[Deck] Affinity

[hypaflight]

Here's the list I'm running atm. It's heavy on the burn and I managed to squeez in Thoughtcast. However, I feel like I'm running too many non-creature spells. Or maybe not. Still haven't tested extensively. I will over the weekend.

3 Darksteel Citadel
4 Great Furnace
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers


3 Mox Opal
3 Springleaf Drum

4 Ornithopter
4 Memnite
3 Myr Enforcer
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Dark Confidant
3 Master of Etherium
4 Frogmite

4 Galvanic Blast
2 Shrapnel Blast
4 Cranial Plating
3 Thoughtcast

[Greenpoe]

I'm liking Confidant. He's such a must-answer threat that tends to win the game if he isn't answered.

// Lands
4 [MR] Seat of the Synod
4 [MR] Vault of Whispers
4 [HOP] Great Furnace
3 [DS] Darksteel Citadel
1 [TSP] Academy Ruins

// Creatures
4 [ALA] Master of Etherium
4 [9E] Ornithopter
4 [SOM] Memnite
4 [MR] Frogmite
4 [M11] Steel Overseer
4 [RAV] Dark Confidant

// Spells
4 [LRW] Springleaf Drum
4 [HOP] Cranial Plating
4 [SOM] Mox Opal
4 [MR] Thoughtcast
4 [SOM] Galvanic Blast

// Sideboard
SB: 1 [TSP] Academy Ruins
SB: 4 [SOM] Etched Champion
SB: 4 [6E] Perish
SB: 3 [TE] Choke
SB: 3 [M10] Pithing Needle

[Nidd]

It definetly warrants consideration seeing as Disciple is the sole reason we're in black to begin with and lackluster in the damage dealing department without Ravager (albeit alleviating the drawbacks of Shrapnel & Mox Opal are nice), it still has obscene damage potential with ravager and in
conjunction with burn and draw provides reach versus sweepers (which is very relevant indeed since the deck is built to go all in from the get go). Dunno what to put in instead however.. Certarch is certainly a possibility (switching out Vault for Blinkmoth Nexus and possibly a Glimmervoid to preserve some sweeper insurance), but I'm having some trouble with dedicated control as is. White for Stoneforge Mystic (Cranial Plating pretty much solves the bad creature problem by itself, and singleton miser Jitte for the aggro matchups is also tempting) with Orim's Chant and Ethersworn Canonist in the board looks decent as well, but would in all likelihood require more lands.

I wouldn't remove Shrapnel Blast however since again with the all in mindset the drawback is pretty much neglible and Overseer still isn't enough to give us inevitability in drawn out games. Card has been testing great.

You asked for Thopter Foundry?
Test it. Really. It's great.

[eq.firemind]

It definetly warrants consideration seeing as Disciple is the sole reason we're in black to begin with and lackluster in the damage dealing department without Ravager (albeit alleviating the drawbacks of Shrapnel & Mox Opal are nice), it still has obscene damage potential with ravager and in conjunction with burn and draw provides reach versus sweepers (which is very relevant indeed since the deck is built to go all in from the get go). Dunno what to put in instead however.

That's why I started to play Dark Confidant. Between Ravagers, Disciples, Masters and now Bobs there is a critical mass of must-answer-now cards, so control player will be busy answering your onslaught instead of digging for bombs. And as a side effect Discipe becomes better 'cause with 8 draw effects you'll have decent chances to see Ravager or Blast.
Really, think of it, Balls-to-the-walls aggro with eight synergetic, cheap and powerfull draw effects.

Certarch is certainly a possibility (switching out Vault for Blinkmoth Nexus and possibly a Glimmervoid to preserve some sweeper insurance), but I'm having some trouble with dedicated control as is. White for Stoneforge Mystic (Cranial Plating pretty much solves the bad creature problem by itself, and singleton miser Jitte for the aggro matchups is also tempting) with Orim's Chant and Ethersworn Canonist in the board looks decent as well, but would in all likelihood require more lands.

