Balls of Steel has a new iteration currently, and I thought I'd share it witch'y'all. I've got it on the primer page right there, and I'm liking it a bit better than the original, though there is currently a lack of balls to it. Sigh. Still, help me iron out the kinks here, and feel free to take it for a whirl!
Final Ritual: "I was your round 14 opponent with the 3 giant goyfs. I didn't know what the fuck you were piloting."
Drunken Master strategy. If I don't know what I'm doing, how would you?
What about Baleful Strix over Looter?
Deathtouch is relevant, cantrip is relevant, being an artifact is also relevant.
Definitely better than just recycling Moxen.
I am convinced that WotC is "dumbing" the game because of all the stupid posts they come across on MTG-related forumsOriginally Posted by Kyle
Right now it's 16 imprintable spells, and I wanted to kick that to 18 with these two slots. That's the main thing holding me back, because it makes SB'ing easier when you have a few slots to work with. Could also be Trinket Mage, I guess - gets Thopter and Chalice.
Final Ritual: "I was your round 14 opponent with the 3 giant goyfs. I didn't know what the fuck you were piloting."
Drunken Master strategy. If I don't know what I'm doing, how would you?
Hilariously enough, the imprint on the Looter slot won me a game. I guess I was right in my count... lucky me. I ran Trinket Mage in that slot instead, and that's probably the right call, though all I ever did with him was imprint so far.
I'm not big on tournament reports, especially for small local tourneys, but I beat out Burn, UW RiP/Miracles, and UW Stoneblade. I probably should've lost G1 to Miracles, but he mishandled the game (and kicked himself for it). I'm annoyed that the guys on the regular Affinity thread still discount Chalice in this deck, as it obv smashed Burn and gave me G2 easy against Stoneblade, esp when he drew 4 CMC 1 spells. It's a nice deck, 12 solid finishers (not counting Cranial). I'd like to see other people try the new build out and let me know what's up with it, but I know people here probably have their own various decks they want to test and tinker with first. Later.
Oh yeah, SB: 4 Crypt, 4 Detention Sphere, 4 Suppression Field, 1 SoLS, 1 SoBM, 1 Basilisk Collar (idk, for Trinket Mage or something, fight goyfs??)
Final Ritual: "I was your round 14 opponent with the 3 giant goyfs. I didn't know what the fuck you were piloting."
Drunken Master strategy. If I don't know what I'm doing, how would you?
Really cool deck. I'm just wondering, is the reason you don't play trinisphere so that you don't get owned by wasteland?
For the original Sphere of Resistance build, 3-Sphere mucks up the Affinity ability; you still have to pay 3 (or more) mana to drop your dudes. Not so great when you lay a Frogmite or even Enforcer. With two Riddlesmith on the table, you can often chain through affinity creatures and lay out your cards in hand. Thanks!
Final Ritual: "I was your round 14 opponent with the 3 giant goyfs. I didn't know what the fuck you were piloting."
Drunken Master strategy. If I don't know what I'm doing, how would you?
I think I currently like the idea of Thopter Foundry over Master of Etherium right now. SFM can get the 1x Sword of the Meek, and Foundry is pretty useful for extra Opals, lands, or if you have to drop Chalice at 0 turn 1 (for opal's metalcraft). That means no Suppression Field, of course, and it's still vulnerable to Abrupt Decay, which is the nuts against me. Still, if I have a turn with Foundry, and hopefully with Sword, I can get ahead enough that the Decay doesn't take too much off my board.
Other cards to consider on the new list: Aven Mindcensor, Lingering Souls. Probably Detention Sphere for Show and Tell, if I didn't mention it. Even Meddling Mage seems okay as it shuts down Decay and suits up to a Cranial, though the double color hurts. Trying it tonight and will give a sense of how useful the Foundries are.
Feel free to give other ideas for what to do here. I think the power of SFM and Foundry should be enough to get it through a lot of different MUs, with Deed of course being a problem, as always.
Final Ritual: "I was your round 14 opponent with the 3 giant goyfs. I didn't know what the fuck you were piloting."
Drunken Master strategy. If I don't know what I'm doing, how would you?
First, I want to say this build is inspiring. I hated Drums, and no longer feel like I'm at the mercy of my opponent's whims when playing Affinity :D
I just have some questions about the deck as I don't have very much experience/testing done with Chalice in Affinity
Is there any reason why you stopped running the Ancient Tombs? Did you feel like they ended up costing too much life over each game? As far as I can tell, the role of the Tombs has mostly been taken over by the Chrome Moxen, at the expense of cards over life. Is there any situation where you would go back to using Tombs?
