[Deck] Affinity

No comments or feedback? Aren't we as a majority dissatisifed with Affinity and are trying to rebuild the deck to keep up with the format? There's an Affinity thread in the N&D section titled: "Blue Lagoon: an Affinity thread that isn't terrible," so clearly there is some movement to try to revitalize the deck. I like to netdeck just as much as the next guy, but anyone reading this can't just expect to wait for someone to post a list that you like or you believe will win you matches. The progress of Affinity is a collaborative effort. I invite that collaboration within this thread. Just have some reasoning to back up your choices. Or hell, you can just bash on my ideas and tell me why I'm wrong or why my choices stink. I welcome all sorts of criticism.

With that out of the way, more changes!

MD:

-3 Ravager
-1 Tezz

+2 Skirge
+2 Certarch

SB:

-2 Certarch
+1 Tezz
+1 Canonist

Pretty much, I want the 3rd Canonist because I want to hedge my Storm/Tide matches. I've always been a little unhappy with >2 Tezz MD, so having the 3rd Tezz in the SB makes me a little happier. Certarch is just so versatile that I would rather have them MD. I believe these changes make my g1 against Sneak Attack really positive, since I have 3 outs to Emrakul, and 1 of them can be found with a 3-of in my deck. I like those odds!

If someone hadn't stolen my collection, I would still push be pushing Affinity...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mr. Froggy

If someone hadn't stolen my collection, I would still push be pushing Affinity...

---

That sucks dude. I hope you're able to recover your collection someday or build it back up again. I liked your input in this thread, it will be missed.

@Everyone :
alright, here is what I think : Affinity has to change, we can't play anymore our little creatures as memnite and ornithopter that don't do a all lot; we need to be more cost effective, I agree on the comment shawon did earlier saying that people give too much importance to Cranial Plating, even if it's really good, you can't make a list or a game just putting all your hopes into it. From my point of view, I'm trying to make a Metalcraft-based deck, keeping the artefacts but making it more tempo. I'll post the list just under.

@Shawon : Why would you play a Paradise Mantle instead of a Jitte (for exemple)? this is a true question, I'm not trying to flame or anything, just trying to understand. the same question come for Leonin Bola.

So here is the list I spoke about :

//19 Lands
3 Tree of Tales
4 Ancient Den
4 City of Brass
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers

//26 Creatures
3 Etched Champion
3 Master of Etherium
3 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Tidehollow Sculler
3 Vault Skirge
3 Vedalken Certarch
4 Baleful Strix
4 Shardless Agent

//3 Planeswalkers
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas

//6 Artefacts
1 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Cranial Plating
3 Mox Opal

//3 Instant
3 Dispatch

//4 Sorceries
4 Ancestral Vision


There are a lot of 3-of, but I like the decklist as it is, even if I didn't test it yet.
Every Creatures brings her "little-something", control, draw, helps in fights (lifelink, deathtouch) or is a good finisher. Vision is just really good, why prefer it instead of thoughtcast? well, beeing a bit more "tempo" we can afford to cast it T1-2 and wait for it to resolve; It's also a better cascade target (not difficult as thoughtcast couldn't be cascaded ^^)

The Green "splash" was for the Agent that brings us a lot of CA (and a blocker) so I wanted to add a color, white was the best color from the two other available as it brings control (Tidehollow Sculler - Dispatch (our Path to Exile without negative point)) and also the Stoneforge-Package.

The targets for the Stoneforge Mystic are really standart ... 2 Cranial Plating because it's really good and a jitte because ... well ... why not?!

Being a controlish version I went up to 19 Lands, City of brass is there instead of Glimmervoid because it helps us keeping hands that could/would have been bad with Glimmer! Exemple : Glimmer and Vault T1. Vault takes a bolt (or whatever other removal) so we would be without a creature (/artefact) and we would lose our glimmervoid too.
There are only 3 Mox Opal because I couldn't fit a 4th one in the list and because I feel like 3 mox + 19 lands is far enough for our list.




There you go, if you have any question, if you want to try the list and give any feedback, good or bad, feel free to do so, I would be happy to hear what you think about my list!

Thanks a lot
-SaintS

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SaintS

@Shawon : Why would you play a Paradise Mantle instead of a Jitte (for exemple)? this is a true question, I'm not trying to flame or anything, just trying to understand. the same question come for Leonin Bola.

