[Deck] Affinity

[Pltnmngl]

Agreed. I just playtested and was not satisfied enough...

Have you changed your sideboard at all? Maybe use Mindbreak Trap against combo...

[FieryBalrog]

@ Mystical_Jackass



Nothing sad about it. I love playing Affinity. I will admit its weaknesses and the likely future of the deck in this format.



There is always a possibility that they'll make an incredible card for Affinity. I think it is unlikely though. This is a deck that conjures up bad feelings for lots of T2 players. MoE did surprise me though, so you never know.


@ Pltnmngl



Tribal included.

We've seen many different tribes actually become playable, but none are dominant. Catering will make no difference. In time (it could be quite a while for some), Combat synergy decks will fade. Even Goblins has been kept in check, and not by any combo winter (the assumed bane of its viability), but rather by the big green creature.

While WoTC clearly wants to make their tribal fans happy, they aren't going to make the same tribal mistakes like "Goblin Lackey" anymore. Even M10 really didn't do 'all' that much for Tribal decks (although, I think the elf lord is the best in the set). I will admit though, I think Goblin Lackey + goblins will always have a shot at winning, but I'm not convinced by any other tribe.

Wizards has, however, continued to create isolated, powerful, and extremely undercosted creatures in many colors. Tarmogoyf and Dark Confidant type creatures are the real future of Legacy. Yes, WotC gives some love to Tribal/synergy decks, but they will continue to produce those 1-2 chase rare creatures each block that are vastly superior to any tribal card as standalone creatures.

I thought this was a very interesting post indeed, but I had to point out that ironically, in the last few months, Goblins got two of its best creatures ever since Onslaught- Goblin Chieftan and Warren Instigator.

I certainly don't think its a cut and dry matter. Because Affinity also got an excellent lord just 6 months ago with Master of Etherium and no one was expecting that, either. And Elvish Archdruid is another ridiculous lord for elves; Merfolk now run with 12 lords as well.

[4eak]

I was as surprised as anyone to see Instigator (you bring up an older cards like MoE, which was already Affinity long before I said what I did). The cards are good, even for the Legacy power curve. Mind you, I still don't think Goblins has the same stranglehold on the format as it had before, and that is still due to the power of Fish.

More importantly, even if they did choose to make some good cards for combat-synergy decks, they aren't doing so at the same rate as they make them for Fish in general. I think the trend I suggested will continue though. You'll notice that Fish has also picked up some fat loot in the past couple sets.

• Fetchlands
• Path to Exile
• Volcanic Fallout
• Noble Hierarch
• Knight of the Reliquary
• Progenitus
• Qasali Pridemage
• Maelstrom Pulse
• Wild Nacatl

I'd classify Pridemage as more format warping than something like Instigator. Additionally, fetchlands are subtle, but they also will have serious longterm impact our format's ability to splash any random set of colors together at will.

I still think WotC is more likely to create Legacy-viable Fish cards than combat-synergy cards. They may change, but so far, I think they continue that trend.





peace,
4eak

[FieryBalrog]

I was as surprised as anyone to see Instigator (you bring up an older cards like MoE, which was already Affinity long before I said what I did). The cards are good, even for the Legacy power curve. Mind you, I still don't think Goblins has the same stranglehold on the format as it had before, and that is still due to the power of Fish.

More importantly, even if they did choose to make some good cards for combat-synergy decks, they aren't doing so at the same rate as they make them for Fish in general. I think the trend I suggested will continue though. You'll notice that Fish has also picked up some fat loot in the past couple sets.

• Fetchlands
• Path to Exile
• Volcanic Fallout
• Noble Hierarch
• Knight of the Reliquary
• Progenitus
• Qasali Pridemage
• Maelstrom Pulse
• Wild Nacatl

I'd classify Pridemage as more format warping than something like Instigator. Additionally, fetchlands are subtle, but they also will have serious longterm impact our format's ability to splash any random set of colors together at will.

I still think WotC is more likely to create Legacy-viable Fish cards than combat-synergy cards. They may change, but so far, I think they continue that trend.





peace,
4eak

Well, if Naya Zoo is a Fish deck I guess I could buy that, but I don't see how it is. Isn't fish a name for a disruptive blue based weenie deck, like hatebear.dec? The big winner since Alara came out has definitely been Naya Zoo, with Pridemage, Nacatl and Thoctar all specifically targeted at it. I actually believe this as a conscious decision by WotC to up the power of white and green in Legacy and I don' think they'll necessarily be doing the same for blue-based aggro-control.

Blue-based aggro-control only picked up Noble Hierarch and Rhox War Monk as far as I can tell in the past year in the Bant colors.

I do see your point though, but I think we're actually moving on from that phase anyhow, and we can't necessarily expect that level of creature goodies in the future. And The printings in Zendikar and M10 certainly indicate that WotC plans to print great Tribal stuff too.

