[Deck] Affinity

[(nameless one)]

Hey guys,

How does this deck deal with Null Rod?

Thanks!

[clumsylicious]

I am dealing with Null Rod in two different ways: Ancient Tomb and Glimmervoid for casting, the rest is swing for swing, round for round...
The second way for me is Krosan Grip / Nature's Claim, hold on your hand and response on casting the Null Rod.

[luckme10]

So with 4 mental misstep, 4 thoughtcast, 4 master of etherium (which now has a bettter shot against removal), and 3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas... 4x Force of Will really seems like less of a stretch now.

[Heresy]

So with 4 mental misstep, 4 thoughtcast, 4 master of etherium (which now has a bettter shot against removal), and 3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas... 4x Force of Will really seems like less of a stretch now.

Don't forget the new swords to plowshare.

[AlexAI]

Hey guys,

How does this deck deal with Null Rod?

Thanks!

In my experiences, Null Rod is as good for the opponent as the opposite of Affinity's board position. If Affinity has an overwhelming board position already, it won't do any good to answer a MoE/Plated guy. After turn 3 Affinity has probably dropped its hand. Just today I won against a guy dropping Rod turn two on the draw because I already had a plating on a thopter and just kept playing out 0 drops/frogs I drew(my hand was close to the nut though and winning through t2 null rod will not happen often). If the opposing decks only resistance is Rod, he usually won't win unless he has enough to see them consistently t2-3, and if that is the case, you should probably not play it in that metagame(which I also found out, hard, today).

[brianw712]

I think a Vial Affinity list that could conceivably beat combo would be a good approach for the deck. The following list seemed to fare well in testing:

4 Vault of Whispers
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Ancient Den
4 City of Brass

4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Master of Etherium
4 Etched Champion
4 Mother of Runes
3 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Tidehollow Strix

4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Mental Misstep
3 Mox Opal
4 Thoughtcast
4 Aether Vial
3 Cranial Plating

It loses the explosiveness of traditional affinity, but gains a lot of disruptive capabilities. Thoughts?

[4eak]

I am dealing with Null Rod in two different ways: Ancient Tomb and Glimmervoid for casting, the rest is swing for swing, round for round...
The second way for me is Krosan Grip / Nature's Claim, hold on your hand and response on casting the Null Rod.

The first way, particularly the use of Ancient Tomb, makes your mana-base considerably weaker in my view. Ancient Tomb is a lackluster card. Yes, it is better than artifact lands against Null Rod, but Null Rod isn't common enough to give us reason to play Tomb. And, if it was common enough, we wouldn't play this deck anyways.

The second way is kind of complicated. You may or may not be saying what is actually happening, I'm not sure. The tricky part of answering Null Rod with disenchant effects is the fact that you have to float that mana before Null Rod hits play, and then you can Disenchant it. The problem, of course, is that you can't tap out for fear of Null Rod. And, if you aren't tapping out, then you aren't playing the role of the Affinity deck very well. Even worse, outside of Nature's claim, most of the time Affinity won't even have the mana to answer a turn 2 Null rod.

In my experiences, Null Rod is as good for the opponent as the opposite of Affinity's board position. If Affinity has an overwhelming board position already, it won't do any good to answer a MoE/Plated guy. After turn 3 Affinity has probably dropped its hand. Just today I won against a guy dropping Rod turn two on the draw because I already had a plating on a thopter and just kept playing out 0 drops/frogs I drew(my hand was close to the nut though and winning through t2 null rod will not happen often). If the opposing decks only resistance is Rod, he usually won't win unless he has enough to see them consistently t2-3, and if that is the case, you should probably not play it in that metagame(which I also found out, hard, today).

I agree. And, almost always, Affinity's board position at the time of dropping Null Rod just isn't enough to win. I can't think of a deck packing Null rod which doesn't have additional resistance or outs to what is already on the board. I want to re-emphasize that winning through a turn 2 Null Rod is exceedingly rare. And, if people do consistently play artifact hate in a metagame, this deck doesn't belong in that metagame.

How does this deck deal with Null Rod?

So, to answer your question, it effectively doesn't.

If you happen to be running an E-tutor board, Null Rod is a very reasonable choice, being better than Aura of Silence, but worse than Serenity type cards. The nice part about Null Rod is that it performs double duty, being cross-hate against not just affinity, but also any Chrome Mox/LED combo deck (I've even used it in weirder circumstances to great effect).



peace,
4eak

[Bosaapje]

Hi everyone,

I've been testing lately with this list. What do think of it?