---

My mistake! The list is supposed to have 1 Jitte in there. So I am running 1 Paradise Mantle, 1 Jitte, 2 Platings, and 1 Bola as Stoneforge targets.

I'll try to answer more of your question later, through editing this post. Watch for it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SaintS

I agree on the comment shawon did earlier saying that people give too much importance to Cranial Plating, even if it's really good...
3 Tidehollow Sculler
3 Vedalken Certarch
4 Ancestral Vision

2 Cranial Plating;
The targets for the Stoneforge Mystic are really standart ... 2 Cranial Plating because it's really good and a jitte because ... well ... why not?!

---

Some interesting choices!
I like Stoneforge Mystic, I believe this is a very good addition to the deck, even if Tezz doesn't have great synergy with it.
Jitte = :cool:
Although, I'm not sure about dropping Plating numbers. I may be out of line here, but I see anything lower than 4 Plating to be insufficient. Some of you state we rely on Plating too much, and that it's not a crucial piece. Based on the games play, a lot of the time it comes down to whether I could smack them with a Plating to the face.
If not, Affinity lacks quality defence as our threat denisty relies on having a good board presence, and without a good opening hand, we're down to tiny chumpers. BOOOooo!!!
Diluting our fast start with Death-toucher's is cute, but they just play their removal and hit us anyway.

I've been testing Enlightened Tutor for this reason. I like it, as it's capable of grabbiing us anything in the deck (apart from Tezz), it helps with mana-screw, can fetch an Etched Champion for chumping or swinging, Jitte, Plating, Revoker etc.
I like SFM as a chumper, but E-Tutor just seems far more flexible, it also gets around targetted discard effects, and Mill strategies aren't common.
E-tutor also has another advantage; against SnT/Sneak variants, we can fish out an answer like O-ring, Spine of Ish-Sah etc etc., and Tezz has good synergy with it too, being able to +1 afterwards (potentially).

Tidehollow Sculler is a unique one! Team Italia uses that too i think, seems a good card, but without a Mom, counter or heavy discard? I like this one in the right build, but I won't be running it as we have no way to support it.

Certarch seems useful - I've not tested that one, how effective is this card against greedy manabases?

And introducing Cascade? How are you finding it? Is mana-screw a problem?
Vision's seems worthwhile in you initial 7, but I wonder how useful you find it when you top-deck it turn 3 or 4 when you don't have cascade, when a Thoughtcast would've been way more useful?
(I tried it a while back, 4 turns is a long time to wait!)

Sorry to be so critical, I've had this deck for a while, and like most of you (it seems), my results haven't been too flash.
My list is BUW, full of the usual suspects, although I like a full 4 Plating, a Jitte, 3 E-tutor, and a Darkblast.
Darkblast is a card I don't rate hugely, but I've found it useful at nailing those first turn Lackey's, DRS, Mom etc., and being able to constantly recur it is awesome! It does leave us more open to extraction effects however so I'm still not sure whether it's gonna stay.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by slave

Some interesting choices!
I like Stoneforge Mystic, I believe this is a very good addition to the deck, even if Tezz doesn't have great synergy with it.
Jitte = :cool:

---

Stoneforge doesn't always have a great synergy with Tezz, but Tezz is a really good finisher; and you could find yourself doing the +1 on tezz, putting away an equip and then playing a stoneforge to go and fetch it, that's also a reason why I play the 2 cards ^^

Thanks for your feedbacks, I'll try to answer everything when I'll test the deck a bit more

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SaintS

@Shawon : Why would you play a Paradise Mantle instead of a Jitte (for exemple)? this is a true question, I'm not trying to flame or anything, just trying to understand. the same question come for Leonin Bola.

---

Alright, now I have time to answer this question. Like I said before, I forgot to add Jitte to my posted list so I am running both Mantle and Jitte. Paradise Mantle is pretty good on its own as a mana fixer and mana accelerator. Let me elaborate on that so you can see how unique a mana source Mantle is. It's a 0-cost artifact, so obviously Mantle is good at setting up Metalcraft on turn 1 for Mox Opal, kind of like a 9th Memnite/Thopter if you look at it that way. If you play Artifact Land, Opal, and Paradise Mantle on turn 1, you can cast SFM on turn 1.

