Just got back into MTGA after a magic break for many years. I've been playing an extremely similar deck in Timeless, but no Chrom Mox and no interaction with my opponents like counters or bounce. Instead I'm all in on trying to just combo off as much as possible to flood the board and win with either a flood of creature tokens, Goblin Bombardment, Vivi, or Grapeshot. Super fun deck.
Since I'm new again, I never knew illuminating lash existed. Definitely gonna try that. When I've got some mythic wildcards might redeem Chrom Mox as well, but still iffy on that in this deck. I've got a set of Tormod Crypt (the only interaction with the opponent in the deck besides uptick Tamiyo) in that slot and I find it useful a ton of the time in Timeless with all the graveyard shenanigans.
This is like a yugioh deck. You take a 10 minutes combo turn in which u draw half your Deck and stack up infinite interactions. You don't really need a win con as your card advantage that becomes a huge board is already your win con. Without removals you're at the mercy of Orchish Bowmaster if your hand is not fast enough to beat his effect with ease.
I was skeptical on Chrome Mox too some time ago. After I tried it I would NEVER come back. Having 12 Mox is just insane, the reason to play this Deck in my opinion. Extenders are the best cards in a card game because they allow you to do multiple things in a single turn.
Also don't look at Boomerang Basics as interaction: in this Deck reads tap a Mox, bounce your Mox, draw a card, which is powerful not only because it cycles for free, but also because you get another free trigger off Emissary / Drix Interlacer.
PS: they changed Chrome Mox from Mythic to Rare in one of the latest updates! It's much easier to access now ;)
You have opened my eyes on some of this. Definitely trying the boomerang lesson and Chrom Mox when I get the wildcards for them. Also the Mox would mean I can cut the Great Furnace and go down to 8 lands like your build instead of 12. Thank you for your insight!
I just want to add that I still think your deck could benefit from a single copy of Grapeshot or Goblin Bombardment. Unless im missing something, you have to pass turn, then get back to your turn to untap and swing for the win, giving your opponent a small chance to turn things around. Grapeshot or Goblin Bombardment would get you the win the turn you combo, with Goblin Bombardment having the added bonus of being able to kill an Orcish Bowmaster (which I guess you could do with a Grapeshot too if absolutely neccassary). That's why I cut Kappa Canoneer, because no haste. Want that kill ASAP.
I thought about playing a storm-like wincon too. I don't believe it's necessary - feels to me a bit win-more as we already play Pinnacle which is in itself the artifact storm card. The only cards I'm worried about, that can really change the pace of the game, are mostly noncreature spells like Show and Tell, Reanimate and such that we can already keep at bay with FON. Nothing really beats two FON if not some very strange creature combo decks.
Power matters slighty more than consistency, and that's why we happily play very powerful but inconsistent cards like Kappa Cannoneer. Adding more makes the Deck more bricky. Definely thoughts for the Side Deck which I will do eventually when my competitive spirit will bring me to play some arena tournaments lol
Hey there, your deck seemed super fun so i tried it out. Normally not really a constructed player. Started in Gold, immediately went 4:0 and ended at 7:2, the only losses were a mulligan to five and a double [[Orcish Bowmasters]]. So, thanks for the fun time with your list!
This seems like it instantly loses to any blood moon effect. I also feel like you want 4x Kappa since that's your wincon for those turn 1 play emmisary, dump your hand starts. Tamiyo is busted, but can you reliably flip it early without brainstorm?
No, you never flip tamiyo with 4 boomerangs, 4 thought cast, 4 thought monitor, 4 drix interlacer...and you never do that on your first turn XD. and it's not busted because it gives you another thought cast follow up on the next turn.
I had a debate for monitor or kappa in two copies, and kappa is definetly the correct solution as it doesn't provide card advantage but just inevitability, which you have anyway as nobody can race your card advantage
A deck that plays 8 lands loses to blood moon? the game is already over by the time your opponent plays a floodgate you don't care about
Almost all of your card draw is at sorcery speed. What happens in the games when you don't have Emmisary and a draw spell that flips Tamiyo turn 1? Play the Tamiyo and hope it doesn't get removed? What happens when they do try to remove tamiyo at instant speed? You pray you have force of negation and a blue card in hand?
Necro easily out grinds this. So does energy. So do Wary Zone Guard piles. All of your card advantage requires you to either play a drix and then cast a bunch of artifacts, or play a bunch of artifacts and then play throught cast/monitor. If you can't get artifacts on the board, your only castable draw spell is boomerang basics, which is only a cantrip.
