It is NOT anywhere comparable to Skullclamp. It is nearly the same as Neurok Hoversail, 1 Mana less to activate but with a drawback.Originally Posted by Nidd
Drawing 2 cards can hardly called a drawback.
If they block the creature, you at least trade creature vs 2 fresh cards. That's what Skullclamp did.
If they don't block, you just gave your creature evasion for 1 mana. That's what Hoversail did.
So... we have a (for your opponent) modal Skullclamp/Neurok Hoversail-crossover?
I bet the intention was to design a balanced Skullclamp and considering the original concept for Skullclamp was that you could trade small creatures for cards and Lens does exactly that if your opponent blocks, I think it's safe to call it Skullclamp 2.0.
Anyways, does that matter? It either trades small dudes for cards or it forces through damage. From what I know, Affinity likes both.
This looks like a job for me.
Most of my posts will be written from my phone, so please excuse the eventual lack of proper typing.
Yes of course it is a drawback to let your opponent choose. If the card would say "Equipped creature is unblockable" it would be STRICTLY better.
If the attack would hurt your opponent, you won't get evasion, if your opponent is ahead you wont get cards. Comparing it to Skullclamp is pointless, these two cards have nothing in common, neither in power level nor in functionality.
Skullclamp's purpose: Card drawing! Very synergetic with Ravager, Worker, Nexus and Disciple.
New Equipment's purpose: Gives evasion! Has the drawback that your opponent can choose to let you draw cards instead.
I just started to play Vial Affinity and i have a short question:
Why nobody plays Ancient Den instead of Tree of Tales so that it is possible to play Ethersworn Canonist.
In my opinion it's a really nice card in an artifact deck...
Thx for your answers ;)
Ethersworn Canonist is a good card in Affinity and there are people who play White (Ancient Dens) to play it. But it's usually only a sideboard option against decks like Storm Combo, which rely on casting more than one spell in a turn to win. In the main deck it will too often be only a 2 mana 2/2, which isn't bad, but too weak for Affinity.
Okay, i see what you mean. Thx for your reply!
After the prerelease I'm very excited about Painsmith. I've cut a couple of Disciples and fit in a set of Painsmiths. I first cringed at the though of taking out disciple, but the smith is really really good.
As for Infiltration Lens, I'm not so sure how to fit it into my deck. Maybe cut Thoughtcast? That's a way that wouldn't impact the aggro-ness of the deck. Maybe?
I don't know, all I can really say is that traditional Vial Affinity may not survive this new set.
p.s. I'm not playing Vial anymore, either. now that's just sacrilegious...
More explosive since your early game isn't hobbled by a 1/1 that isn't an artifact.
I don't think Painsmith (or any other Smith) will make the cut. 2 mana 2/1 non-artifact creature is just so bad for Affinity. The effect can be nice but without evasion creatures like Ornithopter or Blinkmoth Nexus it won't be game breaking (note it can't even target our new unblockable Etched Champion). It will be the initially worst 2 mana spell and the overall worst topdeck in the deck.
As of Infiltration Lens, that card isn't bad for sure. But now imagine this card: 1 mana Equipment. Equip 1: Equipped creature is unblockable. That card is pretty good, but would we play it? I don't think so. Given the fact that that card would be strictly better than Infiltration Lens, I don't think we can play that one either.
Also, I would never ever cut Thoughtcast. would a 2/3 Black Lotus still be broken? Yes, it would. Is a 2/3 Ancestral Recall broken? Guess it is. Now Affinity is the only deck that has access to that 2/3 Recall. Zoo has to play Sylvan Library. What more do we want? It's so good.
And as for the idea of cutting/dropping Disciples: I've never really tried it, maybe I will now that so many people do. But is a one mana card with a damage potential of like 10 too bad, or too slow? Disciple is the first thing most legacy players will Plow. Pernicious Deed cleans our board but what if the Deed player gets like 10 Damage in the process? The incredible synergy with Ravager has been feared since Mirrodin came out. They even banned Disciple in the old Extended ! Especially with Memnite over Worker and with Opal for manafixing, isn't Disciple our best CMC 1 bet? I don't know if I really want to cut it.
QFT.
Disciple is just too good a bargain for a one-drop in our deck. It's a lightning rod at the very worst but with a deck that wants to hit fast and hard losing your "measly" 1/1 ain't too bad.
Now, with the addition of memnite, which IMO replaces worker for additional speed, we are going fast. So how does that affect the use of vial. I have always been a big fan of Aether Vial. That being said I have never been for cutting it. But with the speed of the deck and my meta's high adoption for Jace, the Mind Sculptor, a shift toward the adoption of Red might be in line.