I do feel like Lotus Petal, maybe even as a 2-of, would help smooth out some color issues. I'm kind of wary of running Chrome Mox in a deck with so many artifacts, which is why I brought up Tomb and Petal.
Still not sold on Looter, although I understand that it pitches to FoW is nontrivial.
I think the cost of running Swords as Stoneforge targets is pretty tough right now, considering the possibility of Abrupt Decay. If they Decay a Sword, that's a pretty big tempo swing for them especially considering the extra 1 mana in comparison to Plating or even Jitte.
SPEAKING OF WHICH
Jitte works well in creature matchups, like Gobbos or Merfolk and gives a good way to interact with the board besides combat. These are also the decks that have fewer ways to interact with an active Jitte.
Have you tried Rest in Peace as your SB gravehate? This deck has quite a few ways to generate 1W on t1, and you could 1 for 1 swap them with Chalice vs. Dredge.
It's too bad this deck can't run the Leonin Bola tech, but the SB Detention Sphere/ORing make up for it.
I'm going to try to run something similar with a little less colour commitment to see if I can squeeze in 4 Darksteel Citadel. I don't actually have FoW on hand, so I'll try to make do with some combination of Canonists, Mindbreak Trap, and other nonsense.
Sorry for picking your brain heheh
The one day I come back to check this thread. I'll get you those answers lickety split!
Ancient Tomb is pretty great when you run Chalice and Sphere, but since I stopped running sphere, I've needed colored sources to get those Turn 1 SFM. The deck is predicated on hitting something heavy T1, so it's either Mystic or Chalice in the current build, though I've also liked Dark Confidant in some slots. The harder you spam those 2-drops (with a reliable way to get 2 mana), the faster you come out of the gate; right now there are few spells for Ancient Tomb to accel. I should also note Chalice isn't the beast it once was, considering people like their Abrupt Decays. Also, you generally don't want to drop Chalice at 2, except against the rare RUG matchup.
Petal isn't too bad, and I'm running few of them in my current today list, but the problem I've had with it is that you cast the SFM, but then you can't flip Batterskull, cause the petal is sac'ed, of course. But it's not that bad, and it does smooth out some of those one-land opening hands that just stink so bad. In those instances, Chrome Mox is better so you can flop down the Skull.
I've got Jitte MD right now, and when I had Master of Etherium as a fattie, then I really liked the pro:Colors from the Swords. The reason I didn't have Jitte for a while is because I used to run Suppression Field in the SB, and Jitte is pretty terrible with that. Field was great against Maverick, but that's hardly in the meta anymore. It's also pretty good against Death and Taxes, but so is Jitte (if you have fliers/ colorless dudes).
Actually, side out that Batterskull against Mother of Runes. It's frustrating, but the right play.
Looter was okay in the deck with Spheres, but now I don't run them (I've got Force instead), so I can run things that are heavier, like Tezz and Glen Elendra Archmage (see list below).
Decay rocks most everything in the deck. Dammit! I get the tempo problem, but sometimes you have to go for the stronger card, and then get rocked in other MUs. That's what I feel, anyway. If you have evasion, go Cranial; fatties that like the pro:Colors, go Swords; otherwise go Jitte, which is generally good, unless you feel a special need for Suppression Field.
Rest in Peace rocks, but Tormod's Crypt gives Metalcraft for the Opal. You can drop things like Lotus Petals for it. And Chalice at 1 is still pretty good, as it stops almost all the Dredge enablers, other than Breakthrough and Draw to Eight.
Oh, and if you don't have FoW, go get a set of Trinket Mages! Force is mostly for Pernicious Deeds. Trinket Mage snags an extra Chalice for you, which rocks combo; you're probably better off that way over the Canonist and the Duress-able Trap. Drop it for 0 against Charbelcher, and 0 or 1 against TES/ANT. Usually I drop Trinket Mage turn 2-3 and drop a 0 Chalice right off of that.
Thanks for the questions! That's how you make a deck better, and I'm more than happy to answer them as best as I can. And check out the new decklist below; I've been winning the past four weeks with it, so it's a good place to start tinkering.
Final Ritual: "I was your round 14 opponent with the 3 giant goyfs. I didn't know what the fuck you were piloting."