How does this deck stop a turn 1 on the play [[Magus of the Moon]]? You have no basic islands to cast Boomerang Basics or the random bad UR removal spell. The only colored spell you CAN cast through a blood moon effect is Emmisary. Which means you have to, at a minimum, imprint a chrome mox for blue or have two artifacts plus Mox Opal in order to remove it.
Plus, 8 lands not nearly close enough. Where is Sink into Stupor? It pitches to Force and Chrome Mox and is a land when needed.
I've played some sort of Affinity style deck since Timeless released. Your list is a mashup of traditional aggressive Affinity and the slower 8-cast Affinity.
Emmisary decks want you to cast it turn 1, drop a ton of zero mana artifacts, and then close the game with Kappa, a chalice lock, or your token damage.
8 cast wants you to play grindy spells like Tamiyo, Emry, [[Retrofitter Foundry]], and The One Ring and defend those advantage engines with Force of Negation and [[Metallic Rebuke]].
Keep in mind that this is not a midrange/control shell. It's an engine-combo deck that aim to compress the game in the first turns to create an unwinnable board state for the opponent. Control at its finest, not as a style of Deck, but as the position you take in the game. You have inevitability over your opponent because your engine is more faster and powerful than everything else. Trade of resources matter in a symmetric game. it doesn't if you continue to create advantage, as those trades become extremely inefficient for the opponent. Your interactions matter to control a key play or your opponent's last turn. You don't want to say no to everything, you want to take less risks as possible to resolve one of your powerful plays. That's how you get inevitability.
You mulligan a turn 1 Tamiyo pass. Your turn 1 keep are powerful hands like Tamiyo Mox Emry. A removal beats 1 engine, not two or three. Every engine aims to create unsymmetrical advantage, so it's a pick-your-poison scenario.
And gotta be honest with you, the Magus part was pretty funny to read. Why should I make my Deck worse to beat a floodgate that doesn't impact the core of my manabase, which are the twelve Moxes? If we want to point out a scary weakness of the Deck, we can talk about a turn 1 Grief sniping out the key card in your hand.
If you're playing Artifacts for this long, then I invite you to give this list a try. I'm sure you will be surprised!
If it isn't a midrange or control shell, then why do you have Tamiyo and FoN instead of Patchwork Automaton, Retrofitter Foundry/Ornithopther, Cori Steel Cutter, 4x Kappa, etc? Everything you're describing is just Mono black Necro but worse. You can't kill them fast enough with Tamiyo/Emry hands, and you only have two Kappa for your closing Emmisary threat.
Why don't you have [[Galvanic Blast]] or [[Shrapnel Blast]] instead of that mediocre UR removal spell? If you want an engine, where is [[The One Ring]]? That's infinitely better than a Thought Monitor that both dies to everything except Fatal Push, and is a terrible top deck on an empty board.
If you mulligan a Tamiyo pass hand, then you're already at a massive disadvantage for the Emmisary starts. I would love to see this deck win against a turn 1 Magus into Chalice on 0. I didn't mention Grief because the only way to stop it on the draw is [[Subtlety]], which most people in timeless aren't playing in the main in Bo1.
You're also missing my point about Magus. I never once suggested changing your manabase outside of adding [[Sink into Stupor]], which wasn't a replacement for a land. I'm telling you it's a massive weakness against a tier 1 deck and what you can do to fight that. If you don't want to change your mana, then I suggest adding any red removal spell, like the Galvanic or Shrapnel Blast, so you can kill problematic creatures like [[Wary Zone Guard]] and Magus instead of bouncing them.
I genuinely don't understand the condescending tone. I'm not attacking your deck choices, I'm making suggestions and giving the reason why I make them because I have played this version. I played it before Mox Opal, Emmisary, Kappa, or Thoughtcast released. I played that awful alchemy UR creature that conjures a Mox Opal to hand. I also tried an 8 Cast/Emissary hybrid deck, and felt like the two halves clashed too much. It felt better to me to make two different decks, one focused on maximizing Emmisary, and one on Tamiyo and Emry.
Just got back into MTGA after a magic break for many years. I've been playing an extremely similar deck in Timeless, but no Chrom Mox and no interaction with my opponents like counters or bounce. Instead I'm all in on trying to just combo off as much as possible to flood the board and win with either a flood of creature tokens, Goblin Bombardment, Vivi, or Grapeshot. Super fun deck.
