This is just something I fumbled around with on MWS. As is often the case, it was a complete branch-off from an attempt to use some cards that didn't even show up in the final list (I was trying to build three-color uwb wildfire with Upheaval instead of Wildfire + that Hedgemon guy from Alara, if you're interested)
Instead I stumbled into this build, prodded by the interaction of several of the cards, memories of attempts to build Affownity or some such silly name before, and from taking the principles of Fairy Stompy, which I had made fun of quite a bit when it came out but which has, I think, become quite a good deck, and applying them to a different shell.
Mana:
4x Chrome Mox
4x Ancient Tomb
4x Seat of the Synod
4x Darksteel Citadel
4x Island
4x Mishra's Factory
Creatures:
4x Somber Hoverguard
4x Master of Etherium
4x Etherium Sculptor
4x Myr Enforcer
Draw:
4x Thoughtcast
4x Thirst for Knowledge
Control:
4x Force of Will
4x Chalice of the Void
Cranial Plating:
4x Cranial Plating
This is an early draft list that needs refining of some kind. So far, however, I've been impressed. The deck doesn't have a lot of tricks, but it does a good job of having fast, huge creatures, some minimal but effective disruption elements, and refilling it's hand and recovering easily.
SB, also very draft-ish;
4x Propaganda
4x Tormod's Crypt
4x Powder Keg
3x Tangle Wire
Reasons I'm not running certain cards;
Arcbound Ravager: Generally worse than Master of Etherium, requiring more commitment and making you more vulnerable to removal. Also not blue.
Frogmite/Arcbound Worker: Too small to really count as creatures in Legacy. Also, the latter is poor with Chalice.
Other Equipment: Might be worth running. But Cranial Plating makes your guys really big.
Trinket Mage/Sower: Not artifacts, although they may make their way in.
Mana count may also be a little high. Perhaps factories will end up being cut. Academy Ruins, while slow, might be worth packing in.
I'm also pondering trying to fit in Broodstar. Tezzeret is another potential late game bomb, albeit more expensive, usually.
If you're curious, the deck name comes from the chess-playing supercomputer.
For my confessions, they burned me with fire/
And found I was for endurance made
Is Mulldrifter better than Thirst for Knowledge? TfK goes one deeper, but Mulldrifter is sometimes a guy. In this case, I don't think TfK being an instant is relevant since you have nothing else to hold mana open for.
Is 4 Cranial Plating too many? You only have 16 guys, and I feel like drawing 2 is going to be serious overkill.
I would also suggest looking at Juggernaut as an additional beater; I feel like Juggernaut has fallen out of favor.
Edit: Is Factory better than Blinkmoth Nexus? I'd think being able to fly here would be very very nice.
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Originally Posted by frogboy
Wasn't Deep Blue the only computer that could beat the Russian chess pro Kasparov?
Anyway, that's one hell of a build. I like that people finally are seeing how good Somber Hoverguard is. Flying is very important, which is why I also tend to use Ornithopter in some builds. But that dude needs an Equipment (Jitte or Plating) to be really effective. Otherwise, it's just another small random semi-critter.
I don't really like Mishra's Factory in here. If it has to be a land, I was thinking of another blue source and then testing Broodstar. Yes, Broodstar. It is a flying (huge thing) Master of Etherium that is larger than Tombstalker (huge thing) in most cases. But it's casting cost is quite prohibitive. And our artifact count might not be high enough to cast it consistently (not quite as huge thing. Dead topdecks=boohoo). You mention the possibility yourself, but have you tested it? Also, Chrome Mox only has 16 pitch cards. That isn't enough, IMO. 20 at least, methinks.
Ehterium Sculptor: Really? For what use? It doesn't fly, get's hit by a hell lot of things, it doesn't fly and it gets hit by artifact hate. But it's a Sapphire Medalion for artifacts. Why do you need that? Explain please!
I thought that Thoughtcast was enough draw. Am I wrong? Is Thirst for Knowledge really necessary?
And I'm a shit at creating sideboards, so I don't have any comment on that.
Conclusion:
It's not really one of my tastes, but I think the deck has potential.
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This is very similar to a deck I was messing around with for a while except I splashed white for Ethersworn Canonist, have you thought of splashing at all IBA?
I also agree with Mulldrifter over TFK. It has evasion which is nice with plating since Hoverguard is the only other creature you run with evasion. Not to mention the ability to evoke it versus Ichorid is excellent.
I think that 8 draw is awesome sauce.
It was suggested to use Juggernaut, but I think that Su-Chi may get the job done and requires more than a bolt. You can sink extra mana into a factory or nexus if it goes south.
I always want to put transmute artifact into a deck but I tend to think a different direction with welders and a red splash take you way out of what you have intended.
I also dont get the Sculptor. I want him to be good too because he's a cool card, but the only thing he realistically helps cast is Myr Enforcer. Are you trying to dump artifacts in play after you draw? If only Thoughtcast was an Artifact Sorcery...
Looks interesting.
info.ninja
Lowers the cost of almost everything in the deck. Check.
Pitches to Chrome Mox. Check.
Makes Plating and Master bigger. Check.
Pitches to Thirst. Check.
Pitches to Force. Check.
I have no clue what you are saying.
Try reading Chrome Mox again. An old mistake that many people make (because colored artifacts weren't around back when ChromeMox was printed.