Drunken Master strategy. If I don't know what I'm doing, how would you?
So this is what I've got so far. I had an Ornithopter and Opposition x2 in the place of the Glen Elendra, but I like that Elendra can take Deeds. Hot! But I've got to test it to see how effective it is. We'll see.
Mox Opal x4
Chrome Mox x4
Seat of the Synod x4
Ancient Den x4
Vault of Whispers x4
Darksteel Citadel x3
Lotus Petal x3
Engineered Explosives x1
Chalice of the Void x4
Sword of Meek x1
Cranial Plating x1
Batterskull x1
Umezawa's Jitte x1
Stoneforge Mystic x4
Thopter Foundry x4
Trinket Mage x2
Glen Elendra Archmage x3
Force of Will x4
Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas x4
Thoughtcast x4
Final Ritual: "I was your round 14 opponent with the 3 giant goyfs. I didn't know what the fuck you were piloting."
Drunken Master strategy. If I don't know what I'm doing, how would you?
TIL Welding Jar is the most hilarious card to fetch with Trinket Mage ever
The Trinket Mage suggestion is great, even just for colorfixing. He kind of fights with MoE, so I might even end up cutting them entirely, as MoE hasn't been performing for me lately. EE is also great against swaths of tokens when you need to alpha-strike them.
Since I don't run/have FoW, I don't have the same blue requirements to support. I am going to try out Etched Champion in place of MoE and focus harder on evasive Plating beats. Also, he's nicer on Ancient Tomb mana.
I am trying out a singleton Welding Jar as a tutor target for trololol moments, but I think in the end it's going to turn out as janky as it looks. It DOES blank Abrupt Decay :P. Spellskite works as well, but I don't think it fits here.
I tried out Vault Skirge because it was a "one-drop" that doesn't get affected by Chalice@1, but the life loss has been kind of clunky sometimes. I think I'm still going to keep it in until I think of something better.
In light of these changes, I'm still a bit afraid of Chrome Mox as I am running fewer colored spells. Tomb is still great for an early Champion/Tezz.
A long time ago, in traditional Affinity, I tried out the Foundry/Sword combo with a Stoneforge package but it never really worked out without more ways to dig, as well as being really tough on the mana and tempo. Additionally, eating up your extra lands has the odd anti-synergy of making your Sword less effective once you DO find it. I don't know how differently it plays out here, but my past experience with it hasn't been so good. Hopefully it'll work better here.
Don't know what to make of Archmage just yet. It DOES pitch to FoW, so the times when it's a dead card are probably fewer than I think.
I like Foundry a bit better here than in those old UWx combo decks from a little while back. You almost always have something to pitch to them, usually in the form of Chrome Mox or Lotus Petal (or extra Chalices, even). Generally I don't like pitching my lands as you just said, that I want them in case I find Sword, but I have turned my board into Thopters on a couple rare occasions. Some decks just can't deal with the combo, and I've had a few players scoop after I assembled the pieces; I think it's better than Baleful Strix in this list. The little men also suit up to Cranial and Jitte, too.
I actually ran it in a janky version that ran The Abyss. It was kinda funny, actually, mostly for Metalcraft. The problem I had with that other version is that there weren't enough arti-fatties beyond MoE to run with The Abyss, but I might as well throw it out there in case you can proxy up a set and feel the need to windmill slam something awesome.
Put up a list or something! I'd like to see what you're running for your Tombs and maybe I can make a suggestion or two.
And you know what, I think I want to make room for a Welding Jar in the SB. Just for gits and shiggles, see if it's enough of a blowout for Decay.
Final Ritual: "I was your round 14 opponent with the 3 giant goyfs. I didn't know what the fuck you were piloting."
Drunken Master strategy. If I don't know what I'm doing, how would you?
I never liked Baleful Strix anyway. I think the big problem with Foundry I had was generally that it took up 3-4 slots, and drawing multiple Foundries sucked pretty hard. The requirement for T1 Opal metalcraft already squeezes what little room is left.
Having said that, this was before when I ran a more mana-light Affinity list. I'd probably feel better about it if there were some E.Tutors in the main, especially as they can turn on Chrome Mox for Stoneforge if needed.