You can equip Paradise Mantle onto any creature to set up mana acceleration for the next turn or mana fix on the same or next turn. Say you have 3 Memnites and 3 Darksteel Citadels on the board, with 3 Thoughtcasts sitting in your hand. You draw Paradise Mantle, and you do a jig, because you can now cast Mantle, equip to the 1st Memnite, tap it for U, cast Thoughtcast, and rinse & repeat for the other Memnites. This is a neat mana fixing trick that Paradise Mantle can do but Springleaf Drum can't since Drum can only tap one creature for mana.

Now remember that Paradise Mantle is an Equipment. This is really important because with Stoneforge Mystic in the deck, you can find Paradise Mantle if you resolve Stoneforge Mystic's ETB trigger. You might wonder why I would ever want to search up a Mantle instead of a Jitte or Plating. Pretty simple, there are situations where you are color screwed out of blue mana and if you could just find one blue source, you could cast the THoughtcast/Master/Tezz sitting in your hand. Furthermore, sometimes speed matters more than power. If you have at least 1 mana open after resolving Stoneforge Mystic and finding Mantle, you can just equip the Mantle onto Stoneforge Mystic to accelerate your next turn play, such as casting a Tezzeret with or without mana leftover for protection from Daze effects. One fancy play you can do if you have a Drum, Artifact Land, and Mox Opal/Ancient Den is cast Stoneforge Mystic, cast Paradise Mantle, and cast Thoughtcast since you now have four artifacts to reduce Thoughtcast to :u:.

Leonin Bola is a recent addition that I've been trying out because I remembered that I hate losing to Tarmogoyfs. I used to handle uncaged Goyfs pretty handily with Relic of Progenitus, but I have no room for that card anymore. I also didn't want to run Dispatch, because it would mean cutting artifacts thus reducing my synergies. Leonin Bola is perfect because it neutralizes 'vanilla' or beefy creatures such as Goyf, Tombstalker, and Phyrexian Dreadnought and I find it anytime I want if I resolve Stoneforge Mystic. As I said before, Leonin Bola has excellent use against S&T decks, especially Sneak Attack, because it can stop Emrakul dead in its tracks even if it was put into play via Sneak Attack.

TLDR: I could have condensed to you why Paradise Mantle is good in a few sentences, but I wanted to give you specific examples so you can see how Paradise Mantle makes Stoneforge Mystic act as a Green Sun's Zenith for the deck. Mantle is definitely not better than Springleaf Drum, but I already run four of Drum so Paradise Mantle as a mana source is pretty decent on its own merit.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by slave

Although, I'm not sure about dropping Plating numbers. I may be out of line here, but I see anything lower than 4 Plating to be insufficient. Some of you state we rely on Plating too much, and that it's not a crucial piece. Based on the games play, a lot of the time it comes down to whether I could smack them with a Plating to the face.

---

That used to be true before Abrupt Decay, though. Abrupt Decay doesn't make Plating into a bad card, but it does making going all in on Cranial Plating a vulnerable strategy. That is why Affinity needs to change its focus less on Cranial Plating and more on individual value or card advantage. With 2 SFM and 2 Plating, you are still running 4 virtual copies of Cranial Plating anyway.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Shawon

No comments or feedback? Aren't we as a majority dissatisifed with Affinity and are trying to rebuild the deck to keep up with the format? There's an Affinity thread in the N&D section titled: "Blue Lagoon: an Affinity thread that isn't terrible," so clearly there is some movement to try to revitalize the deck. I like to netdeck just as much as the next guy, but anyone reading this can't just expect to wait for someone to post a list that you like or you believe will win you matches. The progress of Affinity is a collaborative effort. I invite that collaboration within this thread. Just have some reasoning to back up your choices. Or hell, you can just bash on my ideas and tell me why I'm wrong or why my choices stink. I welcome all sorts of criticism.

With that out of the way, more changes!

MD:

-3 Ravager
-1 Tezz

+2 Skirge
+2 Certarch

SB:

-2 Certarch
+1 Tezz
+1 Canonist

Pretty much, I want the 3rd Canonist because I want to hedge my Storm/Tide matches. I've always been a little unhappy with >2 Tezz MD, so having the 3rd Tezz in the SB makes me a little happier. Certarch is just so versatile that I would rather have them MD. I believe these changes make my g1 against Sneak Attack really positive, since I have 3 outs to Emrakul, and 1 of them can be found with a 3-of in my deck. I like those odds!

