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Thread: Affinity Aggro 2021

  1. #41
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    Re: Affinity Aggro 2021

    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Safety View Post
    I am tempted to cut the Ethersworn Sphinx's and play a pair of Paradoxical Outcome. For this to work i need as many free artifact spells as possible, so I would rework the list to include full sets of Enforcer/Companion and possibly more zero drops. I would want to be drawing at least 4-5 cards and have ways of getting them back down. The next question would be how to make that pay off. I'm not sure exactly yet, but there has to be something juicy.
    That seems like a very different deck, one that probably wants Mystic Forge to also cast all the free spells off the top.

    e.g.


    //Artifacts: 18
    4 Lotus Petal
    4 Mox Opal
    4 Springleaf Drum
    1 Pithing Needle
    1 Aether Spellbomb
    1 Shadowspear
    3 Mystic Forge

    //Creatures: 20
    4 Ornithopter
    4 Memnite
    4 Frogmite
    4 Sojourner's Companion
    4 Thought Monitor

    //Spells: 6
    4 Thoughtcast
    2 Paradoxical Outcome

    //Lands: 16
    4 Urza's Saga
    4 Seat of the Synod
    4 Darksteel Citadel
    4 Island

    //Sideboard: 15
    1 Relic of Progenitus
    3 Tormod's Crypt
    4 Nettlecyst
    4 Metallic Rebuke
    1 Flusterstorm
    2 Dismember


    The problem with this strategy is that to make room for Outcome/Forge you can't cut 0-drops, so you have to cut business. The deck then gets very good at drawing cards but becomes worse at playing aggro. If you cut 0 drops instead, it loses the gas to make the engine work. I think your aggro plan is better than this.

  2. #42

  3. #43
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    Re: Affinity Aggro 2021

    Good responses, I did see the Emry list. Replaying Monitors sounds really good, along with the dig and body.
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  4. #44
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    Re: Affinity Aggro 2021

    I'm working on this deck again, definitely including Kappa Cannoneer and Reality Heist. I think they are both really powerful in this shell due to the amount of speed in the affinity engine. The cards drawn will be addition threats in the form of more Companions/Enforcers/Frogmites. Dig through Time for artifacts? Sign me up!
    Brainstorm Realist

    I close my eyes and sink within myself, relive the gift of precious memories, in need of a fix called innocence. - Chuck Shuldiner

  5. #45

    Re: Affinity Aggro 2021



    The decklist is most impressive. I would like to nominate The Reality Chip and Mox Amber to be experimented with. The Reality Chip is much like Mystic Forge that I have been working with that can enable you to play a large amount of cards and has several synergies. Mox Amber can be added if there are a combination of The Reality Chip, Emry, Lurker of the Loch and Sai, Master Thopterist in the deck.

  6. #46

    Re: Affinity Aggro 2021

    Is reality chip a better legendary than erayo or Urza? Erayo requires no additional mana investment and urza plays better against hate.

    Also the kappa cannoneer is absurd and pulls you away from legendaries.

  7. #47

    Re: Affinity Aggro 2021

    But then I say to myself, why not both?

    Legendary blue artifacts.


    4 Emry, Lurker or the Loch
    4 Erayo, soratami ascendant
    4 Reality Chip
    2 Sai, Master Thopterist

    4 Thoughtcast
    4 Force of Will

    4 Lotus Petal
    4 Mishra’s Bauble
    4 Urza’s Bauble
    3 Mox Amber
    4 Mox Opal
    1 Soulguide Lantern
    1 Retrofitter Foundry
    1 Shadowspear

    3 Ancient Tomb
    1 Island
    3 Ottawara, Soaring City
    4 Seat of the Synod
    4 Urza’s Saga


    Compared to the kappa list from this weekend you have erayo over chalice (maybe better vs hate, less non-boes, improves blue count), reality chip over kappa (a definite downgrade) and mox amber over the least important saga targets (probably an upgrade). You are a lot worse at killing the opponent but can afford more generic interaction (more legendaries for ottawara, enough blue to support 4 fow)
    Last edited by Reeplcheep; 02-23-2022 at 12:51 PM.

  8. #48

    Re: Affinity Aggro 2021

    Quote Originally Posted by Reeplcheep View Post
    But then I say to myself, why not both?

