[DECK] Welderstone Survival

[GGoober]

Background
I have been working on this deck for almost 1-2 months. It began with the traditional GRu Welder Survival list which played both Intuition and Thirst for Knowledge (TfK). The problems with the old list is that it is too dependent on Welder, which was the point of the deck. I tweaked the old traditional list to include enough blue count for Force of Will to give the deck with some resiliency in setting up the Welder combo but FOW was too clunky with a low blow count. I'm still worrying about the lack of counterspell in such a fragile deck. I've been tweaking Next-Level Painter in the meantime and through that process, I found an answer, a possible solution to diversify the Welder Survival's win-conditions without detracting too much into the danger-of-cool things.

I wanted a deck that incorporated Welder activation at instant speed (only possible in Welder Survival with Anger. Legacy Control Slaver has the problem that Welder suffers from a lack of haste, making the deck fragile without countermagic). Looking at some of the Imperial Painter lists that utilized Welder for recursion and advantage to win (e.g.
Activate Grindstone, in response sac Grindstone and weld in Painter to win, or in response to StP on Painter, weld another Painter etc. Welder gives Painterstone combo more resiliency if a piece is countered or destroyed (barring StP/Extirpate effects).

Problems with Survival decks in general is that they are fragile without Survival. That was the main weakness of Welder Survival. Without Survival, it had to resolve TfK to set up the engine, and risk losing Welder altogether before you can activate him. Good Survival decks in the current meta (Elf Survival, Bant Survival, RGBSA) all function decently without Survival in play. Welder Survival perhaps functions the worst without Survival in play. This was the main motivation towards engineering Welderstone Survival. Outside of the Survival gameplan, I can utilizie Painter's Servant and REBs to control the early game, or sometimes win randomly with Painterstone combo. The Tarmogoyfs add to an additional win-condition and with Survival out, you can swing in with multiple hasty goyfs.

This deck still has problems against decks with answers to Survival, but it has become a whole lot less-dependent on it. Survival definitely speeds up the deck and lock in this deck, but it is not required at all. Without Survival, I can still piece up Painterstone, Painterblasts or beat with Goyfs, or set up Welder engine with TfK, but with Survival, I can tutor up Painter/Trinket Mage to fetch up Painterstone combo, or tutor up Jaya with Quirion Ranger to set up permanent REB effects, or tutor up Welder engines to lock the game down in my favor, or just beat with multiple Goyfs. I hope that in reading this thread, you guys understand that this is ultimately a Survival deck, and hence it's reliance on Survival. I have merely tried a deckshell that decreases its reliancy on Survival to function, but if Survival is resolved, the deck plays all the brokenness of Survival.

Without any more talk, here's my latest creation

UPDATED LIST:


DECKLIST: WELDERSTONE SURVIVAL
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Windswept Heath
2 Savannah
4 Taiga
1 Plateau
3 Forest
1 Mountain
2 Tree of Tales

4 Birds of Paradise
3 Goblin Welder
1 Quirion Ranger
3 Qasali Pridemage
1 Gaddock Teeg
4 Tarmogoyf
1 Rofellos
4 Painter's Servant
1 Squee
1 Anger
1 Jaya
1 Grim Poppet
1 Sundering Titan
1 Reaper King

3 Enlightened Tutor
3 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Grindstone
4 Survival of the Fittest

SB:
2 Ethersworn Canonist
5 REBs
2 Krosan Grip
1 Heap Doll
3 Tormod's Crypt
2 Pithing Needle




DECKLIST: WELDERSTONE SURVIVAL (old list)
Lands: 20
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Windswept Heath
4 Taiga
2 Forest
2 Volcanic Island
2 Tropical Island
2 Tree of Tales
1 Academy Ruins

Creatures: 21
3 Goblin Welder
2 Quirion Ranger
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Painter's Servant
1 Rofellos
1 Trinket Mage
1 Jaya, Mage Ballard
1 Squee
1 Anger
1 Master Transmuter
1 Sundering Titan
1 Duplicant

Instants: 10
3 Red Elemental Blast
3 Pyroblast
4 Thirst for Knowledge


Artifacts/Enchantments: 9
4 Survival of the Fittest
3 Chrome Mox
2 Grindstone


SB:
2 Trygon Predator
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Triskelion
1 Platinum Angel
3 Krosan Grip
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Red Elemental blast
1 Pyroblast
3 Firespout



You can play the deck in multiple directions:

- Set up Painter to protect your future plans with blasts.
- Set up Survival to piece up either Painter or Welder combos/locks.
- Play Goyf and stall a little.

I would say this deck plays more like Painter than Survival since the 6 MDed REB effects add to more resiliency in resolving your future spells.
The list is pretty self-explanatory but there are some card choices that may raise questions:


1) No Birds/Elves?
This deck does not run Birds/Elves. It runs 3-4 Chrome Mox which synergizes with Welder. 21 creatures is plenty for a deck that isn't bent on abusing Survival to the fullest (it uses Survival as an advantage engine, not the main engine).

Quirion Ranger:
Quirion Ranger is there to save against Waste-effects, but it allows you to play with less lands, and more crucially, it untaps:
- Welder
- Jaya
- Master Transmuter
- Rofellos
therefore allowing for more options and tricks against StP or Wrath effects.


