Thopters, thopters everywhere

Commander / EDH Budget Casual Multiplayer Tribal UR (Izzet)

Ericius

Creature (30)

• 1x Ancestral Statue
• 1x Aspiring Aeronaut
• 1x Chief Engineer
• 1x Chief of the Foundry
• 1x Etherium Sculptor
• 1x Experimental Aviator
• 1x Ghirapur Gearcrafter
• 1x Hangarback Walker
• 1x Hope of Ghirapur
• 1x Inkwell Leviathan
• 1x Iron Myr
• 1x Master of Etherium
• 1x Maverick Thopterist
• 1x Ornithopter
• 1x Padeem, Consul of Innovation
• 1x Pia and Kiran Nalaar
• 1x Pia Nalaar
• 1x Pilgrim of the Fires
• 1x Pilgrim's Eye
• 1x Purphoros, God of the Forge
• 1x Reckless Fireweaver
• 1x Scuttling Doom Engine
• 1x Sharding Sphinx
• 1x Silver Myr
• 1x Snare Thopter
• 1x Steel Hellkite
• 1x Thopter Assembly
• 1x Thopter Engineer
• 1x Vedalken Engineer
• 1x Whirler Rogue

Instant (15)

• 1x Aetherspouts
• 1x Anticipate
• 1x Artificer's Epiphany
• 1x Blustersquall
• 1x Dig Through Time
• 1x Disallow
• 1x Disperse
• 1x Galvanic Blast
• 1x Ghostly Flicker
• 1x Lightning Bolt
• 1x Metallic Rebuke
• 1x Negate
• 1x Smash to Smithereens
• 1x Stoke the Flames
• 1x Welding Sparks

Artifact (7)

• 1x Courier's Capsule
• 1x Darksteel Forge
• 1x Hedron Archive
• 1x Inspiring Statuary
• 1x Minion Reflector
• 1x Panharmonicon
• 1x Sol Ring

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Ensoul Artifact
• 1x Flameshadow Conjuring
• 1x Ghirapur AEther Grid
• 1x Impact Tremors
• 1x Imprisoned in the Moon
• 1x Thopter Spy Network

Commander (1)

Land (37)

• 1x Darksteel Citadel
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Foundry of the Consuls
• 1x Great Furnace
• 1x Highland Lake
• 1x Inventors' Fair
• 15x Island
• 1x Izzet Guildgate
• 12x Mountain
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Shivan Gorge
• 1x Swiftwater Cliffs

Sorcery (3)

• 1x Reconstruction
• 1x Treasure Cruise
• 1x Vandalblast

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Saheeli Rai

---

Maybeboard

Creature (10)

• 1x Embraal Gear-Smasher
• 1x Feldon of the Third Path
• 1x Filigree Crawler
• 1x Foundry Inspector
• 1x Jori En, Ruin Diver
• 1x Mercurial Pretender
• 1x Metallic Mimic
• 1x Ruination Guide
• 1x Thopter Squadron
• 1x Tide Drifter

Instant (3)

• 1x Glimmer of Genius
• 1x Illusionist's Stratagem
• 1x Price of Progress

Artifact (9)

• 1x Conjurer's Closet
• 1x Ghirapur Orrery
• 1x Hammer of Purphoros
• 1x Hazoret's Monument
• 1x Inventor's Goggles
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Kefnet's Monument
• 1x Obelisk of Urd
• 1x Skullclamp

Land (7)

• 1x Desert of the Fervent
• 1x Desert of the Mindful
• 1x Ipnu Rivulet
• 1x Ramunap Ruins
• 1x Ruins of Oran-Rief
• 1x Shivan Reef
• 1x Spire of Industry

Enchantment (3)

• 1x Efficient Construction
• 1x Favorable Winds
• 1x Mechanized Production

---

"These little flying contraptions are quite intriguing. While they are easy to make, even for a novice artificer, one should not underestimate their potential. Yes, they are weak and fragile, but a small fleet of them can overcome an unprepared opponent. They are common in planes with above-average interest in artifice, such as the shard of Esper in Alara and Kaladesh. Rumor also has it that some mages have found a way to use a self-repairing sword as material to mass-produce Thopters."
—The Outsider, Commentarioli de Multiversis observatis "On Thopters"

---

My take on a thopter tribal deck. Heavily inspired by Magic Origins Red-Blue limited archetype and thopter/flying scissors decks featured at PT Origins.

Now that Kaladesh and Aether Revolt have come and gone, it's finally time to update my list. Kaladesh block didn't bring so many thopters but I got one pretty spicy addition in Panharmonicon!

My choice of commander is Keranos, God of Storms. I could run Breya, Etherium Shaper, but she'd require more expensive manabase and she has a bit of a reputation being a very powerful combo deck commander. I also like to play janky tribal decks, so I prefer not to make myself a target before drawing the opening hand. Although I'm missing some thopter cards, such as Master Trinketeer, Thopter Arrest, Fumigate and Thopter Foundry.

TBH, this deck is a underpowered artifact-themed deck with a thopter subtheme. I might also have too many artifact cheapener permanents which can block me from playing aforementioned thopter generator spells.

If you like what you see, please consider upvoting the deck or leaving a comment! I'm quite interested in hearing your thoughts about this deck!