[4eak]

I do consider Zoo to be Fish. Fish is a very broad term in my mind; and I just call it a highly adaptable deck with Low-CC creatures (often utility creatures) + tempo-based control. If Zoo only pointed burn at the head, then I wouldn't say it was Fish. The fact that it plays control elements (versatile ones at that) makes Zoo an aggro-control deck that fits the bill of fish (even if it isn't the traditional blue). It makes sense that an aggro-control deck that isn't blue based could possibly be successful in this format; burn is a great control strategy in slower environments where undercosted P/T creatures still retain meaning. Its a very aggressive version of Fish.

Something like Affinity is just raw aggro. It looks at damage in terms of a combo deck over several turns; seeking to avoid interaction in large part. Zoo is more equipped to interact (albeit, it is still quite capable of winning before you can make serious use of cards like CB, etc.).

WotC does show interest in making tribal viable. I would like to point out that the vast majority of Tribal will still only be tier 2 or 3, even after the buffs they've received. Most tribes are simply entering the Sea of Fish decks which has long comprised a large portion of Legacy's tier 2/3.





peace,
4eak

[luckme10]

What are your guys thoughts on Vial Affinity using the Thopter Foundry and Sword of the Meek combination heavily used in Extended, and cited as a possible port into legacy by Doug Linn:

[stacker]

incompatible with master of etherium

[Black Rain]

Not that I advocate the inclusion of the combo in the deck, but how is it incompatible with MOE, i think infinite(well as much mana as you have to pay for the combo) 2/2 flyers that grow MOE is actually pretty good with MOE, not for affinity but in a shell thats designed to break the combo

[stacker]

how do you plan to attach sword of the meek to a 2/2

[Black Rain]

Touche'.............Maybe im wrong about layering effects(Humility anyone? ), but I thought as the token comes into play it's initially a 1/1 which you attach to sword and then layer MOE's effet, on second thought , you're right, still could play Moe after you have about ten tokens

[Zinch]

Well, you always can sacrifice the MoE to the foundry if you want, but obviously is not the greatest combo (I'm referng to the MoE - Sword combination)

[kinda]

I do want the painter combo in the deck, just not sure where. Comments apprectiated.

List 1:
4x Painter's Servant
4x Frogmite
4x Myr Enforcer
4x Arcbound Ravager
4x Master of Etherium
3x Ehtersworn Canonist

3x Grindstone
3x Enlightened Tutor
1x Oblivion Ring
3x Springleaf Drum
4x Cranial Plating
4x Thoughtcast

4x City of Brass
4x Seat of the Synod
4x Ancient Den
4x Vault of Whispers
3x Blinkmoth Nexus

SB:
3x Aether Vial
3x Ornithopter
4x Disciple of the Vault
2x Pithing Needle
2x Tormod's Crypt
1x Hanna's Custody


List 2:

4x Frogmite
4x Myr Enforcer
4x Arcbound Ravager
4x Disciple of the Vault
4x Master of Etherium
4x Ornithopter

3x Springleaf Drum
4x Cranial Plating
4x Thoughtcast
3x Fling
3x Shrapnel Blast

3x City of Brass
4x Seat of the Synod
4x Ancient Den
4x Vault of Whispers
4x Great Furnace

SB:
2x Ethersworn Canonist
1x Pithing Needle
1x Tormod's Crypt
4x Painter's Servant
3x Grindstone
4x Enlightened Tutor

[Jeff Kruchkow]

I do want the painter combo in the deck, just not sure where. Comments apprectiated.

List 1:
4x Painter's Servant
4x Frogmite
4x Myr Enforcer
4x Arcbound Ravager
4x Disciple of the Vault
4x Master of Etherium

3x Grindstone
3x Enlightened Tutor
1x Oblivion Ring
3x Springleaf Drum
4x Cranial Plating
4x Thoughtcast

3x City of Brass
4x Seat of the Synod
4x Ancient Den
4x Vault of Whispers
3x Blinkmoth Nexus

SB:
3x Aether Vial
3x Ornithopter
4x Ethersworn Canonist
1x Pithing Needle
3x Tormod's Crypt
1x Hanna's Custody


List 2:

4x Frogmite
4x Myr Enforcer
4x Arcbound Ravager
4x Disciple of the Vault
4x Master of Etherium
4x Ornithopter

3x Springleaf Drum
4x Cranial Plating
4x Thoughtcast
3x Fling
3x Shrapnel Blast

3x City of Brass
4x Seat of the Synod
4x Ancient Den
4x Vault of Whispers
4x Great Furnace

SB:
2x Ethersworn Canonist
1x Pithing Needle
1x Tormod's Crypt
4x Painter's Servant
3x Grindstone
4x Enlightened Tutor

seems like a bad idea. The point of a different SB plan is to avoid hate. But servant/stone combo folds to the same hate as affinity.

