Artificers

[Borg]

Sai of the Shinobi equips for 0 often. You can equip to Valduk (get 3/1 token), then attach to the attacking token (4/2 trample haste) and trigger Stone Haven draw on end step sacrifice. Sai also equips for 0 to hasty Eorlingas tokens, new Saga constructs, or any top-decked creature. Flayer Husk and Mortarpod cost a lot of mana to move around.

Edit: Sai of the Shinobi also attaches to evoked Solitude, triggering the draw from Stone Haven Outfitter when Solitude dies. Maybe some StP/March should be Solitude to have more bodies.

Sorry, it took me so long to reply FTW.
I'll get back to this thread tomorrow but want to reply just quickly to the above points.

In above example, with an Outfitter in play it even becomes a 5/3 ( instead of a 4/2 ) Elemental with Trample and Haste.

Unfortunately you do not draw cards off the Elementals as they are Exiled at EOT, they don't die.

I agree about adding Solitude.
-1 StP and -1 March maybe ?

[Borg]

The roots of this deck go back to a Living Weapons deck I posted in '21.
https://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/...g-Weapons-LW-s
Despite the obvious synergy with Stone Haven Outfitter I ultimately found the LW's too slow and not threatening enough
and started looking for other means to build around the Outfitter.

You're correct about my assessment of Puresteel Paladin.
I've always looked at him as a "combo engine". ( especially with Bloodforged Battle-Axe )
but I'm sure your results don't lie and he's worthy of consideration :)
It still feels awkward to me including him in a deck with Equipment that equips for free.

With the inclusion of the Paladin, I think Shadowspear is just too good to pass up as its equipping cost can now be ignored.

Forth Eorlingas! is a card I have doubts about.
It does nothing that Valduk, keeper of the Flame can't do better imo, except for triggering Monarch, which might not be the best thing to do considering it might benefit the opponent as well.
Valduk can be used every turn, likely generating multiple Elementals per turn while Forth is a "one shot" card that's not going to generate more than 1 or 2 creatures considering that our manabase will usually not grow much beyond 3 or 4 lands.

I'm curious to hear your opinion on Reyav, Master Smith
IMO, this is the best T3 drop together with another Equipment to put on an attacking Champion of the Flame or Outfitter.

Nettlecyst's 3CC is too high for this deck imo and Urza's Saga took over its role.
On T3, ideally you want to play another 1CC Equipment and Reyav, Master Smith or the Outfitter.
If you play Nettlecyst there, you'll usually just get a 2/2 for 3 mana with no additional damage output.
The equip cost is obviously also a negative without a Paladin in play.

Compare :
T1 Sai of the Shinobi
T2 Champion of the Flame
T3 Leather Armor + Reyav, Master Smith
That's a 6/7 Champion with Trample, Double Strike and Ward 1 dealing a potential 12 damage.

T3 Nettlecyst
Here we get only a 4/4 attacking Champion. That's 8 less damage !

I think this deck needs primarily 1CC and 2CC cards to be able to overwhelm the opponent.
3CC cards only for extra strong cards for this strategy. So far only Valduk is worth this high cost imo.

Solitude is certainly worth considering. 1 or 2 copies depends op personal playstyle, I think.

Which brings me to this current decklist :

//CC1
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Shuko
4 Sai of the Shinobi
4 Leather Armor
3 March of Otherworldly Light
1 Shadowspear

//CC2
4 Stone Haven Outfitter
4 Puresteel Paladin
4 Champion of the Flame
3 Reyav, Master Smith
1 Sram, Senior Edificer

//CC3
3 Valduk, Keeper of the Flame

//CC5
1 Solitude

//Lands
4 Urza's Saga
4 Prismatic Vista
4 Plateau
4 Arid Mesa
3 Plains
1 Mountain

[Borg]

Why not add Simian Spirit Guide ?

T1 Champion, Outfitter, Reyav or Sram or
T2 Valduk
What's not to like ?

SSG also helps out with great opening hands with just 1 land and can also help out as a creature if need be.

//CC1
4 Shuko
4 Sai of the Shinobi
4 Leather Armor
3 Swords to Plowshares
2 March of Otherworldly Light
1 Shadowspear

//CC2
4 Stone Haven Outfitter
4 Champion of the Flame
3 Reyav, Master Smith
2 Puresteel Paladin
1 Sram, Senior Edificer

//CC3
4 Simian Spirit Guide
3 Valduk, Keeper of the Flame

//CC5
1 Solitude

//Lands
4 Urza's Saga
4 Prismatic Vista
4 Plateau
4 Arid Mesa
3 Plains
1 Mountain

[Borg]

Puresteel played well for me. Is drawing 2-4 cards not enough?