Right now I'm running something like:
3 Ancient Tomb
2 Lotus Petal
4 Mox Opal
4 Ancient Den
4 Darksteel Citadel
2 Glimmervoid
3 Seat of the Synod
2 Vault of Whispers
3 Etched Champion
2 Master of Etherium
2 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Trinket Mage
2 Vault Skirge
1 Batterskull
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Cranial Plating
1 Engineered Explosives
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
3 Thoughtcast
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Welding Jar
It might be off by one or two cards, but this is what I'm tinkering with for the moment. The sideboard is something like:
2 Engineered Plague
4 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Oblivion Ring
2 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Rest in Peace
1 Tormod's Crypt
The Canonists are a holdover from before. I think a few Mindbreak Traps would be better in that slot as an insurance against T1 combos, as I don't have FoW. The Crypt is tutorable by Trinket Mages, but T1 RIP is just such a house. Revokers might actually deserve a place in the main.
Memnite sucks. Welding Jar hasn't been bad even when drawn. Vault Skirge is really clunky. Trinket Mage is a beast.
I am comfortable cutting a single Plating if there are 4 Stoneforges in the main. Naturally drawing 2 after a Stoneforge for Jitte or Batterskull kind of sucked.
That anti-combo with Ancient Tomb and Stoneforge has come up a few times, but Tomb sometimes lets me pull off ridiculous T2 Tezz or keep an otherwise iffy hand by using T2 Trinket Mage to fix mana. It also leads to hardcasted Batterskulls and quick Champions, so I don't think it's that bad.
I generally find I don't want to fire off a really early Thoughtcast anyway, so I cut a single Seat, whereas Ancient Den is a 4-of for early Stoneforge.
I might even try a 1-of Chimeric Mass as a tutor target for when I am swimming in mana. Also, I want to try a 1-of Arcbound Ravager, sort of the same role as Foundry, but easier on the Tombs and good with extra Opals. He's also really good with Champion.
So, potentially:
-2 MoE
-2 Memnite
-2 Vault Skirge???
+1 EC
+1 Revoker
+1 Trinket Mage (GODLIKE)
+1 Ravager
+2 ???
Maybe +1 plating with the extra Champion.
How do you feel about Academy Ruins? It might set up EE recursion and fetch things that Abrupt Decay blows up. Unfortunately, the matchups where it's relevant also pack Wastelands, and it blows when it just acts like a non-artifact Citadel. If Academy Ruins makes its way in, I could see more Crypts in the side.
That Archmage tech looks kind of dubious lol. DRS > Deed if they are ballsy.
WELDING JAR SAVES SOMETHING FROM DEED BTW
How about Dark Confidant in this list? You run 3 Thoughtcast (which I think you should have the 4th) and 3 Tezz, and everything else is pretty cheap. That'll give you Chalice, SFM, and Bob to drop T1 off a Petal or something. Bob being one of those rare, need to answer right away guys makes him a better T1 play than something like Goyf. This'll make Chrome better than Tomb, though.
+4 Confd
+2 Lotus Petal
-2 MoE
-2 Vault Skirge
-2 Memnite
You might even cut a land with the extra Petals. My buddy turned me away from Glimmervoid because it wasn't an arti, and I'm kinda with him; Petal can kinda make up for that in this kind of deck.
-2 Glimmervoid
+1 Trinket Mage
+1 Vault of Whispers/ Chrome Mox
I'm not sold on Chimeric Mass, seems like a really bad Master of Etherium for your Trinket Mage. And you run enough platings for an Ornithopter to become that fat, anyway. I ended up cutting back to one Plating, but with all your thopters I think you want to run as close to 4 as you can.
I haven't run the Glen Elendra yet, but I like that the playstyle works with the deck: drop something first, don't hold open mana for Brainstorm. I just had a discussion with my buddies and they agree Deed doesn't really see that much play, so fingers crossed. I switched Archmages over to Trinket Mages (4x now) with the Welding Jar, because I figure Decay is the most brutal card against this deck. I might switch it a couple more times before I play this Thurs. My SB is:
1 Crypt (4 trinket mage)
4 Revokers
1 Sword Fire Ice (Gob, Merf)
1 Sword Light Shadow (opp Batterskulls, Death and Taxes)
4 Detention Sphere
4 open, prob 1 more crypt
I'm definitely a huge fan of the Swords, and for one extra slot, you get a lotta pounding with it. They make those MUs a breeze, and there's a lotta Gob and D+T where I play - D+T being the much tougher MU. I'd still consider bringing the Swords to an SCG Open or something bigger.