---

I don't understand why you feel that traditional Affinity needs to change at all, Miracles is on the decline, Reanimator is struggling and Mana Dredge is dead thanks to the rise of Jund, and most aggro-control decks are either playing Nimble Mongoose, Tarmogoyf or Tombstalker, all of which are virtually destroyed by Rest in Piece. It seems pretty well positioned as a dark horse in the format if you want to play aggro-combo.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Final Fortune

I don't understand why you feel that traditional Affinity needs to change at all, Miracles is on the decline, Reanimator is struggling and Mana Dredge is dead thanks to the rise of Jund, and most aggro-control decks are either playing Nimble Mongoose, Tarmogoyf or Tombstalker, all of which are virtually destroyed by Rest in Piece. It seems pretty well positioned as a dark horse in the format if you want to play aggro-combo.

---

My list is more or less similar to the standard Stoneforge list. I didn't mean to imply that another variant of Affinity needs to be invented, but I do still think the deck needs to change. It just needs to reduce its focus on Cranial Plating and increase its card-for-card value, as well as seriously address its combo matchups.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Shawon

My list is more or less similar to the standard Stoneforge list. I didn't mean to imply that another variant of Affinity needs to be invented, but I do still think the deck needs to change. It just needs to reduce its focus on Cranial Plating and increase its card-for-card value, as well as seriously address its combo matchups.... ....Abrupt Decay doesn't make Plating into a bad card, but it does making going all in on Cranial Plating a vulnerable strategy. That is why Affinity needs to change its focus less on Cranial Plating and more on individual value or card advantage. With 2 SFM and 2 Plating, you are still running 4 virtual copies of Cranial Plating anyway.

---

I understand what you're saying, but almost every card we play is vulnerable to Abrupt Decay. How is any other option we play, bar Batterskull, any different?
Please don't think I'm being overly critical here Shawon. I really appreciate all the great work you've been putting into this deck, I just have a few different thoughts.
So here we go, sans sugar coating (cos its for pussys.)

I disagree that Plating is something we have to cut to make the deck better.
Before AD we had Naturalize, Krosan Grip etc etc. that did the same job, and had us just as susceptable to extraction effects.

Lets say you cut the Plating to two, and play 4 SFM. Lets set the scenario against a deck running AD.
In order to play Mystic, you need one white mana and a colourless. Plating costs two. Equip is one.
So you SFM a Plating into your hand, and in order to cast that Plating, you're paying the same mana cost regardless. The pro is that you've scored a chumper, the con is that you need a white mana source, and relative to a fast start, you've now got a chump on the field and a bomb in your hand. I'd rather have that bomb on the field....and whilst SFM gives us flexibilty, it's also setting us back a turn. We're playing aggro!!!!
But, how many decks run discard? Shitloads!
You play a Mystic, grabbing Plating and BANG - on their turn they play targetted discard or a Cabal Therapy. Against the kind of deck that plays AD, they're almost definitely gonna have discard too. Playing into a discard trap is the wrong move IMO, unless you are able to cast that sucker immediately.

Relative to what you said about making the deck better against Combo (or Storm), this is why I have been favouring Enlightened Tutor.
It can grab us hate, answers, stalling effects, mana sources or anything else in the deck. This is especiialy important post board, and gives us the flexibility of a silver-bullet style sideboard, so we're able to inlcude whatever effects you may favour, like;
Thorn of Amethyst, Ethersworn Canonist, Phyrexian Revoker, Leonin Bola, Engineered Explosives, Grafdigger's Cage, Meekstone etc., aswell as a whole lot of enchantments to hose certain decks like Leyline of Sanctity, Rest in Peace etc.
It can even fetch up an Expediton Map to find a Karakas if you really wanted to....
And then there's creatures we may need to beat face or chump block with, when the game is up in the air. Its way more flexible than SFM pre and post board.
SFM is a great card, but it's very limited to answering the problems when we're getting beaten!!! :mad:

Personally, i think Etched Champion is our best defender and our best beater in one. I'm sure you all agree on that.
I think E-tutor deserves a spot here, as AD can rarely touch this guy in a proper artifact-heavy build.
It also gives us a much more varied and flexible sideboard that is tutorable on turn 1, especially important against decks running Show and Tell.
My 0.02c.:cool:

slave, I believe you are the first to acknowledge that I put any work into Affinity! I appreciate your kind words!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by slave

I understand what you're saying, but almost every card we play is vulnerable to Abrupt Decay. How is any other option we play, bar Batterskull, any different?