This line got me thinking.
I already confirmed your point that I was regarding Puresteel more as a combo engine.
But ... if you think of Puresteel NOT as a combo engine, and it is quite OK if you draw just a couple of cards out of him
then I would point out that you can get the same and maybe better results by using Baird, Argivian Recruiter and Jor Kadeen, First Goldwarden

Compare :
Puresteel Paladin
- Needs to get new Equipment in play to draw but the deck only runs 12 Equipment ( 13 if with Shadowspear ) meaning only 1 in 5 card draws.
- Urza's Saga helps but still ... his card draw should/will be minimal and we don't exactly need him to reduce the equip cost.
- Also, take into consideration that this deck usually starts out with an Equipment on T1, so that is already 1 draw opportunity blown for Paladin.
- His double white cost can be a "problem" as this deck normally wants get its Mountain within its first two fetchlands.
- Simian Spirit Guide is of no use to him.

Sram, Senior Edificer
- is easier to get into play but is restricted just as much by the "low" amount of equipment and suffers even more from not drawing off Urza's Saga.

Baird, Argivian Recruiter
- Needs only 1 Sai or Shuko to get his token production going. Add Stone Haven Outfitter and you also have a potential drawing engine in place by getting your equipped tokens killed in battle.
- It's a different approach to getting card draw, it needs 3 parts to set up but not any more after that ( unless disrupted of course, but the same applies to Paladin )
Paladin only needs two parts ( himself and an Equipment, in that specific order ) for his first draw. Then he needs a third card, then a fourth etc. So it becomes more difficult for the Paladin to draw cards.
- Baird is much easier to get into play as he's a possible T1 drop with Simian Spirit Guide

Jor Kadeen, First Goldwarden
- A possible T1 drop with Simian Spirit Guide.
- Slap on a Shuko and you can start drawing cards from T2 on.
- Or play Jor on T2 after a T1 Sai and start drawing from T3 on, no need for other cards.
- Obviously slower ( SumSickness ) but much more reliable after that ( barring destruction ) of course.

Leading me to this build :

//CC1
4 Shuko
4 Sai of the Shinobi
4 Leather Armor
3 Swords to Plowshares
2 March of Otherworldly Light
1 Shadowspear

//CC2
4 Stone Haven Outfitter
4 Champion of the Flame
3 Reyav, Master Smith
1 Kemba, Kha Enduring
1 Jor Kadeen, First Goldwarden
1 Baird, Argivian Recruiter

//CC3
4 Simian Spirit Guide
3 Valduk, Keeper of the Flame

//CC5
1 Solitude

//Lands
4 Urza's Saga
4 Prismatic Vista
4 Plateau
4 Arid Mesa
3 Plains
1 Mountain

[FTW]

Thanks for commenting and feedback!

Did you test games against opponents? Did SSG help win more games?

Why not Simian Spirit Guide? Because it doesn't help the deck's weaknesses. It makes the weaknesses worse.

If you have a perfect opening hand, the deck is already good at producing fast equipped threats and attacking big.

Where it struggles is running out of gas. If opponent stops the first onslaught, the deck quickly runs out of threats, draws "blanks", and gets overwhelmed by opponent's deck. That's where I lost games in testing.

SSG doesn't help that. It helps go faster and bigger. But it also encourages you to blow your hand faster, run out of cards sooner, and then draw bad topdecks.

Have you tried Nettlecyst? It helped me win more games. It increases the count of both equipment & creatures! Then it turns every creature into a dangerous threat.

I found Baird, Argivian Recruiter bad. Don't get trapped into thinking Baird's 1/1s are like drawing cards. Lingering Souls or Battle Screech make 4 1/1 flyers from 1 card. Forth Eorlingas makes X 2/2 haste and gives you the Monarch. Fable of the Mirror-Breaker makes 2 2/2s and draws 2 cards. Baird needs 4 tokens to catch up to what a single card can do without equipment combos. If you want tokens, consider one of those instead. Forth and Fable are among the best RW cards in the format. In this deck, Valduk has more synergy (don't replace Valduk), but Forth and Fable are much better than Baird.

Jor Kadeen looks interesting. It's nice that he counts himself so he draws off +1 equipment (Sai or Shuko), without needing other equipped creatures.

[Borg]

Did you test games against opponents?