Actually, E Champion should house D+T for you. You just need to draw it; 1 Sword L/S is like 5 more of those slots.
I like the effect of Academy Ruins, but I don't think there's enough inherent synergy for it to happen. EE, Welding Jar, Crypt, Lotus Petal technically. There isn't a whole lot of dig to get it, or than many effects to abuse it; it feels like a longshot to me, and I think you're right in seeing it as a bad Citadel. Not like E Champ is going to die, other than to Terminus.
EDIT: I feel that Cranial > Ravager almost all the time. Can't be StoP'd or Bolted or anything, just Decayed. Also survives Terminus, which is a consideration when you're used to dumping out (most) of your hand.
Final Ritual: "I was your round 14 opponent with the 3 giant goyfs. I didn't know what the fuck you were piloting."
Drunken Master strategy. If I don't know what I'm doing, how would you?
Oh yeah, and how often does this come up for you:
Ornithopter + Jitte (no tokens)
It happened to me once when I ran 1 Thopter and I think 2-3 Cranials. That would be the worst position ever, but I don't think it's worth cutting Thopter because it's great, or really changing Jitte to a Sword because it's worse. Just one of those quirks you'll have to figure out.
Final Ritual: "I was your round 14 opponent with the 3 giant goyfs. I didn't know what the fuck you were piloting."
Drunken Master strategy. If I don't know what I'm doing, how would you?
I tried cutting Enforcers in old Affinity and running Bob, but he's hard to attack with, even with a Plating on.
I mean, Tomb is just good when you want to get early Champs or even Tezzeret. I guess I am overcompensating for their colorless mana with Glimmervoids.
Still not completely sure about Chrome Mox, but I'll give it a try. I should look to include more colored 2-drop bombs if I run them, right? Maybe even cutting the Tombs/Voids and replacing with artifact lands/Petals? I might add MoE back in if I go that direction.
The weird thing about Chimeric Mass is that it gets better when you run Tombs. I took out a Memnite for it, he can turn on metalcraft but it feels pretty horrible to drop it for 0. I did have a game where I dropped it for 0 for T1 Champion off of Tomb, Opal, and some other 0 drop, then followed up with T2 Tezz and made the useless Mass a 5/5. Which was Christmasland, and also would have worked with literally any other 0 mana artifact.
Chimeric Mass stinks.
(The rare T1 Tezz hands are also silly, like Bob on steroids.)
Thoughtcasts kept getting clogged in the hand, likely due to the same issues with Tomb generating colourless. Likewise, I had issues where I would draw 3 or 4 Platings in a game and be terribly screwed. I goldfished about 30 games and those issues are mostly gone. The Plating may have to go back in, but I think I first want another creature in that slot instead.
It looks kind of like I'm being half-assed about the focus on T1 drops, but a lot of the time I just play out like a normal Affinity deck, and then sometimes they get blown out by a ridiculous T1 drop.
I just moved recently, so I'm not too sure about the meta here; Merfolk was traditionally an easy matchup before I used Chalice. Goblins may be solved by Whipflare? Or the ironic Krark-Clan Shaman? Not liking the E.Plagues, will probably just go up to 4 Revoker.
I think you're right about Cranial > Ravager. I almost want another Welding Jar, they're actually hilarious and people will skip over them if they are used to playing against normal Affinity decks. Drawing multiple Opals still stinks without Ravager.
The Trinket package I have right now is:
3 Trinket Mage
1 Welding Jar (2 maaybeeeee they're not even that bad when you draw them)
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Chimeric Mass (pretty horrible)
1 Tormod's Crypt (in the side)
as well as the Chalices, Thopters, and other goodies
Hmm, still trying to figure stuff out. Maybe I'll just take the list from the primer card-for-card and play around with it for a while.
You might see Deed pop up, at least in games 2 and 3, if there's BUG and Jund running around. It's just so hard to deal with now that Abrupt Decay is always in the same deck.
I've had that awful scenario with Thopter and no way to get Jitte counters come up in the past. The Skirges help make it a little more bearable, and Trinket Mage/Stoneforge both carry Jitte in a pinch, so it's not the worst thing ever. It was a lot worse when I had Signal Pests.
Have you ever considered Thirst for Knowledge? You might be able to pitch extra Opals or Chalices to it.
Treasure Mage also gets Enforcer, which seems pretty hot. The problem I had with that was that Enforcer was easily dispatched by Batterskull tokens, so unless you have something else going on, it loses to the ever-present SFM.