I disagree that Plating is something we have to cut to make the deck better.
Before AD we had Naturalize, Krosan Grip etc etc. that did the same job, and had us just as susceptable to extraction effects.

---

It's all the difference. Prior to Abrupt Decay, most decks didn't run any MD means of artifact removal. That's why it was feasible for Affinity to rely on Cranial Plating beats, where you can have a board of just 2 mana sources, 3 Ornithopters and 1 Plating and have a legitimate chance of winning because your opponent couldn't answer Plating. And it's not just Plating Abrupt Decay can answer. Abrupt Decay gives the BGx player the option to disrupt our mana sources to complement their discard or Wastelands.

Abrupt Decay gives decks already packing permission/discard and Wasteland added flexibility to take a mana denial strategy against us. Abrupt Decay doesn't invalidate Affinity's existence, it just changes the game like the Jund primer says about the Affinity matchup. I think it's time we change our game.

It's not just Abrupt Decay that's inspiring my changing philosophy about Affinity. Think about it, how many Cranial Platings do you actually use per game? One, right, and sometimes you can kill FTW with Double Plating beats. Against combo decks, multiple Cranial Platings are near useless if you can't use them to kill your opponent by your 3rd turn. Against combo post-board, I only keep 1 Plating in the deck, so that if I have time, I can go for the kill with SFM -> Plating.

Quote:

---

Lets say you cut the Plating to two, and play 4 SFM. Lets set the scenario against a deck running AD.
In order to play Mystic, you need one white mana and a colourless. Plating costs two. Equip is one.
So you SFM a Plating into your hand, and in order to cast that Plating, you're paying the same mana cost regardless. The pro is that you've scored a chumper, the con is that you need a white mana source, and relative to a fast start, you've now got a chump on the field and a bomb in your hand. I'd rather have that bomb on the field....and whilst SFM gives us flexibilty, it's also setting us back a turn. We're playing aggro!!!!
But, how many decks run discard? Shitloads!
You play a Mystic, grabbing Plating and BANG - on their turn they play targetted discard or a Cabal Therapy. Against the kind of deck that plays AD, they're almost definitely gonna have discard too. Playing into a discard trap is the wrong move IMO, unless you are able to cast that sucker immediately.

---

Sure that might happen, but I still run 2 Plating, so it's not like I'll never topdeck one naturally or have 1 in my opening hand. I just don't think the difference between 2 and 4 is as relevant as you're making it out to be, considering I run SFM to add virtual copies of Plating. Also, keep in my mind that Plating isn't my only target with SFM. Believe it or not, I often SFM for Mantle to set myself up to cast Masters or Tezz.

Quote:

---

Relative to what you said about making the deck better against Combo (or Storm), this is why I have been favouring Enlightened Tutor.
It can grab us hate, answers, stalling effects, mana sources or anything else in the deck. This is especiialy important post board, and gives us the flexibility of a silver-bullet style sideboard, so we're able to inlcude whatever effects you may favour, like;
Thorn of Amethyst, Ethersworn Canonist, Phyrexian Revoker, Leonin Bola, Engineered Explosives, Grafdigger's Cage, Meekstone etc., aswell as a whole lot of enchantments to hose certain decks like Leyline of Sanctity, Rest in Peace etc.
It can even fetch up an Expediton Map to find a Karakas if you really wanted to....
And then there's creatures we may need to beat face or chump block with, when the game is up in the air. Its way more flexible than SFM pre and post board.
SFM is a great card, but it's very limited to answering the problems when we're getting beaten!!! :mad:

---

Enlightened Tutor in Affinity is very interesting, but as someone who has had a hand in playing combo or control, I never really liked the e-tutor toolbox. E-Tutor is inherent card disadvantage, and like what Koby said somewhere in some thread, E-tutor really sucks when the silver bullet you fetch gets countered. Also, when it comes to gy hate, it's much better to just have the gy hate in your hand then wait until EOT to find it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Shawon

Prior to Abrupt Decay, most decks didn't run any MD means of artifact removal. ...... Abrupt Decay gives the BGx player the option to disrupt our mana sources to complement their discard or Wastelands.
.....
Enlightened Tutor in Affinity is very interesting, but as someone who has had a hand in playing combo or control, I never really liked the e-tutor toolbox. E-Tutor is inherent card disadvantage, and like what Koby said somewhere in some thread, E-tutor really sucks when the silver bullet you fetch gets countered. Also, when it comes to gy hate, it's much better to just have the gy hate in your hand then wait until EOT to find it.