My playing opportunities have all but evaporated the last couple of years.
No more FNMs or gamenights recently. ( btw started playing right before release of Stronghold - Tempest Block )
My regular ( but recently very absent ) playing partner promised me we would sit down on Sunday ( before SB ) and schedule some meetings. so there's hope.

Did SSG help win more games?

Apart from the occasional T1 Champion or T2 Valduk, I agree it's not very good drawing SSG later in the game.
Cut.

Have you tried Nettlecyst? It helped me win more games. It increases the count of both equipment & creatures! Then it turns every creature into a dangerous threat.

I have no doubt about Nettlecyst's power, only its CC worries me some.
I feel like its cost may be too high for the P/T it brings early. Later, with more equipment in play ... great.

If you have a perfect opening hand, the deck is already good at producing fast equipped threats and attacking big. Where it struggles is running out of gas. If opponent stops the first onslaught, the deck quickly runs out of threats, draws "blanks", and gets overwhelmed by opponent's deck. That's where I lost games in testing.

Looking to up the creature count :
Fervent Champion
- T1 drop and damage.
- Can pick up Nettlecyst, Shadowspear, Sai of the Shinobi for free.
- Has survivability with First Strike.
- Late game bomb capacity, just like valduk. ( pick up every Equipment in one go and hit hard )

And for a reliable way to draw cards, I have to admit, Forth Eorlingas! is very likely the best choice.

Jor Kadeen, First Goldwarden looks interesting. It's nice that he counts himself so he draws off +1 equipment (Sai or Shuko), without needing other equipped creatures.

My thoughts exactly, :)


//CC1
4 Shuko
4 Sai of the Shinobi
4 Leather Armor
3 Swords to Plowshares
2 March of Otherworldly Light
2 Esper Sentinel
1 Shadowspear

//CC2
4 Stone Haven Outfitter
4 Champion of the Flame
3 Reyav, Master Smith
2 Forth Eorlingas!
1 Jor Kadeen, First Goldwarden

//CC3
3 Valduk, Keeper of the Flame
2 Nettlecyst

//CC5
1 Solitude

//Lands
4 Urza's Saga
4 Prismatic Vista
4 Plateau
4 Arid Mesa
3 Plains
1 Mountain

[Borg]

Replaced Fervent Champion with Esper Sentinel.

[Borg]

Several new cards have been released that would fit this deck.

The most interesting imo is a common : Nettle Guard
For 2 mana you get 3 Power and the ability to destroy artifacts or enchantments without the need to tap for it.
That's nice for starters but it becomes very good within the concept of this deck.

This deck likes to start T1 with an Equipment, T2 play a creature, T3 play Reyav, Master Smith, Stone Haven Outfitter or Akiri, Fearless Voyager.

Thus, something like :
T1 Shuko
T2 Nettle Guard
T3 Attach Shuko = become 4/3,
then play Reyav, Master Smith and attack with double strike for a possible 8 damage
or play Stone Haven Outfitter and attack with a 5/4. If Nettle Guard dies or would destroy an artifact or enchantment you draw a card for it thanks to the outfitter.
or play Akiri, Fearless Voyager to draw a card just for attacking with the Mouse.

This deck needs a couple of turns to set up but can hit pretty hard from T3 on and Nettle Guard may just prove to be the missing card to interact with opposing play.

Another fit seems to be Lost Jitte:
Can be tutored for with Urza's saga
No need to damage opponent to trigger, just dealing "damage" is enough
Double Strike from Reyav, Master Smith can ramp up the counters quickly
All three abilities are useful.
EDIT : replaced by Vexing Bauble

A card included on a try-out basis : Ajani, Nacatl Pariah // Ajani, Nacatl Avenger

I replaced Forth Eorlingas! with Akiri, Fearless Voyager
They basically play at the same time in the game ( T3 ) and Akiri gives you the same effect ( card draw ) without the need to connect and with the added bonus of now also having a creature on board with a useful ability.
There's also no risk of losing the Monarch.

Current build :

//CC1
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Shuko
4 Sai of the Shinobi
4 Leather Armor
1 Shadowspear
1 Vexing Bauble

//CC2
4 Stone Haven Outfitter
4 Champion of the Flame
3 Reyav, Master Smith
3 Nettle Guard
1 Jor Kadeen, First Goldwarden
1 Ajani, Nacatl Pariah // Ajani, Nacatl Avenger

//CC3
2 Akiri, Fearless Voyager
2 Valduk, Keeper of the Flame

//Lands
4 Urza's Saga
4 Plateau
4 Battlefield Forge
4 Arid Mesa
3 Plains
2 Karakas
1 Mountain