Since I'm new again, I never knew illuminating lash existed. Definitely gonna try that. When I've got some mythic wildcards might redeem Chrom Mox as well, but still iffy on that in this deck. I've got a set of Tormod Crypt (the only interaction with the opponent in the deck besides uptick Tamiyo) in that slot and I find it useful a ton of the time in Timeless with all the graveyard shenanigans.
This is like a yugioh deck. You take a 10 minutes combo turn in which u draw half your Deck and stack up infinite interactions. You don't really need a win con as your card advantage that becomes a huge board is already your win con. Without removals you're at the mercy of Orchish Bowmaster if your hand is not fast enough to beat his effect with ease.
I was skeptical on Chrome Mox too some time ago. After I tried it I would NEVER come back. Having 12 Mox is just insane, the reason to play this Deck in my opinion. Extenders are the best cards in a card game because they allow you to do multiple things in a single turn.
Also don't look at Boomerang Basics as interaction: in this Deck reads tap a Mox, bounce your Mox, draw a card, which is powerful not only because it cycles for free, but also because you get another free trigger off Emissary / Drix Interlacer.
PS: they changed Chrome Mox from Mythic to Rare in one of the latest updates! It's much easier to access now ;)
You have opened my eyes on some of this. Definitely trying the boomerang lesson and Chrom Mox when I get the wildcards for them. Also the Mox would mean I can cut the Great Furnace and go down to 8 lands like your build instead of 12. Thank you for your insight!
I just want to add that I still think your deck could benefit from a single copy of Grapeshot or Goblin Bombardment. Unless im missing something, you have to pass turn, then get back to your turn to untap and swing for the win, giving your opponent a small chance to turn things around. Grapeshot or Goblin Bombardment would get you the win the turn you combo, with Goblin Bombardment having the added bonus of being able to kill an Orcish Bowmaster (which I guess you could do with a Grapeshot too if absolutely neccassary). That's why I cut Kappa Canoneer, because no haste. Want that kill ASAP.
I thought about playing a storm-like wincon too. I don't believe it's necessary - feels to me a bit win-more as we already play Pinnacle which is in itself the artifact storm card. The only cards I'm worried about, that can really change the pace of the game, are mostly noncreature spells like Show and Tell, Reanimate and such that we can already keep at bay with FON. Nothing really beats two FON if not some very strange creature combo decks.
Power matters slighty more than consistency, and that's why we happily play very powerful but inconsistent cards like Kappa Cannoneer. Adding more makes the Deck more bricky. Definely thoughts for the Side Deck which I will do eventually when my competitive spirit will bring me to play some arena tournaments lol
I am a poor affinity player and can only afford metallic rebukes.
Hey there, your deck seemed super fun so i tried it out. Normally not really a constructed player. Started in Gold, immediately went 4:0 and ended at 7:2, the only losses were a mulligan to five and a double [[Orcish Bowmasters]]. So, thanks for the fun time with your list!
Edit: typo
Orcish Bowmasters - (G) (SF) (txt)
FAQ
Chalice on 0 or an Archon of Emeria and this deck can scoop.
Typical Bo1 deck that prays go first or otherwise might just lose on the spot.
This seems like it instantly loses to any blood moon effect. I also feel like you want 4x Kappa since that's your wincon for those turn 1 play emmisary, dump your hand starts. Tamiyo is busted, but can you reliably flip it early without brainstorm?
No, you never flip tamiyo with 4 boomerangs, 4 thought cast, 4 thought monitor, 4 drix interlacer...and you never do that on your first turn XD. and it's not busted because it gives you another thought cast follow up on the next turn.
I had a debate for monitor or kappa in two copies, and kappa is definetly the correct solution as it doesn't provide card advantage but just inevitability, which you have anyway as nobody can race your card advantage
A deck that plays 8 lands loses to blood moon? the game is already over by the time your opponent plays a floodgate you don't care about
Almost all of your card draw is at sorcery speed. What happens in the games when you don't have Emmisary and a draw spell that flips Tamiyo turn 1? Play the Tamiyo and hope it doesn't get removed? What happens when they do try to remove tamiyo at instant speed? You pray you have force of negation and a blue card in hand?
Necro easily out grinds this. So does energy. So do Wary Zone Guard piles. All of your card advantage requires you to either play a drix and then cast a bunch of artifacts, or play a bunch of artifacts and then play throught cast/monitor. If you can't get artifacts on the board, your only castable draw spell is boomerang basics, which is only a cantrip.