Rofellos:
- Since the deck does not run birds, Rofellos is needed to generate mana. With Rofellos, you can now play out Duplicant and even Sundering Titan without Welder. More importantly, Rofellos is important in chaining hasty Goyfs to beat for the win.


Trinket Mage:
- In situations where you have Painter and need to win with Grindstone, Trinket Mage can fetch this up. I put 1 in the MD since he also allows me to fetch SB options (Needle/EE/Crypt) if needed with Survival out. He is probably the weakest slot in the deck.


No EWitness?
- Once again, this deck doesn't need Survival, and hence there's no incentive to return Witness. Your other targets are mostly important creatures, which die to StP in Legacy, so witness can't bring them back. I play her in the SB against relevant decks, but she is weak in the MD.


Jaya:
- With Painter out, you can do what Imperial Recruiter does by tutoring her out, but instead, with just one green mana. Jaya locks the game out with Painter in play, and unlike Imperial Recruiter, you can actually start discarding Squee every turn to abuse her even more.


Master Transmuter:
- I'm a huge fan of this blond chick and really want to find a deck for her in Legacy. It just sucks she's 4cc. In this deck, it's more feasible to power her out with either Rofellos/Welder. If she's in play, your engines become more deadly. Painters are now immune to StP as you can vial out/in the Painter that's targeted in response. If you have either Duplicant/Sundering Titan out, you can via them out and in to abuse their CiP effect. It's a win-more strategy, but nevertheless one of those Survival Advantage locks. In traditional RGBSA, you rely on Shriekmaw/Rofellos/Genesis to lock your opponents, but in this build, you rely on Transmuter or Welder + Duplicant/Titan to destroy your opponents. Master Transmuter with haste is a pretty deadly thing, and with Quirion Ranger, you can do multiple tasks that result in your opponents making the bad decisions. If you have Survival in play, your options are diversified as you can tutor up your targets to vial in with her.


Thirst for Knowledge
- I'll be frank on this one. I just like this card. It's probably not suited in this deck, and can be better as something else, e.g. Birds. I do love the draw power of the card and in Chrome Mox builds, a 2nd turn TfK is really nice. I do feel that this is the most out of place card in the deck since the deck isn't too focused on the Welder combo. (Master Transmuter allows you to play out the dudes from your hand, where in regular Welder Survival, you are reliant on the dudes in your yard and without Survival, those dudes will never be in the yard. With Master Transmuter, you can now bring them in without worrying about discarding them for Welder activations).

2 Grindstones:
I think I need to up this to 3 and cut the Trinket Mage. Currently, I only own 2, so I'm playing a suboptimal list.


Other possible MD cards that should be there depending on the meta:

Trygon Predator: I think I'll end up cutting a Trinket Mage for him.
Magus of the Moon: Great card once again.






Matchups: (To be followed up after this weekend's testing with my Legacy group.)

- Against Thresh/Countertop/NLU: you should have a 50/50 or 55/45 matchup at best preboard. MD REBs are big against them. You dudes other than Goyfs are small so Thresh might clock against you while disrupting you with countermagic. This matchup should be focused on setting up Survival and Painters so bait with Welder. Sticking a Goyf means stalling for a few turns. Use REBs only to protect Survival, after which you should own from there. Welders also add another out to countered spells and bringing them back into play uncounterable. Try to win with Goyf beats (preferbly chained via Survival) or win with Painterstone combo. Tempo Thresh is the worst matchup and Canadian Thresh probably has this deck 60/40 at worse in their favor.

SB bring in Shushers and Trygons against Countertop and pack in the 4th REB and Pyroblasts.


Against Landstill
This is a tough and easy matchup depending on whether they have answers to Survival. Bait with Goyfs/Painter. Welder does better against Landstill since you dodge countermagic and try to set up Sundering Titan asap via Transmuter or Welder. Your REBs MD are good here once again.

Matchup should be more favorable than Thresh since there're no Dazes to play against. REBs will counter every blue spell they have and Wrath doesn't stop you if you have Survival out protected.


Eva/Deadguy:
These matchups are considerably harder. Discard isn't too painful unless you're cut on lands. Survival is mana hungry, and so is this deck. They have a fast clock, so you need to try to hit your landdrops consistently. This is where Quirion Ranger shines, so tutor her up whenever possible since it nullifies almost all of their Land destruction spells.


Stax:
Preboard it's doable if you get Painter out. You have to answer Chalice@1, but with Painter out and if you can, fetch Jaya and things get smooth. Post-board get in the Grips/Trygons. Play with their smokestacks and use Welder to your advantage.

Enchantress:
A little tough if they get Confinement, in which you need Grips. If they get both Confinement and Sterling Grove, you're probably locked out. Since their clock is somewhat slow, in that situation, set up Sundering Titan and Transmuter and start destroying their lands and run them out of cards if possible.



Zoo:
- Bad matchup. Burn is bad for you. They have a fast clock too. Try to resolve Goyf and block if able. Post board get in the Firespouts to help a little. If you can stick Painter, then it's good but chances Painter's getting fried and sent farming. You should try to win via Painterstone combo since you cannot match their clock.



Current thoughts and ways to tweak the deck:
+1 Grindstone, +3 BoP, +1 Trygon Predator,
-4 TfK, -1 Trinket Mage.




Any thoughts and criticism will be well-appreciated. I think this is probably the more viable Welder Survival build since like Bant Survival and Elf Survival, it can function better without a Survival in play.