    Legendary blue artifacts.


    4 Emry, Lurker or the Loch
    4 Erayo, soratami ascendant
    4 Reality Chip
    2 Sai, Master Thopterist

    4 Thoughtcast
    4 Force of Will

    4 Lotus Petal
    4 Mishra’s Bauble
    4 Urza’s Bauble
    3 Mox Amber
    4 Mox Opal
    1 Soulguide Lantern
    1 Retrofitter Foundry
    1 Shadowspear

    3 Ancient Tomb
    1 Island
    3 Ottawara, Soaring City
    4 Seat of the Synod
    4 Urza’s Saga


    Compared to the kappa list from this weekend you have erayo over chalice (maybe better vs hate, less non-boes, improves blue count), reality chip over kappa (a definite downgrade) and mox amber over the least important saga targets (probably an upgrade). You are a lot worse at killing the opponent but can afford more generic interaction (more legendaries for ottawara, enough blue to support 4 fow)
    Erayo, Soratami Ascendant I think is good as a one or two of because you can only have one of in play, it takes a very specific sequence of things to happen in order for it to flip and the opponent can play around it though it is still an effective card in the deck. I am thinking Chalice of the Void is good because it costs colorless mana, it can effect the abilities of all the win conditions in addition to having synergies with half of the deck and has a proven track record. I think one The Reality Chip is necessary because you can only use one, it is dependent upon a creature and costs five mana to use.

    The following decklist (by me) is a good balance of strong aggression, an abundance of card advantage and an effective amount of disruption while being synergistic.

    4x Kappa Cannoneer (Probably the strongest Win Condition in the deck)
    4x Sai, Master Thopterist (Another win condition, card advantage, synergy)
    4x Emry, Lurker of the Loch (Card advantage, gets back artifacts, synergy)
    1x The Reality Chip (Card advantage, synergy)
    4x Thoughtcast (Card advantage, synergy)
    4x Force of Will (Disruption, protection, enough blue cards to support)

    4x Chalice of the Void (Disruption, synergy)
    4x Mox Opal (mana, support artifact)
    4x Lotus Petal (mana, support artifact)
    1x Mox Amber (mana, support artifact)
    1x Chrome Mox (mana, support artifact)
    4x Mishra’s Bauble (10x card draw, information, support artifact)
    4x Urza’s Bauble
    2x Lodestone Bauble

    4x Seat of the Synod (mana, support artifact)
    4x Ancient Tomb (mana)
    4x Urza’s Saga (mana, another win condition, card advantage)
    2x Otawara, Soaring City (mana, disruption)
    1x Island (mana)

  9. #49

    Re: Affinity Aggro 2021

    Without enough legendaries to justify multiple mox amber and enough mox ambers to justify the extra legendaries, I am worried this is just a bad stock list. Are the cute one ofs better than a couple thought monitors and saga targets of the stock list (foundry, shadowspear, soulguide, needle etc)?

  10. #50

    Re: Affinity Aggro 2021

    Quote Originally Posted by Reeplcheep View Post
    Without enough legendaries to justify multiple mox amber and enough mox ambers to justify the extra legendaries, I am worried this is just a bad stock list. Are the cute one ofs better than a couple thought monitors and saga targets of the stock list (foundry, shadowspear, soulguide, needle etc)?
    Kappa Cannoneer I believe has significantly changed this deck. The deck list I provided in my last post is focused around getting Kappa Cannoneer out fast and/or getting Sai, Master Thopterist out fast and generating Thopter Tokens. Urza’s Saga is used as a secondary win condition.

    I only recommend one Mox Amber because it is a secondary blue mana source, by the time you already have a Legendary Creature on the battlefield you should already have a blue mana source. Mox Amber by itself cannot produce the mana needed to start the deck off.

    The deck list has numerous one drop artifacts because it helps to power Improvise and Affinity. The largest mana cost in the deck is Sai, Master Thopterist and can be managed to be cast on turn one with many follow up zero drops. The deck is built around zero drops for alternate casting strategies, card advantage, and fast creatures with some disruption to slow down the opponent.

    I did not include Thought Monitor because I think it is too slow and you don’t really need a 2/2 that much now that Kappa Cannoneer can be used and the rest of the deck has enough card advantage to work quite well.