How does this deck stop a turn 1 on the play [[Magus of the Moon]]? You have no basic islands to cast Boomerang Basics or the random bad UR removal spell. The only colored spell you CAN cast through a blood moon effect is Emmisary. Which means you have to, at a minimum, imprint a chrome mox for blue or have two artifacts plus Mox Opal in order to remove it.
Plus, 8 lands not nearly close enough. Where is Sink into Stupor? It pitches to Force and Chrome Mox and is a land when needed.
I've played some sort of Affinity style deck since Timeless released. Your list is a mashup of traditional aggressive Affinity and the slower 8-cast Affinity.
Emmisary decks want you to cast it turn 1, drop a ton of zero mana artifacts, and then close the game with Kappa, a chalice lock, or your token damage. 8 cast wants you to play grindy spells like Tamiyo, Emry, [[Retrofitter Foundry]], and The One Ring and defend those advantage engines with Force of Negation and [[Metallic Rebuke]].
All cards
Magus of the Moon - (G) (SF) (txt)
Retrofitter Foundry - (G) (SF) (txt)
Metallic Rebuke - (G) (SF) (txt)
FAQ
Keep in mind that this is not a midrange/control shell. It's an engine-combo deck that aim to compress the game in the first turns to create an unwinnable board state for the opponent. Control at its finest, not as a style of Deck, but as the position you take in the game. You have inevitability over your opponent because your engine is more faster and powerful than everything else. Trade of resources matter in a symmetric game. it doesn't if you continue to create advantage, as those trades become extremely inefficient for the opponent. Your interactions matter to control a key play or your opponent's last turn. You don't want to say no to everything, you want to take less risks as possible to resolve one of your powerful plays. That's how you get inevitability.
You mulligan a turn 1 Tamiyo pass. Your turn 1 keep are powerful hands like Tamiyo Mox Emry. A removal beats 1 engine, not two or three. Every engine aims to create unsymmetrical advantage, so it's a pick-your-poison scenario.
And gotta be honest with you, the Magus part was pretty funny to read. Why should I make my Deck worse to beat a floodgate that doesn't impact the core of my manabase, which are the twelve Moxes? If we want to point out a scary weakness of the Deck, we can talk about a turn 1 Grief sniping out the key card in your hand.
If you're playing Artifacts for this long, then I invite you to give this list a try. I'm sure you will be surprised!
If it isn't a midrange or control shell, then why do you have Tamiyo and FoN instead of Patchwork Automaton, Retrofitter Foundry/Ornithopther, Cori Steel Cutter, 4x Kappa, etc? Everything you're describing is just Mono black Necro but worse. You can't kill them fast enough with Tamiyo/Emry hands, and you only have two Kappa for your closing Emmisary threat.
Why don't you have [[Galvanic Blast]] or [[Shrapnel Blast]] instead of that mediocre UR removal spell? If you want an engine, where is [[The One Ring]]? That's infinitely better than a Thought Monitor that both dies to everything except Fatal Push, and is a terrible top deck on an empty board.
If you mulligan a Tamiyo pass hand, then you're already at a massive disadvantage for the Emmisary starts. I would love to see this deck win against a turn 1 Magus into Chalice on 0. I didn't mention Grief because the only way to stop it on the draw is [[Subtlety]], which most people in timeless aren't playing in the main in Bo1.
You're also missing my point about Magus. I never once suggested changing your manabase outside of adding [[Sink into Stupor]], which wasn't a replacement for a land. I'm telling you it's a massive weakness against a tier 1 deck and what you can do to fight that. If you don't want to change your mana, then I suggest adding any red removal spell, like the Galvanic or Shrapnel Blast, so you can kill problematic creatures like [[Wary Zone Guard]] and Magus instead of bouncing them.
I genuinely don't understand the condescending tone. I'm not attacking your deck choices, I'm making suggestions and giving the reason why I make them because I have played this version. I played it before Mox Opal, Emmisary, Kappa, or Thoughtcast released. I played that awful alchemy UR creature that conjures a Mox Opal to hand. I also tried an 8 Cast/Emissary hybrid deck, and felt like the two halves clashed too much. It felt better to me to make two different decks, one focused on maximizing Emmisary, and one on Tamiyo and Emry.
All cards
Galvanic Blast - (G) (SF) (txt)
Shrapnel Blast - (G) (SF) (txt)
The One Ring - (G) (SF) (txt)
Subtlety - (G) (SF) (txt)
Sink into Stupor/Soporific Springs - (G) (SF) (txt)
Wary Zone Guard - (G) (SF) (txt)
FAQ