Certarch is very nice card and I would like to see him paired with Leonin Arbiter, Wasteland and such cards. This will lead to completely different direction, but it seems to have potential. Something like this:
4 Ancient Den
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Rishadan Port
3 Mox Opal
3 Aether Vial

4 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Vedalken Certarch
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Ethersworn Canonist
4 Steel Overseer
2 Etched Champion
4 Master of Etherium
4 Thoughtcast
4 Cranial Plating

List

Myr Enforcer pushes your curve too high. I guess you should choose between it and Bob. In general, I recommend to reconsider all cards with CMC 4 or more if you want to try Bob. I left only Thoughtcasts 'cause they are the strongest ones. Fox example, here are my reasons to exclude Frogmite: beats for 2 just like Bob and his free manacost becomes less important with Mox Opal's acceleration. Yes, Frog is artifact, but unanswered Bob will draw you more than one artifact.

[Bigface]

The UW List seems nice. I'd put in 3-4 Canonists MD anyway. Limiting your opponent's spells at 1 per turn is always good.

[eq.firemind]

Actually, Vedalken Certarch is friggin awesome. Just does everything this deck wants: keeps early-game state, taps big blockers, carries Plating and doesn't cost lots of mana. I even think it deserves its own list wich will be different from typical affinity. This is what I'm trying right now:
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Rishadan Port
2 Glimmervoid
4 Mox Opal

4 Ornithopter
4 Memnite
4 Vedalken Certarch
4 Steel Overseer
4 Dark Confidant
4 Master of Etherium

4 Brainstorm
2 Sensei's Divining Top/Executioner's Capsule
4 Thoughtcast
4 Cranial Plating

3 colors + Ports is greedy and Confidant is MVP in this deck, so bye-bye white. Sideboard should consist Winter Orb for sure 'cause Orb+Certarch is a win vs control. Should I start another thread for this, or keep it here (since things are unsettled right now)?

[nedleeds]

Shouldn't every list have 4x Etched Champion? Unblockable, near untargetable (except by your equipment). He seems like the way to push a win through after your initial surge.

[Bigface]

Too tired to post a full comment, so I'll reserve a post for tomorrow. The sum, anyway, is this: is Affinity becoming less and less Affinity? (Possible turning this into an article, in which case I'll delete this post.)

[Nidd]

Too tired to post a full comment, so I'll reserve a post for tomorrow. The sum, anyway, is this: is Affinity becoming less and less Affinity? (Possible turning this into an article, in which case I'll delete this post.)

Yeah, that's because the spells with Affinity are plain bad compared to spells without Affinity but which can also be played in this deck.

Synergy is the key here, not just building a near-block deck.

[Bigface]

Yeah, that's because the spells with Affinity are plain bad compared to spells without Affinity but which can also be played in this deck.

Synergy is the key here, not just building a near-block deck.

Have I said it is a bad thing? No. It's just that the deck itself is evolving in many different directions and the game plan is changing in a drastic way, from an all-in RUb aggro deck into an UB/UBw with more consistency in exchange for speed.

[Nidd]

Have I said it is a bad thing? No. It's just that the deck itself is evolving in many different directions and the game plan is changing in a drastic way, from an all-in RUb aggro deck into an UB/UBw with more consistency in exchange for speed.

Did I say it's a bad thing? ;)

The deck is certainly evolving into the right direction.

[NetherGamer]

A list I've been testing:


4 Seat of the Synod
4 Great Furnace
4 Ancient Den
4 Vault of Whispers

4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Master of Etherium
4 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Vedalken Certarch
4 Disciple of the Vault

4 Thoughtcast
3 Springleaf Drum
4 Cranial Plating
4 Galvanic Blast
3 Mox Opal
2 Shrapnel Blast

4 Tormod's Crypt
3 Chalice of the Void
4 Ethersworn Canonist
4 Pithing Needle


I kind of want to take out the Springleaf Drums for something, and the first thing that came to my mind was Tezzeret the Seeker. Think that could be good?