    I think Retrofitter Foundry is obsolete now that Kappa Cannoneer exists. To get a benefit of Retrofitter Foundry you have to have both it, Sai, Master Thopterist and a Thopter Token on the battlefield to use. Going through all this trouble to get a 4/4 may been too much and using the rest of the card is slow. Getting onto the battlefield with Urza’s Saga I believe is too slow as well. Chalice of the Void with one counter on it is also something to consider.

    I believe Soul-Guide Lantern and Shadowspear are too situational to be useful and can also get in the way of Chalice of the Void in addition to costing mana. You can sideboard situational cards in later.

    Maybe Pithing Needle can be added to the main deck since it has proven to be useful against most decks but still situational and Chalice of the Void gets in the way.

  11. #51
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    Re: Affinity Aggro 2021

    I think for a good aggressive deck with Kappas the whole midrange/legendary approach is too distracting. Better to just play an Emry/traditional 8cast build. My budget version doesn't need Mox Amber, not with Opals and Drums.

    I do however love the Erayo idea, it should be pretty easy to enable and can steal some games.
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    I close my eyes and sink within myself, relive the gift of precious memories, in need of a fix called innocence. - Chuck Shuldiner

  12. #52
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    Re: Affinity Aggro 2021

    Hi,

    It 's been ages since I posted in The Source. The printing of Cannoneer Kappa inspired me to play legacy again, so here's my take. I don't have a sideboard yet, my last legacy game was 5 years ago I don't know much of the meta. Patchwork Automaton is a faster and more fragile Kappa Cannoneer, it seems great in Vintage and playable here. A sol land, then Kappa and a few baubles looks like a nice first turn. I like Kappa/Patchwork and Paradoxical Outcome for the killing blow.

    Urza's Saga *4 Mana + win con
    Seat of the Synod *4
    City of Traitors *4
    Ancient Tomb *4
    Kappa Cannoneer *4 win con
    Mox Opal*4
    Urza's Bauble *4
    Mishra's Bauble *4
    Lotus Petal *4
    Artificer's Assistant *4
    Grim Monolith *4
    Repeal *4 protection + let us recast 0 mana value artifacts, or grim monolith if need be
    Patchwork Automaton *4 win con
    Paradoxical Outcome *4 win con
    Force of Will *4

  13. #53

    Re: Affinity Aggro 2021

    Crushing it with Affinity Aggro in the kitchen,

    MD
    4 Sojourner's Companion
    4 Myr Enforcer
    4 Frogmite
    4 Ornithopter
    4 Memnite
    4 Thought Monitor
    4 Thoughtcast
    4 Nettlecyst
    4 Cranial Plating
    4 Springleaf Drum
    4 Mox Opal
    4 Seat of the Synod
    4 Darksteel Citadel
    4 Vault of Whispers
    4 Urza's Saga
    SB
    4 Force of Will
    3 ???
    4 Chalice of the Void
    4 Leyline of the Void

    I have had various thoughts on this archetype, mainly weather or not to use more or less blue cards to support Force of Will or take the pressure off of the blue manabase. Thought Monitor can be clunky compared to Thoughtcast, as the additional 2 mana is hardly worth the 2/2 flyer compared to a more robust threat like Arcbound Ravager. People always assume you SB Force of Will, and while you can I certainly prefer to play my Aggro Deck without counterspells in order to maintain velocity - the threat of boarding it in is possibly better than the reality of doing so. I think Tormod's Crypt as hate leans too heavily into artifact removal, and the deck is better off throwing the format a curve ball with Leyline of the Void.
    Last edited by Final Fortune; 04-14-2022 at 10:48 AM.

  14. #54
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    Re: Affinity Aggro 2021

    Is Emry better than some of the other affinity creatures (also boosting blue count for FoW)? Or are you just on 4/4 beatdown.dec?

    For those SB slots, consider Saga targets: Pithing Needle, Grafdigger's Cage, Aether Spellbomb, ...

    Is Nettlecyst better than Cranial Plating now?

  15. #55

    Re: Affinity Aggro 2021

    Quote Originally Posted by FTW View Post
    Is Emry better than some of the other affinity creatures (also boosting blue count for FoW)? Or are you just on 4/4 beatdown.dec?

