removal to slow you down.
actually i have to agree, hannis list might seem unusual for an affinity build and not immideately recognized as such, but i definitely have to say allready just after a little bit of testing with the list i think the list is awesome, can apply pressure just as easily compared to other affinity builds, and IMO it solves one big problem of affinity decks not having a drawengine, outside maybe glimpse, and thus having an awefull mid-lategame
i discarded my affinity long ago, even if it was my first deck, because of that reason as my playstyle changed over time but i think that the magor upside to hannis list is the ability to adapt. you do not have to go completely "all in" like other affinitys have to
with the weenie creatures in the list you have a way to secure your boardposition while applying pressure (mother of runes, bigger equipment package with swords of protection/protection)
i hope my thought were clear and comprehendible
Stoneforge is just awesome, it can be the 7th or 8th Cranial Plating, cheat it into the game against control and gives you a better chance at reaching your most valuable card. So why wouldn't i want it in the deck? Dunno what you mean with kobolds, as memnite can atleast go for 1 damage, frogmites for 2. Ornithopter ok, they don't do much without platings, that's why i cutted them down.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shawon
About basics. Like i said, there are a lot of decks playing path to exile, atleast in sb and quite a good amount of nic fit. Why should i let Nic fit go fetch their basics and get a huge Mana Boost from it, while i'm even more fucked up then, because i'm at a land disadvantage? I atleast want my fair share of Veteran Explorer and Paths. I got it hard with Deed, especially with almost only Artifact Lands. I would like to be atleast get a chance to be able to recover from such a Veteran Explorer into Deed gameplay...
Btw, i modified my list from a SCG Tournament, where affinity got the 2nd place with a similar list as mine not to long ago.
Maybe i should try out a hybrid build of my list and the puresteel affinity list of hanni. (which needs to be invented first :D will do that later)
Why wouldn't you want Mystic in your deck? Uh, because if your only equipment is Plating, then Stoneforge just is a slower Plating? That's not what I really want to talk about though...Quote:
Originally Posted by Caligola
I still don't get why Glimpse is used in the deck, and why a Glimpse variant is viable, or more viable than other Affinity builds.
So you're changing your manabase all because of a situational SB card (Path) that you might not even see? Not all Nic Fits splash white, and if they did, they would probably run 4 Swords first, no?Quote:
About basics. Like i said, there are a lot of decks playing path to exile, atleast in sb and quite a good amount of nic fit. Why should i let Nic fit go fetch their basics and get a huge Mana Boost from it, while i'm even more fucked up then, because i'm at a land disadvantage? I atleast want my fair share of Veteran Explorer and Paths. I got it hard with Deed, especially with almost only Artifact Lands. I would like to be atleast get a chance to be able to recover from such a Veteran Explorer into Deed gameplay...
Regardless, what do you care more about, fetching basics or winning? You're trying too hard to interact with your opponent, and you're trying to interact using one of the least interactive non-combo decks in the format.
@Shawon
Glimpse of Nature is good in affinity because its G, draw 4 or 5 cards. An overwhelming board position isn't a bad thing, namely because the advent of Mox Opal enables you to achieve this position as early as the first turn. Most of affinity is just a bunch of Kobolds anyway, theres no way to get around that. Most of your wins ride on the back of Plating.. all the more reason to run SFM. What surprises me is the lists playing Etched Champion. Its way too slow to be affinity material.
I think Etched Champion is great in the builds that run a more midrange gameplan with Tezzeret and Master of Etherium. Especially the Esper build, with SFM. You're not playing the all in spit out a bunch of Kobolds gameplan, you're playing the midrange gameplan, with tons of card advantage and tons of must-answer bombs. In that deck, Etched Champion is really good.
In a Glimpse build, or a Sligh build, I agree that Champion is too slow. He could be good in my Puresteel build, but I already have Mother of Runes, fliers, and Swiftboots for that.
I just think Glimpse is a terrible topdeck if you're going aggro and dropping everything to apply pressure. Glimpse is inconsistent to me, and it doesn't seem worth to add a non-artifact card in Affinity if it doesn't guarantee you consistency. Furthermore, even if the deck draws 4-5 cards off of Glimpse, the deck runs shitty cards to support Glimpse, such as Glint Hawk, so you're just going to draw shittier cards not named Cranial Plating off of Glimpse. I do agree that Champ is too slow, I think it should be cut for something that amplifies strength in numbers, such as Signal Pest or Master of Etherium.Quote:
Originally Posted by Vacrix
What I honestly dislike most about Glimpse Affinity is that it runs green AND white, the two worst colors Affinity can run, and barring Thoughtcast, it eschews the three best colors Affinity can run. You NEED reliable access to black mana to make Cranial Plating the best card in the deck.