[kinda]

Huh? Aside from hurkyll's recall and shattering spree the hate is very different. The fling plan is much faster and more overwhelming, while the painter plan is slower but more stable. List one is changed slightly now with canonist md.

[Exospaciac]

I'm gonna be going to a Legacy tournament in a few weeks and will be playing affinity because, well, that's all I can afford to play right now.

Unfortunately, I don't have either Tree of Tales or Krosan Grip, so I'm gonna have to be running either white or red for the 3rd color.

I'm not 100% sure of the metagame, but I know there's a lot of zoo for sure.

I'm working with what I have. This is the deck so far:

// Lands
4 [DS] Darksteel Citadel
1 [5E] City of Brass
1 [MR] Glimmervoid
4 [MR] Vault of Whispers
4 [MR] Seat of the Synod
4 [MR] Ancient Den

// Creatures
4 [MR] Disciple of the Vault
4 [DS] Arcbound Ravager
4 [MR] Myr Enforcer
4 [MR] Frogmite
4 [MR] Ornithopter
4 [DS] Arcbound Worker
3 [ALA] Master of Etherium

// Spells
4 [DS] AEther Vial
4 [FD] Cranial Plating
3 [LRW] Springleaf Drum
4 [MR] Thoughtcast

// Sideboard
SB: 3/4 [UL] Engineered Plague
SB: 2 [ALA] Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 [SOK] Pithing Needle
SB: 2 [FNM] Tormod's Crypt
SB: 3/4 [TSB] Disenchant

I'm not sure if Disenchant would even be worth running in the SB, seeing as how it's so easy to counter. If I had enough Canonists I'd run 4 over the Disenchants, but I dunno if I'd be able to get them in time.

Engineered Plague is something I thought would be useful against a number of decks. Against tribal decks it's pretty obvious, but it also can really help against Dredge. One plague on horror/spirit keeps them from bringing their Ichorids/Bloodghasts back. Two plagues on zombie can be used too, if you're desperate I guess.

The rest of the SB is pretty obvious. 2/2 split on relic/crypt to help combat needles for dredge. Pithing Needle does so much, it doesn't really explaining.

Besides going for the KGrips and Trees which prolly won't happen, does the deck look alright? Should I run something other than disenchant in the SB? Is plague even worth running, too? Are canonists worth rushing to get?

I'm open to any suggestions.

[kinda]

Master of Etherium is amazing...I don't believe I've ever played him as less then a 5/5...I don't see any reason not to run 4.

[Exospaciac]

What would I take out for a 4th MoE?
I guess I could take out a vial... but sometimes I feel like my hand's clogged with stuff I can't cast. I would rather not go 4/2 vial/drum because even with 4/3 I find myself with thoughtcasts stuck in my hand sometimes.

[kinda]

Either a darksteel citadel or an arcbound worker if not the vial.

[Vacrix]

Has Court Homunculus been tested over Arcbound worker? Or is worker played because it recycles itself?

Also, I've been considering trying out a build with Goblin Welder. Has anything like that been attempted? I'm thinking that eventually, you might as well be sacing your artifact lands to bring back enforcers/MoE's that traded with goyf, countered platings, or even just stuff that gets discarded or burned. There might not be room but I was considering it as a 2-of. Thoughts?

EDIT:

I looked back a page and saw this:

Has anyone tried playing "Transmute Artifact" in Affinity? If you sacrifice the right creature, it can be an even cheaper Tinker due to the high converted mana cost of the creatures it runs.

Thats a good point. Sacrificing a myr enforcer could find something useful like Sphinx of the Steel Wind. Otherwise you could sac maybe a frogmite for a MoE. Seems alright to me, worth exploring. It requires the right creature, but I mean, Sphinx of the Steel Wind? This could be some sort of pseudo-natural order MD combo. It's not dead in your hand either with spring leaf drum, or even drum + transmute artifact off frogmite. With drum and some mana, paying the 5 shouldn't be a problem.

Also, lots of mythic shit is getting printed. Transmute artifact might get something it actually wants to fetch out.


2nd EDIT:

Running it also helps with fetching out key cards for specific matchups. If you can sac frogmite to find Cannonist against combo post board, that could give you enough time to find the win, or pithing needle when you know the opponent is playing EE/Deed. Or crypt vs Ichorid.

Other cards to fetch (possibly):
Sen Triplets
Umezawa's Jitte

[Nihil Credo]

I'm gonna be going to a Legacy tournament in a few weeks

Besides going for the KGrips and Trees which prolly won't happen

I have a personal and thorough understanding of budget concerns, but still, Trees are 50 US-cents each and Grip is less than $2 - and those are StarCityGames prices! If you really want them in your sideboard, I'd be extremely surprised if you couldn't get them.