    For those SB slots, consider Saga targets: Pithing Needle, Grafdigger's Cage, Aether Spellbomb, ...

    Is Nettlecyst better than Cranial Plating now?
    Quote Originally Posted by FTW View Post
    Is Emry better than some of the other affinity creatures (also boosting blue count for FoW)? Or are you just on 4/4 beatdown.dec?

    For those SB slots, consider Saga targets: Pithing Needle, Grafdigger's Cage, Aether Spellbomb, ...

    Is Nettlecyst better than Cranial Plating now?
    I don't think Nettlecyst competes with Cranial Plating's spot at all, because Nettlecyst is more of a combination of Master of Ethereum and Urza's Saga in a single card than it is unblockable, instant speed burst damage. To me, I'd rather cut Kappa Cannoneer for Nettlecyst as a difficult to remove, scalable threat, but one that doesn't require me to have blue mana or spend creatures to play it. I'm iterating on several lists to see what's better in practice, as I feel Nettlecyst, Master of Etherium and Kappa Cannoneer are all great cards, but it comes down to whether or not I want to play more threats or keep the Thoughtcast and Thoughtmonitor engine. The value of black mana is extremely high in Affinity for Cranial Plating's activated ability, but the value of blue is arguable, as I could just run Phyrexian Ravager, Walking Ballista or Patchwork Automoton to turn into a colorless aggro deck with a better SB color for removal - green. Thoughtmonitor simply isn't Thoughtcast in terms of its ability to come down on turn 1, and by turn 2 you could be scaling into 3 mana for the fatties.

    Next iteration looks like,

    -4 Kappa Cannoneer
    +4 Nettlecyst

    I really don't get everyone's obsession with Lotus Petal, while it's a fine enabler and accelerator it doesn't mana ramp the deck up into a sustainable 3 mana to keep pumping out Urza tokens. My main issue with Kappa Cannoneer is that he's an off tempo threat and slow(er) to scale up for evasive beats, and the thing is Cranial Plating has evasive beats covered if you can Zerg into the enemy and hit double Black, while all of the 3cc cards are better on defense - also they fight through Terminus. The SB only needs 7 blue cards to support Force of Will at 15, and I think cutting Springleaf Drum and Nettlecyst are the obvious choices for the matchups where you want them - leaving Leyline and Chalice of the Void for the "okie dokie."

    A lot of you seem to be drowning in the "danger of cool things" Blue cards, IMO, the deck can go wide, go tall, slip through or grind up without Time Walking your opponent with Kappa Cannoneer or getting choked for Blue mana on banalities.

  16. #56
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    Re: Affinity Aggro 2021

    Quote Originally Posted by Final Fortune View Post
    Crushing it with Affinity Aggro in the kitchen,

    MD
    4 Sojourner's Companion
    4 Myr Enforcer
    4 Frogmite
    4 Ornithopter
    4 Memnite
    4 Thought Monitor
    4 Thoughtcast
    4 Nettlecyst
    4 Cranial Plating
    4 Springleaf Drum
    4 Mox Opal
    4 Seat of the Synod
    4 Darksteel Citadel
    4 Vault of Whispers
    4 Urza's Saga
    SB
    4 Force of Will
    3 ???
    4 Chalice of the Void
    4 Leyline of the Void

    I have had various thoughts on this archetype, mainly weather or not to use more or less blue cards to support Force of Will or take the pressure off of the blue manabase. Thought Monitor can be clunky compared to Thoughtcast, as the additional 2 mana is hardly worth the 2/2 flyer compared to a more robust threat like Arcbound Ravager. People always assume you SB Force of Will, and while you can I certainly prefer to play my Aggro Deck without counterspells in order to maintain velocity - the threat of boarding it in is possibly better than the reality of doing so. I think Tormod's Crypt as hate leans too heavily into artifact removal, and the deck is better off throwing the format a curve ball with Leyline of the Void.
    Love it, it's the kind of setup I started with. I'm trying to get a full set of Kappa Cannoneer (found 2 so far) to get the blue count higher maindeck. It's definitely better than nettlecyst, which was clunky for me. I made the blue count in the sideboard with 4x FoW, 2x Force of Negation, 2x Brazen Borrower, along with 12 maindeck blue cards. I don't really like the Leyline plan, not when Urza's Saga is so efficient at nabbing cheap grave hate. This deck has a surprising amount of velocity, so finding Sideboard cards in enough time to count is realistic. Leylines also pressures you into worse mulligan decisions, something that is already challenging without Thoughtcast/Monitor in the opening hand.