I don't really know and I'm on a fence here. The most recent success for affinity here has been running red for Shrapnel Blast and I'm very interested in Galvanic Blast too. But do you cut Vials for it? I don't like the idea.
What are peoples thoughts? Mind you the meta here is heavy on the Merfolk. So Affinity seems potent.
For me Vial has become a metagame card at best. If you see a lot of counterTop decks Vial is a great addition. But aside from that Springleaf Drum and Mox Opal just provide a speed no Vial could ever provide. I used to run 4 Drums + 4 Vials for some time but it didn't really accelerate any further, it just made topdecks worse. Additionally in a list with at most 4 CMC 1 creatures (Disciple, with Memnite replacing Worker), 4 CMC 2 creatures (Ravagers) and 4 CMC 3 creatures (Master) it isn't as good as in Goblins or Merfolk. We will have 12-16 creatures which don't need Vial at all, namely Ornithopters, Memnites, Frogmites and Myr Enforcers.
I agree with Izor, the big change I see with this deck is dropping vial. We already have a good matchup against control and mox + springleaf drum gives us mana fixing. I really do hate what we got in scars. I think the way to take the deck is playing red for galvanic/shrapnel. I think disciple is too good to take out, and if we did, ravager would not be nearly as good as he is. And if memnite replaces worker ravager won't be looking good at all. I don't think etched champion is good enough for the deck either. Pro colors is good, but he is too slow. Yes he CAN be played turn 2 but for the most part will only be a 2/2 unblockable. Just think about this...we are trying to make affinity more competitive. It will never be tier 1 due to the fact that there is so much hate against us that we can do nothing against. And if for some reason everyone thinks etched champion is the card to make the deck...all people have to do is play a 2/2 artifact creature and there goes our strategy. Tempered steel is the same way. Too slow and what would we take out for it. The original mirrodin set had so much synergy with all of the cards that the deck is almost exactly the same as it originally was. There isn't much we can do to change it without ruining some of that synergy. Mox is a good mana fixer, memnite will replace worker in some builds but some people will prefer the modular. And vial will be dropped for red in other builds. But I really don't think much is going to change until we see the next 2 sets. From the looks of it we are going to see a ton of myr crap and infect. Oh and colored cards having metalcraft which really does nothing for us seeing as we want artifacts.
Well the pro's and cons of Worker vs. Memnite have yet to defined btw. Maybe someone would care to do the sample opening hands.
As for burn, yes I think it's the only good thing we got from SoM. Which is very VERY sad. I'll probably be cringing in my seat as I playtest some red in my build. I'll try a package of 4 Galvanic Blasts and 2 Shrapnel Blast to augment the reach of the deck and to answer Jace.
Also, I've been having a tough time against combo - which I believe most of us do anyway. But is there any tool in our SB we can use to answer a cheated out Emrakul via doomsday combo or whatnot?
I am convinced now that Vial is no longer the correct choice. At least half of the times it does absolutely nothing because everything is already in play before the needed counter comes on it. I think cutting Disciple was a good suggestion. I've toyed a bit with that and Steel Overseer and found something that I believe is a interesting list. It is explosive thanks to all the low drop and quite consistant. Steel Overseer is an insane 2-drop with the extremely high creature count.
// Mana
4 [HOP] Seat of the Synod
10 [DS] Artifact Land
1 [MR] Multicolorland
3 [SOM] Mox Opal
4 [LRW] Springleaf Drum
// Creatures
3 [10E] Ornithopter
3 [SOM] Memnite
4 [DS] Arcbound Worker
4 [MR] Frogmite
4 [DS] Arcbound Ravager
4 [M11] Steel Overseer
4 [MR] Myr Enforcer
4 [HOP] Master of Etherium
// Spells
4 [MR] Thoughtcast
4 [FD] Cranial Plating
Okay, by now I got some first impressions with the new Scars tools:
Memnite vs Worker:
- pro Worker: That 1 modular counter can be the 1 point of damage a ravager would need to kill your opponent. Also it can be the tool to save one more creature if your foe plays Firespout or whatever. Shifted to a flying creature that one counter has some damage potential. Also Worker is 2/2 under Humility, so it can block Mishra's Factories to death.
- pro Memnite: Well, just faster. Sample hands, where Memnite is a lot more useful than Worker:
Memnite, Memnite/Ornithopter, Mox Opal, Springleaf Drum, whatever. Here we can comfortably keep a 0 land hand.