Mana:

2 Glimmervoid
3 Darksteel Citadel
4 Ancient Den
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
4 Mox Opal
21

Creature:

3 Frogmite
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Etched Champion
4 Ornithopter
4 Signal Pest
4 Master of Etherium
4 Ethersworn Canonist
27

Other Stuff:

4 Cranial Plating
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
4 Thoughtcast
12


Sideboard:

1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Mindbreak Trap
2 Tormod's Crypt
3 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Mental Misstep
15

I'm only missing some artifact/enchantment destroy things in the SB but I don't think that's a big problem. The only big problem that I can see is Null Rod. It breaks my mana base into little pieces and makes me cry in a corner. So shall I put some Inkmoth Nexus's into my manabase for extra consistancy or shall I just ignore Null Rod and just leave it like this.

Cheers,

Maarten ~

[The Big Ragu]

You're running only 21 mana sources (and no drums, which is odd) and you have 12 cards that cost between 3 - 4 mana. Your mana base is paltry, and your spells are like lead weight in the deck. I run 4 Masters of Etherium, and 2 Tezzerets, and even by that I consider my particular build to be a bit on the slow side, especially when compared to deck lists that go for either a green or red splash.

Ravager is pretty weak without Disciple of the Vault, and he has bad synergy with Tezzeret.

Mental Misstep is out of place. This is a deck that aims for pure aggressive speed. It doesn't want to play a control strategy, it just wants to dump its hand onto the board as soon as possible.

[4eak]

Ravager is pretty weak without Disciple of the Vault, and he has bad synergy with Tezzeret.

Even when Disciple is in your deck, having a Ravager but not a Disciple in play is far from weak. Ravager is a fantastic card. I'm still shocked when I see people trying to remove him. I think it is still a mistake to remove Disciple (after a great deal of testing), but it is more forgivable than removing Ravager from the deck.

I wouldn't say Ravager has bad synergy with Tezzeret either. If you are saccing out to Ravager, it is for three reasons:

(1) It wins you the game by forcing damage (and sometimes lifeloss) through.
(2) You've mitigated the value of removal on any artifacts you control.
(3) You are engaging in combat tricks, e.g. blocking and saccing before damage to fizzle a Jitte trigger.

The first two abilities of Tezzeret are actually pretty synergistic with Ravager. The ultimate isn't always. But, let us look at the major reasons to be saccing for ravager. In the case of (1), you will usually use Tezz's ultimate ability before you attack. Almost always, you are winning the game in this case, and lacking synergy when you've sacced your board to win the game just doesn't matter that much. In the case of (2), you were going to lose that artifact anyways -- it wasn't going to be there for Tezz's ultimate. In (3) we see that Ravager is making special plays worth making, even if losing the 2 life difference from Tezz's ultimate, you still get to use Tezz's other two abilities to put yourself ahead in the game.

Again, if you have both Ravager and Tezz in play for any serious amount of time, you are probably already winning the game. Any perceived lack of synergy just isn't that relevant when you were winning the game. Demanding even more synergy between Ravager and Tezz is plainly seeking what is win-more rather than an improvement.

Honestly, I don't see most players playing with Ravager correctly. It is by far the most complicated card in the deck to use correctly. I'm still convinced Ravager is the best card in the deck.


peace,
4eak

[(nameless one)]

Cool, thanks for the Null Rod answer.

I am actually just looking for answers for my MUD Stompy deck.

Though my friend who is building Affinity has a question: how does Slag Fiend look in Sligh-Affinity (the list without Agent Tezzeret, the one that runs Galvanic and Shrapnel Blasts)?

[Bosaapje]

You're running only 21 mana sources (and no drums, which is odd) and you have 12 cards that cost between 3 - 4 mana. Your mana base is paltry, and your spells are like lead weight in the deck. I run 4 Masters of Etherium, and 2 Tezzerets, and even by that I consider my particular build to be a bit on the slow side, especially when compared to deck lists that go for either a green or red splash.

Ravager is pretty weak without Disciple of the Vault, and he has bad synergy with Tezzeret.

Mental Misstep is out of place. This is a deck that aims for pure aggressive speed. It doesn't want to play a control strategy, it just wants to dump its hand onto the board as soon as possible.

I know I'm a bit low at mana sources and I'm also not sure if I wanna keep Ravager because I don't play Disciples. So maybe I can replace Ravager with 3 Drums and then I can put a extra Glimmervoid (or so) in it. Then the problem with Ravager + Tezz is also gone, so I don't have to worry about that anymore.

Why do you think that Misstep is out of place? It gives me a better match up against Zoo (Bye bye Bolt, Nacatl, Chain Lightning, Swords, Path) and it will slow down Combo with countering the Rituals if I don't have a Chalice in play. Well, I've got a not so bad MU against Combo with 4 Chalice SB and 4 Canonist MB so I thought maybe cutting 1 Trap, 1 Misstep (3 others for Zoo and random Berserk-decks) and replacing them with 2 Krosan Grips. 2 Grips are a bit tight and you might not draw them, but it's better than none.

So what do you think? Does it make the deck better if I make these changes?