If you're finding Thoughtcast stuck in hand, then Trinket Mage probably does, too. You need about 12-13 sources to run a splashable color effectively, about 15-16 to do a double of that color. This is just what I've noticed on my own testing. So you're slightly low for blue in that list you offered, and considering you've got Tezz and Trinket in addition to Thoughtcast and MoE, it's probably worth upping that a bit. Ancient Tomb does get in the way of that, as awesome as it is.
I dunno. I ended up running Chrome Moxes and imprintable spells, which goes against what Ancient Tomb tends to power out. I feel like Tomb is better off in more Mud-like lists, where Tomb plus a Darksteel Citadel can drop a bomb for you. You've got E Champ as an awesome option for that, but not much else in the colorless. Cranial is more of a support card.
I just suggested Confidant because the original list I drew up was based on making the most impact off a T1 play - Chalice and SFM are both need-to-answer threats that basically your opponent has to stop. Probably Chalice less so nowadays. This puts your opponent in the position of having to Force on the draw or risk getting so far behind that they can't recover. That is, if you have two mana turn 1. I hunted around and there aren't any really punchy 2-drops for Tomb to put down other than Chalice, not ones that really matter to get down T1 instead of T2. Cranial's really good, but it can come down a turn or two later.
That said, I've been playing my list and goldfishing a bit, and the most miserable hands are the ones with two Chrome Mox as the only lands. Those are brutal. I might go down to 3. That and the deck punishes you on your mulls; you can rarely take a hand below 6. So I often have to keep sub-par hands because they're playable and I don't want to risk the 6 (or 5 - that's murder).
The other problem is the high # of blanks in Opal, Petals, and extra Chalices; Cranials too in your case. I'm high on Thoughtcast because it potentially gets you into more business, and you can afford to keep a couple dead Opals in hand based on that. Confidant does much the same thing, and as long as he's alive, you're netting cards, regardless of whether you want to attack with him.
I think Thirst is a bad Thoughtcast. They come online roughly the same time - three mana - except Thirst is always 3 mana whereas Thoughtcast goes down to 1. And gets around opposing Thalias, too - just need 5 artis. You can make nutty plays like Thoughtcast and drop a SFM off it same turn, whereas you don't get that option in Thirst, unless you've got a tonna mana. The deck doesn't hold open for counters all that often, so the instant-speed is pretty irrelevant.
Oh, and about Chrome - about half the time I use it to Metalcraft an Opal, so it's dead a lot of times. Sure, I get Card Disadvantage, but usually Chalice makes up for it, or the tempo I gain for Stoneforge is just plain nuts (plus the "Do you have Force" question); Confidant would work in the same way. Thoughtcast helps offset the disadvantage this kind of deck sets itself up to lose. I think there could be a version that runs Tomb, but it'd look a lot more different, and would probably want to max out Tombs. I propose Lodestone Golem, which is 80% awesome until Batterskull hits. Maybe even a set of Abyss, get rid of the Batterskulls. I think your list is a little between wanting to run Chrome or Tomb, mostly because drawing that second Tomb is probably miserable.
Just some thoughts. I'd been trying to build a version with four Tombs for a little while, but I keep coming up with Planeswalker Stax. Maybe I'll ditch Chrome Mox go heavier Colorless. A work in progress.
Final Ritual: "I was your round 14 opponent with the 3 giant goyfs. I didn't know what the fuck you were piloting."
Drunken Master strategy. If I don't know what I'm doing, how would you?
Thanks for clearing these things up for me, it's always nice to hear from someone who's already tried things out.
I was also thinking about Lodestone Golem, but it proved to be pretty underwhelming and hard on the mana, even with 3 Tombs. Kinda the same situation you described with the old Sphere plan, except Boltable and much harder to actually fire off.
I see what you mean about Chrome Mox. I think even in a list with Tombs it deserves 2-3 slots, definitely more sans Tombs. To support it, I put the last Thoughtcast back in, and...
LINGERING SOULS
Jesus that card is nuts. Maybe the best way to describe it is like a super Thopter Foundry that adds serious resilience and value to your draws. SFM + Souls has already been a thing in Stoneblade decks, but adding Plating is ridiculous. I would seriously suggest that you try it out, especially as you already have 4 Chrome Mox to take advantage of their colored status. They also make extra Platings really good. I'd just be wary of clogging up your 3-drop slot; Etched Champion has been getting kinda clunky, especially in situations where Souls is a better usage of your turn, so I'm trimming them down to 2. He's still good against a lot of decks, Jund especially, but so is Souls :D. Souls also helps immensely when you are backpedalling or in topdeck mode.