ALand, Memnite, Springleaf Drum, whatever. Memnite has the same insane synergy with Drum on turn 1 that Orni has.
Sometimes we need one more artifact but don't have a mana left to pay Worker.
Mox Opal: So great. 2 are a must have, more can get us into legendary trouble. as a two-of it is just strictly better than Glimmervoid. Those people who played Affinity for Budget reasons won't like it too much. 2 Opals cost as much as the rest of the deck.
Galvanic Blast: For people who played Shrapnel before this is a good addition. For people who didn't play red there is no reason to splash it for Blast now. It's good, but not great.
Etched Champion: Too slow for the main deck, but can be a nice sb option against Aggro.
Combo matchup: Of course our worst matchup. Sideboard options:
Storm Combo: Ethersworn Canonist, Mindbreak Trap
DD-Emrakul: Ethersworn Canonist, Mindbreak Trap (both at least slow it down a lot if he has to play around it)
Sneak Attack: Pithing Needle
Painter's Stone: Pithing Needle
Aluren: Ethersworn Canonist, Pithing Needle (not very safe)
Belcher: Mindbreak Trap, Ethersworn Canonist, Pithing Needle (only Belcher but not ETW)
Partly Combo:
Dredge: Grave Hate (Crypt/Relic)
Reanimator: See Dredge
So in many cases we have Mindbreak vs Ethersworn.
Pro Ethersworn: Mindbreak can be Duressed away or Orim's Chanted/Silenced. It's still an Artifact creature, thus fits your deck concept well.
Pro Mindbreak: No need to splash White, Ethersworn can be too slow against decks that can win on turn 1 or 2.
Or you simply go the Discard route with Duress/Thoughtseize. This is almost guaranteed to work, but the impact won't be as striking.
Currently balling this list on MWS. Galvanic blast has been good to me; the mere presence of potential removal/reach forces people to play way more conservatively than they are comfortable with, and playing the best draw and burn currently in the format makes me smile in that smug kind of way we all adore. Color has been somewhat awkward however unless I start off with Opal/Drum, and I can definetly see adding a Glimmervoid/CoB in favor of 1 or 2 Darksteel Citadel. Not having access to all 4 Enforcers kind of makes me cringe, but something has got to give to fit it all in. Maybe the exact ratio of 0 mana dudes/Frogmites/Enforcers can be optimized further, but those are the flexiest spots as far as I can see. No Krosan Grip in the side is a big gamble, but I haven't been punished for it just yet.
// Lands
4 [DS] Darksteel Citadel
4 [MR] Great Furnace
4 [MR] Seat of the Synod
4 [MR] Vault of Whispers
// Creatures
4 [DS] Arcbound Ravager
4 [MR] Frogmite
2 [MR] Myr Enforcer
4 [MR] Ornithopter
4 [MR] Disciple of the Vault
4 [SOM] Memnite
4 [ALA] Master of Etherium
// Spells
4 [MR] Thoughtcast
4 [LRW] Springleaf Drum
4 [FD] Cranial Plating
2 [SOM] Mox Opal
4 [SOM] Galvanic Blast
// Sideboard
SB: 4 [MR] Chalice of the Void
SB: 3 [M10] Pithing Needle
SB: 4 [ZEN] Mindbreak Trap
SB: 4 [DK] Tormod's Crypt
I've been playing 4x Mox Opal and haven't looked back since. It's just too explosive to go for less. Drawing multiples is hardly a drawback compared to huge boost in speed and color fixing it provides, especially with Ravager and/or Disciple in the list.
The drawback happens when you draw multiples in your starting hand. Sure it is explosive, but legendary is much more of a drawback than you think. I think the most we can play is 3. I have been playing my 2 that I got at the prerelease and I have been satisfied with that so far. I could go up to 3 but I don't know what I would take out. Also the deck is very explosive to begin with. I have dropped my hand turn 2 many times just with the aid of springleaf drum. Mox is a great card for the deck but it's not 4 of.
I'm starting to think a 3/3 split with Drum is the best here since Mox opal is far more explosive in the opener, and multiple Drums ain't exactly stellar either.
When SOM started getting spoiled, I stopped coming to this thread to avoid the annoying "would this make affinity better?" posts. Now that the set is fully spoiled, I'm ready to add to the conversation.
Overall, I'm not sold on anything quite yet. Affinity is a very flexible deck. You can tune it to any metagame. Personally, I want to see how the rest of community reacts to the set, which hasn't been much.
By the way, am I allowed to post decklists from SCG premium articles? There have been a couple interesting lists that are worth mentioning here.
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