I also really like the "newer" versions of AFoWinity and built the decks up and they suffered from a serious lack of power. Frogmites suck and Ravager just can't be himself in a deck with so few artifacts. First things first, for a long time I have been looking for a deck to put Epochrasite into. Perhaps Epochrasite would be a good threat to look into? Stalls the early game and then owns the late game. I think the Sculptor and Somber Hoverguard are just inferior creatures in Legacy. In the Somber Hoverguard spot I think Serendib Efreet would just be better. I really like Master of Etherium in the deck since that card is just a BEAST. I think what would make this deck really good are artifact threats backed up by non-artifact threats. Well timed Shattering Spree and Ancient Grudge rip Affinity to shreds and so I think threats like Serendib, who can actually block creatures and won't die to a single Lightning Bolt (assuming no CotV @1). I also agree that Thirst should be Mulldrifter, its just damn good and late game its a beater.
As far as Cranial Plating, I personally don't like the card unless its in a pure aggro Affinity build. I have been playing around with some of the AFoWinity builds and I always wished that Plating was Jitte whenever I drew it. Jitte is simply the best equipment in the game and makes every creature in the deck a serious threat that can actually block creatures and live, unlike Plating. For the 4x equipment slots something like 3x Jitte, 1x Sword of Light and Shadow or a 2/2 split would be really good. Tombstalker is a serious threat so pro-black fliers are good and as previously mentioned, the life gain would make Light and Shadow better than Fire and Ice in a deck like this.
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I don't even have to look at it I remember non artifact. I forgot about that.
My favorite thing about cranial plating is that you can attack without it equipped, and just put it onto whatever doesn't get blocked as long as you have BB open, leaving your opponent with no real options during the combat phase. Without access to black mana, do you still find it to be as dangerous? It seems like without the damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't aspect of the card, you could find a better alternative.
I also dont like Sculptor. It has synergies with many cards when not in play but it's impact when casted is about 0 - pumping Plating a bit, being 1/2 and making Enforcer a bit cheaper does not make the cut imo.
Thirst is better than Mulldrifter imo but it is close. But I think it will be usually casted for 3. So usually drawing one more and discarding some jank seems better than the option for a 2/2 flyer.
Have you thought about Vesuvan Shapeshifter? Always the biggest guy on the field so he fits into the fat guy concept. He could also copy the Master of Etherium which seems fun.
Cranial Plating is amazing. IBA puts it in its own category for a good reason. It turns FOW from a disruption card into a substantial Time Walk, because it means you're hitting for 7-8 more per turn or eating Tarmogoyfs.
In other words, would you play an equipment that was 2 to play, 1 to equip, and gave a dude +6/+0?
I kind of like this deck. It looks like it could really smash some face.
@Etherium Sculptor: I like it. Makes most of the deck cheaper and I pretty sure this is not going to be on list of stuff the other player needs to deal with.
@Myr Enforcer: Not sure I really like this guy. Ya he's a 4/4 but what I'm thinking is maybe a couple of Broodstar. They don't get the bonus from Sculptor or Master but it does fly and should be HUGE. Not to mention you have FOW back up, and it can imprint if you need it to.
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Hmm, I'm not so sure about the manabase.
You have 8 blue lands and 4 Chrome Mox for 12 total blue sources. 4 are stifleable and 4 are wasteable. FS has similar blue requirements, running 10 islands and 4 Chrome Mox, but its lands are all solid basics.
Aside from board sweepers and Shattering Spree ruining your day (which everyone criticizes Affinity for and yet, Affinity still exists), the deck seems vulnerable to Wasteland in a lot of games. Why does this deck require fewer islands than Faerie Stompy? Or is FS playing too many? I see Sower of Temptation, but with the added vulnerability to artifact kill and fewer blue sources in general, it might be hard to keep all of them on the table.
This looks friggin' sweet. Nicely done.
A few thoughts, in random order:
I'd run 3Sphere in the board over Tangle Wire (your combo MU looks weak); the blue count in the manabase looks off (maybe -2 Citadel, +2 Island; also, you have a lot of acceleration, but the lack of things that tap for U is going to be a limiting factor in a lot of games); Blinkmoth Nexus may be better than Factory because of Plating (that aside, Factory > Nexus); experiment with Mulldrifter over TFK (this is a Tap-Out Blue style deck, after all); Etherium Sculptor seems meh; as much as I love Plating, Pulp_Fiction has a good point about Jitte -- I had the same experiences playing aFOWnity.
Lastly, Tezzeret? "Cool Things," perhaps, but he could be nutty -- all of his abilities are relevant for this deck.
Etherium Sculptor serves something like the role of Arcbound Worker in Raffinity; it's not there to be a threat but to accelerate your real game and to be made a threat, if need be, by your other cards.
hi-val is right about Cranial Plating. Jitte certainly adds power and versatility, but a delayed +4/+4 a turn simply doesn't compare to +7/+0 right here and now for forcing the opponent to answer it or die.
Right now I'm tinkering with both Ancestral Vision and Tezzeret, trying to see where they might fit in. TfK seems like it will probably be cut.
Darksteel Citadel shouldn't be cut; I really want more artifact lands, not less, in this deck. But I don't think it's worth running wastelandable, off-color lands.
Nexus will probably replace Factory, although the loss of a blocking ability might make such a switch temporary.
Although the manland slot is the most likely to be cut to make way for extra spells or for, say, Academy Ruins.
For my confessions, they burned me with fire/
And found I was for endurance made
Why not leave in TfK and replace Sculptor with Mulldrifter? You'd have 12 draw spells, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.
It has already been established that Sculptor fills a needed role in this deck. I don't really understand why people dislike the card.
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