---

You make some good points.
So if we're fearing LD, maybe we should up our Darksteel lands?
I know AD is now quite a common card, so I get what you're saying - but whatever they kill with AD, we're still both trading a card for a card.
I don't see it as any different than any of the anti-artifact stuff (like Shattering Spree etc.) we've faced before.
Artifact hate hasn't been super common main deck, there you're right. But there's always been cards like Vindicate floating around, sooooo.......
Why not E-tute? It can get us mana-sources can't it.:smile:

Yes, E-tutor IS card disadvantage. And yes, counter sucks against either ET or SFM. The thing is, we can tutor for anything, not just equipment.
I think my point is a good one - equipment doesn't really do that much to help you when you're gonna lose. E-tutor has the possibility to get anything that could swing the game from your deck, including a mana-source you need after getting AD or Wasteland in your face.
I would've thought the ability to grab a SnT answer was reason enough.
RE: What you said on Grave hate; E-tutor has the same relation as to your argument about 4 SFM and 2 plates. I like to run a side that is flexible, but singles are rarely useful against blue decks. I realise most people take "silver bullets" to mean a side full of singles, but I always include multiples for the really scary decks like Storm & Dredge.

I'm still gonna run E-tute. I just see it as too useful. Being able to pop a top-deck Ethersworn Canonist, Rule of Law/Arcane Laboratory against Storm is a good play, as they're unlikely to be able to do anything to us after that, provided we get enough time to actually cast it.
Likewise, being able to fetch up a mana-source in order to cast Tezz is something I've done regularly too....
Against combo the options are a little narrower, but we have options.

I should also say, I have been running Standstill, so maybe that's why I'm lovin E-tute so much! I love this card in this deck so far, but I'm pretty early in testing it, see how I go....
Are any of you running Standstill in your 60?

I would begin with 4 Cranial Platings in every Affinity list, so i definately agree with slave on this topic.
You should change the cards around Plating due to Abrupt Decay rather than cutting the Platings themselves, because Plating is easily the best card in Affinity.

Seriously, why should you play Affinity if you don't run 4 Platings?? You have to keep in mind what the deck you play can do best/better than other decks. Ask yourself: Which good cards can Affinity run that other decks can't?

Affinity decks profit most from the Affinity and Metalcraft mechanic as well as from cards that turn your artifacts into damage like Arcbound Ravager, Master of Etherium, Tezzeret and Cranial Plating. That's why I think that you shouldn't try to do things that other decks can do better anyway, like playing slow and controllish cards (e.g. Baleful Strix). Affinity is an AGGRO deck and nothing else.
I see that Abrupt Decay is very common now, but it shouldn't make you remove the most powerful cards of your deck. If you fear Abrupt Decay you probably shouldn't play Affinity because AD can hit nearly every card in our deck.

@Shawon: Why have you abandoned the addition of Cursed Scroll? Has it turned to be not as good as in the beginnings of your testing sessions?

Has anyone tested Gitaxian Probe yet? It is very nice to know wether you can go all-in (e.g. with Arcbound Ravager) or not.
Sakashima's Student could also be worth a test. It helps against Emrakul decks and it is nice to copy other opposing creatures like Goyf or Stoneforge Mystic fetching a Plating.

Abandoning plating? He not abandoning it, he's varying his threats. It's a smart move in a changing meta. I myself run 2 platings, 2 jittes, 1 sword of fire and ice, 1 sword of light and shadow and 1 leonin bola and I'm digging the toolbox. I find it makes the deck more flexible but then again I play the deck W/R so your mileage may vary with your color scheme.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AmishLuvah

Abandoning plating? He not abandoning it, he's varying his threats. It's a smart move in a changing meta. I myself run 2 platings, 2 jittes, 1 sword of fire and ice, 1 sword of light and shadow and 1 leonin bola and I'm digging the toolbox. I find it makes the deck more flexible but then again I play the deck W/R so your mileage may vary with your color scheme.