[CabalTherapy]

A list I've been testing:
I kind of want to take out the Springleaf Drums for something, and the first thing that came to my mind was Tezzeret the Seeker. Think that could be good?

Certainly, I won't take out the Drum in a 3coloured (4coloured) build.
I tested the "old affinity" (pre scars version, with 2-3 blasts) and without Drum I was often simply
mana srewed and held a blast or a Thoughtcast without being able to play it.

[Infinitium]

5cc. Not good. On a different note, I've gotten around to testing Steel Overseer in place of Disciple and I'm going to do the 180 and admit it's bonkers insane - sure it'll take a while to catch up to a regular lord damagewise on an empty board (ie against control and combo), but when it sticks it's just downright nasty. Also, it allows me to play Blinkmoth Nexus in the Vault slot which also has excellent synergy with overseer, ravager, master, plating, against deed, against artifact hate, against sweepers and uh, with the rest of the deck. I feel as if I'm starting to approach optimization with the current build, and there are currently no cardchoices that I feel doesn't pull their weight. I might still tweak the free creature ratio to squeeze a Myr Enforcer or two back in in place of Frogmites, but that'll have to wait until I get a better feel for my current build.

Also, Engineered Explosives are back in in place of mindbreak trap as Enchantress and Stax are somehow all over MWS at the moment. Still feel as it might be too slow for the general gameplan and it doesn't boom for 2 as leisurely as it used to, but it isn't as it cannot change back at a later stage.

// Lands
4 [DS] Darksteel Citadel
4 [MR] Great Furnace
4 [MR] Seat of the Synod
4 [DS] Blinkmoth Nexus

// Creatures
4 [DS] Arcbound Ravager
4 [MR] Frogmite
4 [MR] Ornithopter
4 [SOM] Memnite
4 [ALA] Master of Etherium
4 [M11] Steel Overseer

// Spells
4 [MR] Thoughtcast
3 [LRW] Springleaf Drum
4 [FD] Cranial Plating
3 [SOM] Mox Opal
4 [SOM] Galvanic Blast
2 [MR] Shrapnel Blast

// Sideboard
SB: 4 [MR] Chalice of the Void
SB: 4 [M10] Pithing Needle
SB: 2 [DK] Tormod's Crypt
SB: 2 [ALA] Relic of Progenitus
SB: 3 [FD] Engineered Explosives

[Nidd]

When you went that for and included Overseer, you should totally test Thopter Foundry. It makes excess Moxen seem less dead (and, indeed, turning them into 1 life + 1/1 flying artifact which will get crazy with Master or Overseer is totally worth it) enables you to outrace other Aggro decks and breaks stalemates.

It certainly is kinda All-In, but in a very different sense than saccing everything you have for a Ravager or dumping your hand T1/2.

[Infinitium]

Saccing stuff to Ravager usually indicates combat trickery however, and is more importantly free. Thopter foundry is way slower, way more mana intensive and way overkill if you already have an active Overseer and a nondescript threat on the table. Steel Overseer I kind of approve of right now in lieu of the 1-drops because it's an artifact creature and allows me to run Blinkmoth Nexus; Thopter Foundry would just put me back into black for little apparent gain.

[NetherGamer]

Why play Blinkmoth Nexus over Mishra's Factory? For the Flying?

[nedleeds]

Frogmite over Etched Champion seems like lunacy. If the goal is to equip, evade and smash then Etched Champion is unbeatable. He can't be blocked and can't be spot removaled.

[Infinitium]

@Nether: For the flying.

@Nedleeds: because it's free. Etched Champion is only ever as good as the support you have for it and is rather horrible against control and combo. If it was a 1/1 for 2 it might see play over Steel Overseer but the fact that it's essentially Phantom Warrior unsupported just doesn't pull its weight at 3 mana.

[Justin]

For those that are considering Etched Champion, you should not be comparing it to Frogmite. Frogmite is a free spell that can more easily hit the board on turn one. Etched Champion is competing with Myr Enforcer for spots.