Huh? And here I thought white was one the best colors Affinity can run.Quote:
What I honestly dislike most about Glimpse Affinity is that it runs green AND white, the two worst colors Affinity can run, and barring Thoughtcast, it eschews the three best colors Affinity can run. You NEED reliable access to black mana to make Cranial Plating the best card in the deck.
I'm still tinkering with a new list but to clear up a bit:Quote:
Originally Posted by Shawon
Glint Hawk is actually quite good with glimpse. First of, it's 1 Mana, it's flying, 2/2 an bounces an Artifact. So it enable you to draw an additional card, if you bounce Memnite, Affinity reduced Frogmite etc. you can eben bounce your Metalcraft Mox, so you got an extra mana, to play more creatures, or maybe plating.
I had turns, like Land, Memnite, Mox, Glimpse, Glint Hawk, Glint Hawk, Glint Hawk, Memnite and got the Plating with the last creature.
What Hawk generally does, is getting you more out of Glimpse. And as it strikes for 2 each turn, it's not too bad, if you need to race for damage.
I got it, Glink Hawk is decent (not broken) with Glimpse, but without Glimpse, it's an 2/2 flier, which is unimpressive in an archetype that can cast 7/7 Artifact Lords for 3 mana or a Planeswalker that can steal 14+ life from an opponent.
Hanni, have you tried Mortarpod in your white list?
Puresteel Paladin allows to throw entire team into opponent's face...
I'm not sure why the deck would need Mortarpod. As a finisher it seems decent, and it has niche uses like playing through an Ensaring Bridge... but as creature removal, I don't want to be sac'ing guys, and Jitte just seems vastly superior in that department. As a finisher... well, Cranial Plating does that.
I've got postboard Disenchants to deal with Ensaring Bridge... or I can kill my opponent before they resolve it, or get low enough in hand size to make it relevant.
As an aside, I cut the Batterskull from my list for Sword of Light and Shadow. Batterskull was never needed, and I like that SoLS can be hardcast if topdecked.
I also cut 2 Swiftboots from my sideboard for another Revoker and another Disenchant.
First, I wouldn't board in disenchant vs ensnaring bridge... you can just swing with ornithopter and attach plating at instant speed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hanni
But thats not why I replied, I was wondering why you chose SoLs, SoFI or SoFF both just seem better here?
Because I'm already running SoFF and SoFI :p
At the end of February, Ari Lax wrote,about Affinity. Here's the deck he talked about.Quote:
" I really like where this deck is at. You have the power to race out the lower tier of broken decks that some of the other linear non-combo decks like Burn lack. I don't have any idea what spell configuration I would want, but I know it doesn't involve Thoughtcast. Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas, Stoneforge Mystic, and Cabal Therapy are the front-runners. I don't really count Master of Etherium as a colored spell as it still is an artifact, nor would I play it over Etched Champion after watching the latter dominate in Modern. Taking another cue from Modern, if I wasn't playing a Batterskull to Mystic down I would strongly consider the cheaper option of Steelshaper's Gift just to get a Plating active faster."
This got me thinking, particularly about Thoughtcast, is it really that great?
I PMed Ari to get a bit more of his thoughts, and after playtesting a bit without thoughtcast, wondering if just having more action was in fact a better plan. This seemed sort of akin to adding grim tutors to Ad Nauseam lists, where haveing more action was just better than adding more cantrips.
This is what I came up with, and I'd love to hear comments. I haven't played it at my LGS yet.
4 Cranial Plating
4 Springleaf Drum
1 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Etched Champion
4 Frogmite
4 Memnite
4 Signal Pest
4 Vault Skirge
2 Arcbound Ravager
3 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Dispatch
4 Mox Opal
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
4 Ancient Den
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
4 Inkmoth Nexus
Maybe jitte should be batterskull? Other thoughts? I really would like to hear about thoughtcast.
In the blue builds, yes, Thoughtcast is worth it. It's a draw 2 for a single blue. It's not quite at Ancestral Recall power level, but it's damn close (in Affinity).
I wouldn't run Batterskull. Batterskull is dumb in Affinity. You don't need a 4/4 vigiliance lifelinker, and why do you need to expose yourself to removal on SFM? Grabbing a Plating or Jitte makes removal on SFM pointless.
Also, Jitte is really, really good sometimes. 4/1 Plating/Jitte is the right call.
I still think you want Master of Etherium. He's a brick wall that opponent either must deal with, or get blown out.
I don't think you need Dispatch in that build either, but I could be wrong.
Well, like I said, I have only been playtesting this, but dispatch seems good for getting blockers out of the way an removing threats.
And drawing two cards seems worse than either playing stoneforge or steelshapers gift. Isn't plating what you are trying to find anyway?