---

Abandoning Plating isn't what Shawon is doing at all - agreed.
I just think that 4 Plating, 4 SFM, gives you a better chance of getting one in the opening hand, and if you get one of both you can SFM for a Jitte etc.
The biggest problem with either SFM or E-tute, is that by including either of them you have to drop numbers elsewhere, and equipment has to be the first consideration in order to keep deck consistency.
With a deck like Affinity, I don't wanna have to mulligan EVER if possible, so I want my opening 7 to be all killer. I want to be able to flop it all on the table on turn 1 (or 2) and then draw more cards and do it again. That's the deck in a nutshell, and anything that slows that process down, or makes the deck inconsistant has to go.


W/R?
That makes me curious.... if you're playing W/R whats your list look like?

I get the toolbox approach.
2 swords, 2 Jitte's and 2 Plating, Bola is a nice mix, but the swords I'm not so sure about.
In order to equip a sword, you're spending 5 mana. Shawon was talking about the threat of Abrupt Decay.
I don't wanna spend 3-4 mana on Plating, let alone 5 on a sword. The swords are awesome, but I've always found that this deck can struggle to find a lot of mana - thereby slowing your plays down and exposing yourself to permission spells like Spell Pierce and Daze etc.
You have to ask, is the sword worth the extra mana cost? How much does it add to the deck?

Now, Batterskull is a card I'd like to hear people's opinions on. It's out of AD's reach!
It has a high mana cost, a high equip cost, but some of that can be negated by SFMs' activated ability.
I see it as too rich a cost for this deck, but what about all of you? Thoughts?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AmishLuvah

Abandoning plating? He not abandoning it, he's varying his threats. It's a smart move in a changing meta. I myself run 2 platings, 2 jittes, 1 sword of fire and ice, 1 sword of light and shadow and 1 leonin bola and I'm digging the toolbox. I find it makes the deck more flexible but then again I play the deck W/R so your mileage may vary with your color scheme.

---

Thank you. That's exactly the point what I wanted to say but would've tried to convey with too many paragraphs.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Smea.gol.lum

I would begin with 4 Cranial Platings in every Affinity list, so i definately agree with slave on this topic.
You should change the cards around Plating due to Abrupt Decay rather than cutting the Platings themselves, because Plating is easily the best card in Affinity.

Seriously, why should you play Affinity if you don't run 4 Platings?? You have to keep in mind what the deck you play can do best/better than other decks. Ask yourself: Which good cards can Affinity run that other decks can't?

Affinity decks profit most from the Affinity and Metalcraft mechanic as well as from cards that turn your artifacts into damage like Arcbound Ravager, Master of Etherium, Tezzeret and Cranial Plating. That's why I think that you shouldn't try to do things that other decks can do better anyway, like playing slow and controllish cards (e.g. Baleful Strix). Affinity is an AGGRO deck and nothing else.
I see that Abrupt Decay is very common now, but it shouldn't make you remove the most powerful cards of your deck. If you fear Abrupt Decay you probably shouldn't play Affinity because AD can hit nearly every card in our deck.

---

I get that you're saying that every Affinity list needs 4, but what I don't understand is the argument behind that and how my changes compromises the strategical integrity of the deck. Like the other guy posting above said, I am not abandoning Cranial Plating in the least. I've only cut 2, out of the 4 I used to run. I still rely on Cranial beats as an offensive strategy. The only tangible difference between running 2 and 4 Platings is based on statistics. I will have less instances of opening my hand with Plating, and I will have less occurrences of having drawn or expended more than 2 Platings in a given game. The latter instances are insignificant, because I only need at maximum two Plating in an entire game if I am not taking attrition of resources (i.e. Abrupt Decay) into account. I will have less instances of an opening hand with Plating in it, so that does mean less of the turn 1 Plating nutz, but I'm not concerned about that because I'm trying to improve card-for-card value in the deck with SFM. In terms of actually seeing Cranial Plating, I don't see how different are my chances of finding access to a Plating worsen if I now run 4 Stoneforge Mystic.