Cheers

~

[Goaswerfraiejen]

Vault Skirge is amazing, period. I'm not sold on anything else, but Skirge is really kicking butt in my testing.

FWIW, I'm experimenting with a version that boards in blue goodies, rather than running them MD (I tried MD, but wasn't all that impressed). It looks something like this:


4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Ancient Den
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers

4 Vault Skirge
4 Frogmite
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Etched Champion
4 Ornithopter
4 Master of Etherium

4 Cranial Plating
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
4 Thoughtcast
4 Springleaf Drum
4 Dispatch



Sideboard:

3 Tormod's Crypt
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Mental Misstep
4 Force of Will

[Reaver027]

The deck i am building looks very similar to yours Goaswerfraiejen.
I really liked your Sideboard so i will try that one myself. Love the idea of becomming a little bit more control when needed.

So this is the deck i am working on:

20 Mana
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
4 Ancient Den
4 Darksteel Citadel
3 Mox Opal
1 Glimmervoid

24 Creatures
4 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Vault Skirge
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Porcelain Legionnaire
4 Master of Etherium

16 Spells
4 Thoughtcast
4 Cranial Plating
4 Dispatch
4 ??? (StP / PtE / Tezzeret AoB / Vial / Jitte) could use some ideas here

15 Sideboard
3 Tormod's Crypt
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Mental Misstep
4 Force of Will

Vault Skirge and Porcelain Legionnaire seem very strong.. I have not tested with them yet but a 1 mana 1/1 flyer is really good for the deck. Same goes for a 2 mana 3/1 first striker.
Since the deck got enough options to even pay the Phy Mana it should not hurt too much playing both. You will only pay life for Phy Mana early in the game anyway. Lifelink on the SKkrge helps too.

I decided to go with the Mox/Glimmervoid package over Drum cause i just like it better.

For the last four slots i am currently in favor of StP. Nothing is more annoying to get stalled out by a creature based deck. It happened to me way too often to get my opponent down to 1 - 3 life and then get stalled out. More removal will help in those situations.
Vial could work very good as well. There are 16 creatures at 2 and 3 mana.
Since i never had the opportunity to play with Tezzeret i cant really comment on him. But the 4 mana seems rather slow. Perhaps only 2 and 2 more lands (Glimmervoid / Blinkmoth Nexus / Inkmoth Nexus) ?

Any thoughts on the deck ?

Edit: What about one or two Jittes ? Legionnaire is really good at carrying a Jitte. And it would offset the loss of life even more.

[Greenpoe]

Drum wins games. Affinity wins from speed. Personally, I run 16 land (including 4 Ancient Tomb to evade Deed/Null Rod), 4 Opal and 3 Drum. Also, I strongly recommend cutting Dispatch for Galvanic Blast. Affinity is has huge creatures and prefers the burn to finish off an opponent (or even target a planeswalker).

[the Thin White Duke]

Drum wins games. Affinity wins from speed. Personally, I run 16 land (including 4 Ancient Tomb to evade Deed/Null Rod), 4 Opal and 3 Drum. Also, I strongly recommend cutting Dispatch for Galvanic Blast. Affinity is has huge creatures and prefers the burn to finish off an opponent (or even target a planeswalker).

+1
Not a big fan of Dispatch either. Having more than 8 instants/sorceries takes away from creatures which is what this deck is all about. Galvanic Blast was one of the best things for this deck to come out of the new block.

[HokusSchmokus]

I also don't think you should cut Drums. Also, what happened to Frogmite?This bad of a card?
If I wanted to play Affinity with NPH my list would look kind of like:

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

4 Cranial Plating
4 Springleaf Drum
3 Mox Opal

3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas

4 Thoughtcast

4 Ornithopter
4 Memnite
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Master of Etherium
4 Vault Skirge
3 Etched Champion
3 Frogmite

SB: 3 Pithing Needle
3 Cabal Therapy
3 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Engineered Plague
3 Tormod's Crypt

My only problem is that I kind of want a single Enforcer and 4 Frogmite, but I don't know what to cut. 1 Master of Etherium for 1 Enforcer would seem ok, but I don't really know. Any ideas / thoughts on my list?

Edit: Also, to all the football fans out there: we won this shit, biatch!

[AggroSteve]

in your case i would cut ravager, specially since you are not playing disciple of the vault

[HokusSchmokus]

The thing with Ravager is that you have access to nice little combat tricks. Also, you have an out to removal.

[Muckel]

The Problem is that Ravager is a 1/1 vanilla for cC2 and u dont want sacc 3 of ur Monsters to protect an ravager or vault skirge form a lightning bolt. So i think u shuold cut him and play Singnal Pest and ancient Tomb. With that nice Card u are able to cast Tezz in t2-3 and u are able to cast etched Champion in t1.