I may just put the other 2 Champions in the SB if I can think of matchups where I'd prefer a full set of pro-everything, or where I need an immovable way to blank opposing Batterskulls. The T1 Souls hands with Tombs and Opal/Mox with Plating followup are just godlike, though.
Ancient Tomb is actually kinda good when you mull just because of the extra mana it makes. I went back down to 2 of them, though, as I increased my color reliance with the Moxen and the Souls. I'm kinda considering taking out the Petals, they've started to become lackluster with Souls + Plating hands.
Sadly, Souls has edged out Trinket Mage entirely, as I feel running him + a package takes up too much space whereas Champs are slot efficient and great in many matchups. Having said that, there are still times when I miss having EE to tutor up. Not sure what to do. Maybe even move Trinket Mage to SB as 2/3-of along with package?
Having tried this out, I agree with you completely on the issue of drawing high numbers of blanks after the first few Opals, Mox, Chalice, etc. I see how that's partially fixed by running enough cards with huge impact/value (Tezz, SFM, TC, Souls (!!)). However, I still feel kinda bad about having extra useless artifacts lie around in the hand. I think Ravager might be worth looking into on this end. He's also halfway decent against Decay. Deed still hoses him, though, and he nonbos with Souls tokens. I am also drawn to your earlier idea of Looter il-Kor, especially for the imprint requirements. The raw power of the rest of the deck may make up for playing a 1/1 for 1U. I may even replace Vault Skirge with him just for the imprint, although the lifelink is excellent when catching up from Tomb payments. He's almost a better Invisible Stalker.
I know since you run FoW that MoE becomes a lot better just because of the blue requirements, but I honestly think if not for that I don't really like him any more. There's effectively 8 Platings in the deck, and with Souls hogging the curve MoE doesn't feel very worth it. I'd rather untap with Souls tokens and zerg with Plating next turn than put a big lord down, especially as we've shied away from the swarm strategy of Memnites and Signal Pests. If he buffed Souls tokens, or if I ran FoW, I would leave him in.
What do you think about Whipflare in the sideboard?
Edit: Did a search for Phyrexian mana cards. Just saw Porcelain Legionnaire, although it just looks like a worse Thalia (no imprint), even if it's an artifact. The extra power isn't really as relevant with Plating, either.
Someone ran Gitaxian Probe in Affinity to a top8 in Europe recently, can't remember where. Might be worth looking into, but bad with Chalice, hard on Tombs, and doesn't do much on its own.
Maybe even Dismember for some removal. Can't really see it being much better than Dispatch, but it dodges Chalice and imprints.
Dismember is pretty awesome for the deck. I'd tried it a bit and it's exactly the kind of removal this deck wants: something playable T1, and dodges Chalice. Right now I'm running 4 opal, 4 chrome and 3 petal, so I'm opting out of the 1-mana T1 plays, and hoping I can drop a 2-drop that turn instead. The problem with Dismember is that it's not a win-con, and it can also be a blank just like the Chrome Moxen and Opals and other things, especially in topdeck mode. Also, it doesn't get Reanimated dudes, especially Elesh Norn, who rocks about every dude in the deck. I decided Obv Ring/ Detention Sphere was what the deck really wanted.
I liked Lingering Souls too, but I actually come down on the side that Thopter Foundry is more powerful than it. They both make around 3-4 tokens on average, Foundry pitches to FoW, Souls to Chrome, but with one extra slot (Sword of the Meek) Foundry becomes a total house. I just like that some decks just scoop when I get Thopter combo going. Sword can sometimes be pretty dead, or at least underwhelming, but I've never found Foundry useless (other than when I have extra copies of it). I feel it's minimal slot investment for maximum return on power.
I stopped using the MoEs and switched those to Foundries a few weeks ago. Actually, I've been splitting first the past three weeks based on my list, which runs 4 Trinket Mage right now. I've made top 4 the last 6-7 weeks now, though some of that is based on playing against a few sub-optimal decks and some newbie players.