Quote:

---

@Shawon: Why have you abandoned the addition of Cursed Scroll? Has it turned to be not as good as in the beginnings of your testing sessions?

Has anyone tested Gitaxian Probe yet? It is very nice to know wether you can go all-in (e.g. with Arcbound Ravager) or not.
Sakashima's Student could also be worth a test. It helps against Emrakul decks and it is nice to copy other opposing creatures like Goyf or Stoneforge Mystic fetching a Plating.

---

Cursed Scroll is still good, but I cut it because it doesn't help the matchups I want to address.

=============================================================================

New decklist with changes:

Mana
16 Artifact Lands
1 Ruins
4 Drum
4 Opal
2 Mantle

Creatures
4 Memnite
4 Thopter
4 Master
4 SFM
3 Skirge
3 Champ
1 Ravager

Noncreatures
4 TC
2 Plating
2 Tezz
1 Leonin Bola
1 BATTERSKULL!!!!

SB:
4 Cage
3 Canonist
3 MBT
3 O-RIng
2 Certarch

You may not outright notice, but I removed the Jitte, I removed the 4th Champ, put the Certarchs back into the SB. I cut the Jitte because the primary reason for running it in the first place is to neutralize an opponent's Jitte. I have Leonin Bola to prevent a Jitte-wielder from getting counters. Maybe I might still need JItte, but at least I get to try this other Equipment... BATTERSKULL!

I thought I'd try Batterskull instead of Tezz #3 because it's much faster and more relevant to get down against tempo decks such as RUG.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by slave

W/R?
That makes me curious.... if you're playing W/R whats your list look like?

I get the toolbox approach.
2 swords, 2 Jitte's and 2 Plating, Bola is a nice mix, but the swords I'm not so sure about.
In order to equip a sword, you're spending 5 mana. Shawon was talking about the threat of Abrupt Decay.
I don't wanna spend 3-4 mana on Plating, let alone 5 on a sword. The swords are awesome, but I've always found that this deck can struggle to find a lot of mana - thereby slowing your plays down and exposing yourself to permission spells like Spell Pierce and Daze etc.
You have to ask, is the sword worth the extra mana cost? How much does it add to the deck?

Now, Batterskull is a card I'd like to hear people's opinions on. It's out of AD's reach!
It has a high mana cost, a high equip cost, but some of that can be negated by SFMs' activated ability.
I see it as too rich a cost for this deck, but what about all of you? Thoughts?

---

My list:

4x Ancient Den
4x Great Furnace
2x Darksteel Citadel
3x Glimmervoid
2x City of Brass
3x Mox Opal
3x Springleaf Drum

4x Memnite
4x Ornithopter
4x Signal Pest
4x Frogmite
3x Vault Skirge
3x Etched Champion
3x Stoneforge Mystic

2x Cranial Plating
2x Umezawa's Jitte
1x Sword of Light and Shadow
1x Sword of Fire and Ice
1x Leonin Bola

4x Lightning Bolt
3x Boros Charm


I'm playing a slower game here but Cranial Plating + Boros Charm set to doublestrike = win, it also protects our things from being destroyed and in a pinch we can do four to the face with it. It's been so good to me that I need to make space for a fourth one. My sideboard options are much better in these colors so my combo match up is a bit better all around. I do lose card draw being out of blue but SFM has made my card selection that much better and the Sword of Fire and Ice has helped a little bit. When Abrupt Decay has been an issue I have tended to bait them out using the swords or a jitte and go for a kill with the plating. By the way, Sword of Fire and Ice is nutty with double Strike as well. ;)

As to Batterskull, I've been a little afraid of it. It can really only be cast with an SFM in play and 3 mana is about the top of my curve. I really don't want to risk it but I might give it a try because the card is that good.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Shawon

I get that you're saying that every Affinity list needs 4, but what I don't understand is the argument behind that and how my changes compromises the strategical integrity of the deck.

---

I didn't mean you with that paragraph ;). I just wanted to point out the direction Affinity has to go. Your list is of course a solid aggro approach.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AmishLuvah

By the way, Sword of Fire and Ice is nutty with double Strike as well. ;)

---

Hate to be a dream crusher, but the creature with SoFI will have protection from red, so you can't really give double strike to it with Boros Charm. Hope you have not done this, no matter how nutty it is, cause it's kind of illegal ;)