Thopters

Thopters in this deck can be divided into three groups: Actual Thopter cards, tokens created by "Enters the battlefield" (ETB) effects and tokens created by other effects.

Thopter cards:

• Hope of Ghirapur
• Ornithopter
• Pilgrim's Eye
• Snare Thopter
• Thopter Assembly (can also create tokens)

Tokens (ETB)

• Aspiring Aeronaut
• Experimental Aviator
• Ghirapur Gearcrafter
• Maverick Thopterist
• Pia Nalaar
• Pia and Kiran Nalaar
• Thopter Engineer
• Whirler Rogue

Tokens (other)

• Foundry of the Consuls
• Hangarback Walker
• Sharding Sphinx
• Thopter Spy Network

Budget Considerations

I've tagged this deck as Budget deck. However, for some people or budgets this deck might still be too expensive (as I'm writing this section, the deck costs a bit over 80$ TCGPlayer Mid). Luckily, most of the deck's value is concentrated on a handful of cards. This means that you can get most of the deck quite cheaply and you'll only need to make a few budget substitutions. In this section I've highlighted the most expensive (dollar-wise) cards and I'll provide some options for card swaps. While reading this please keep in mind that card prices fluctuate over time.

Before I go into details, note that these are only suggestions. You should always make changes to my list based on your meta (i.e. what kinds of cards your playgroup plays). Moreover, there may be other cards that are too expensive for your budget or otherwise unavailable. In those cases you could try to find similar cards to fill in that slot or check maybeboard for ideas. Or you can just add something that strikes your fancy and take this build to another direction!

Keranos, God of Storms is a fairly expensive card, and for a reason. He's quite powerful card with "free" lightning bolts or extra cards. He's also a mythic rare from a small set. If you need an alternative commander that doesn't break the bank, I'd suggest Jori En, Ruin Diver. She has a low mana cost and draws you cards. If you want both damage and cards, then consider running either Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius or Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind. I haven't tried them, though.

Purphoros, God of the Forge is most likely the most expensive card in the deck, as he's super popular in EDH. He's also a very good win condition in the deck (especially when paired with Panharmonicon). Run something like Ghirapur AEther Grid or Goblin Bombardment if you can't use Purphoros. Or use this slot to fill in your other needs, like additional card draw, removal spells or counterspells.

Darksteel Forge isn't a necessary card for the deck, but it's very good in protecting your thopters, mana dorks and Panharmonicon. I'd suggest running additional counterspells if you cut this card. Soul of New Phyrexia could be an option, too. A third option would be more graveyard recursion.

I play Disallow mostly because it can also counter planeswalkers' ultimates. Most of the time I except to counter spells, though, as a thopter swarm can also keep planeswalkers in check. Decent alternatives are Void Shatter, Dissipate and Dissolve. Good old Counterspell is a very good option, if your budget can handle it. Use Cancel only in a pinch.

Saheeli Rai is expensive mostly because she's a planeswalker card and she suffers from price memory (thanks to infinite "Copycat" combo which was ultimately banned from Standard). In this deck she provides utility: damage, thopters (copy something like Maverick Thopterist) and tutoring if you can ultimate her. If you want more copy effects, then use cards like Nephalia Smuggler or Conjurer's Closet. Fevered Visions on the other hand provides extra cards and possibly extra damage.

While Lightning Bolt isn't that expensive, sometimes you just don't have one or don't want to buy one. In that case you can play Lightning Strike instead or some other burn spell.

I'm not sure if there's a suitable replacement for Panharmonicon. It's very good combo enabler, as it gives you more thopters and ETB triggers. If you need to cut this card, use this slot for metagame purposes.

Hangarback Walker seems to be on the rise, so keep an eye on that card.

---

Added and removed cards Show

2018-04-22 Update
In: Ghirapur AEther Grid, Master of Etherium
Out: Stoneforge Masterwork, card:Turn/Burn
2017-10-26 Update
In: Hope of Ghirapur, Shivan Gorge
Out: Faerie Mechanist, Temple of the False God
2017-06-25 Update
In: Dig Through Time, Disallow, Experimental Aviator, Flameshadow Conjuring, Great Furnace, Highland Lake, Imprisoned in the Moon, Inspiring Statuary, Inventors' Fair, Maverick Thopterist, Metallic Rebuke, Negate, Padeem, Consul of Innovation, Panharmonicon, Pia Nalaar, Purphoros, God of the Forge, Reckless Fireweaver, Saheeli Rai, Snare Thopter, Vandalblast, Welding Sparks
Out: Assert Authority, Barrage of Expendables, Brawler's Plate, Colossus of Akros, Fevered Visions, Filigree Sages, Guardian Automaton, Mage-Ring Responder, Magma Spray, Nephalia Smuggler, Neurok Replica, Pierce Strider, Reclusive Artificer, Renowned Weaponsmith, Rite of Undoing, Shrapnel Blast, Thoughtcast Tomb of the Spirit Dragon, Weapon Surge

Date added	8 years
Last updated	6 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	5 - 0 Mythic Rares 21 - 0 Rares 20 - 0 Uncommons 27 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.43
Tokens	Copy Clone, Thopter 1/1 C, Thopter 1/1 U
Folders	Inspiration