And about Trinket Mage, he really helps shore up the combo MU. The combo guy who plays at my store is pretty good, and I know he always feels miserable getting paired against me. 4 Force, 4 Chalice, 4 Trinket Mage (which sometimes comes down T1) makes 12 slots MD for cry cry cry. I honestly don't expect much combo in larger metas, but Chalice is generally useful against just about anything. He's not a bomb, but I have trouble coming up with a better slot for the deck.
And I have 3 slots open in my SB. I might throw in Etched Champion because he seriously smashes certain MUs, especially those with Punishing Fire. The lack of Chrome Imprinting might make sideboarding him in a bit tricky. I've got 3x Gilded Drake right now, for Rean, Sneak and Show, and Aluren though I think the guy who plays that is starting to learn how the deck goes, and Drake prob won't be as effective now. I'm kind of against SB'ing creatures that could be maindecked (unlike Gilded Drake), it just seems like inefficient deck building, and more tinkering will find whether you actually want Champion or have a stronger option to running it. I've had times where he's been no more than a super-duper Pearled Unicorn.
Looter is pretty weaksauce. Just Chrome imprint. I never tried him in a list with Cranial, though, which would be kinda cool.
EDIT: Whipflare... I don't really see a need for it. Whipflare stops Empty the Warrens token, Goblins, and occasionally Death and Taxes stuff. Trinket Mage + Chalice (+ Eng Exp) stops tokens, Sword of Fire/Ice takes Goblins, and Sword of Light/Shadow takes D+T - all of which are at least 5 slots of access. So I spend 2 slots SB instead of 3-4 slots on Whipflare, which is also untutorable. This build of Affinity also runs dudes you don't want to die, usually SFM is nice to keep alive, Trinket Mage and Ling Souls tokens, too. It's aggro enough with SFM and Jitte generally to ruin aggro matches, like Elves, Zoo and other random things I might be missing, and I find those are slightly in my favor, as I run Chalice too, which smashes aggro. I think it's a bit overkill. I want to play against Elesh Norn more so I can see how to end up winning that MU, as none of my dudes have more than 2 toughness; that's one reason why I ran MoE for the longest time. And Deed, too. I'd worry more about those MUs.
Final Ritual: "I was your round 14 opponent with the 3 giant goyfs. I didn't know what the fuck you were piloting."
Drunken Master strategy. If I don't know what I'm doing, how would you?
Yeah, I'm running O-Rings and Spheres in the side as well. I pretty much figured the same about Dismember, but I wanted to see if you had already gone and done the legwork on it. Are you running both Spheres/O-Rings and Gilded Drakes in the side? I'm not sure, but I think I'd just go for the O-Rings and put in a few more slots for gravehate to deal with both Reanimator and Dredge.
I can see your point on Foundry, especially as it pitches to FoW, which is actually incredibly relevant. The only issue is that I don't have a set of FoW yet, so Lingering Souls tends to play out better for me as fuel for Chrome Mox. I'm also feeling that I want at least one more Ravager to eat up extra Opals, Petals, and Moxen. Ravager also gets better the more Opals you run as you can use them as pseudo-Petals to get out of tight spots or to accelerate plays.
I've put the Trinket Mages back in after cutting Looters, as they weren't doing anything very well besides imprint, and made some room for a Welding Jar and an EE. I still love how you can just drop a Chalice at 0 right after playing him. Looter + Plating was too often a worse version of Etched + Plating.
I think Champion in the board would serve a similar role as your singleton swords that you currently have, only not fetchable with Stoneforge, but resilient to removal. It's a house against tribal decks, solid against D&T, and puts good pressure on planeswalkers.
Broodstar is kind of like a MoE that pitches to FoW and Mox, but doesn't boost your Thopters and isn't an artifact. If it wasn't so harshly costed I might have actually considered using them, but even with affinity it's hard to come up with enough mana to justify it. It does dodge Abrupt Decay, which MoE doesn't.
I also saw a really strange card suggested over on the Affinity thread at Salvation: Jeweled Amulet. I'd kind of see it as a Springleaf Drum that dodges Chalice at 1, but it feels really slow and the mana would come a turn too late to be useful enough.
Funnily enough, one guy on Salvation there is thinking about cutting out the weak stuff like Memnite, Pest, and Skirge and focusing on the top end. While protecting his stuff with WELDING JAR.
EDIT: I just found this old card, Lodestone Myr, except he's kind of a worse Lodestone Golem. He can make use of extra Chalices and Moxen, though, and works well with equipment.
Last edited by hax0rm4n; 05-14-2013 at 09:35 PM.
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