    I waffle on Chalice of the Void, mostly because without Ancient Tombs it is harder to support.

    Kappa Cannoneer, from all reports I've read or heard, is the stone cold nuts. Nettlecyst is powerful for sure, it's just that Plating is more efficient as an equipment while Cannoneer has protection, grows, and is unblockable. Maybe it isn't a 4-of, but having access to Cannoneer seems good to me.

    You want to talk danger of cool cards? I was trying Ethersworn Sphinx when it first came out, lol. It even cascades into Enforcer/Companion! I jest, it was hard to cast at UW and it sometimes just cascaded into just a Memnite.
    Brainstorm Realist

    I close my eyes and sink within myself, relive the gift of precious memories, in need of a fix called innocence. - Chuck Shuldiner

  17. #57

    Re: Affinity Aggro 2021

    Finally, landed on a version that I am completely happy with.

    MD
    4 Sojourner's Companion
    4 Myr Enforcer
    4 Frogmite
    4 Ornithopter
    4 Memnite
    4 Kappa Cannoneer
    4 Echo of Eons
    4 Thoughtcast
    4 Cranial Plating
    4 Lion's Eye Diamond
    4 Mox Opal
    4 Seat of the Synod
    4 Vault of Secrets
    4 Darksteel Citadel
    4 Urza's Saga

    SB
    4 Force of Will
    4 Chalice of the Void
    4 Tormod's Crypt
    1 Grafdigger's Cage
    1 Pithing Needle
    1 Cursed Scroll

    The main thing is deciding between Echo of Eons and Lion's Eye Diamond or Thought Monitor and Lotus Petal, where Lion's Eye Diamond fuels both Echo of Eon's and Cranial Plating activations and Lotus Petal powers out blue cards, Chalice of the Void and Cranial Plating.

    Here is a monoblack, colorless build as well.

    MD
    4 Sojourner's Companion
    4 Myr Enforcer
    4 Frogmite
    4 Ornithopter
    4 Memnite
    4 Phyrexian Ravager
    4 Phyrexian Walker
    4 Chalice of the Void
    4 Cranial Plating
    4 Mox Opal
    4 Lotus Petal
    4 Ancient Tomb
    4 Urza's Saga
    4 Vault of Secrets
    4 Darksteel Citadel

    SB
    4 Leyline of the Void
    4 Thorn of Amethyst
    4 Sphere of Resistance
    1 Pithing Needle
    1 Tormod's Crypt
    1 Cursed Scroll
    Last edited by Final Fortune; 05-10-2022 at 10:29 AM.

  18. #58
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    Re: Affinity Aggro 2021

    I'm going to try your first version, but take your alternate route with Lotus Petal/Monitor (I don't have LEDs.) I really like it, especially the Force Sideboard and Scroll tech.
    Brainstorm Realist

    I close my eyes and sink within myself, relive the gift of precious memories, in need of a fix called innocence. - Chuck Shuldiner

  19. #59

    Re: Affinity Aggro 2021

    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Safety View Post
    I'm going to try your first version, but take your alternate route with Lotus Petal/Monitor (I don't have LEDs.) I really like it, especially the Force Sideboard and Scroll tech.
    Petal seems better than Drum, good luck with it.

    Edit: Thought Monitor and Lotus Petal version appears quite decent, it supports Force of Will and Chalice of the Void a lot better than I would have first believed.
    Last edited by Final Fortune; 05-19-2022 at 01:18 PM.

  20. #60
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    Re: Affinity Aggro 2021

    Advocate checking Michiko's Reign of Truth in some/most of the Cranial Plating slots. You can get the deck so aggro building along Erayo/Emry synergy lines that all the Thoughtcasts seem too slow ;^D
    "Thunder Bluff is durable and flexible enough that variations, as long as they're well reasoned and tested, don't make for inferiority, necessarily. Even if one build performs better than the other on a consistant basis." - My Name Is Scott

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