A Black/White Tokens deck with an "Aristocrats finish" to it. I've brought this deck to FNM once and to Game Day, and made my way to Top 4 at both events! It's a fairly budget deck, though upgrades are certainly available if you've got the will for them.
Anyway, here's a breakdown of the deck, and some reasoning of why I chose certain cards and how they've performed!
1 Drops
Thraben Inspector: This card is my favorite 1 drop creature in Standard. A 1/2 body is so much more difficult to deal with than a 1/1, sometimes your opponent spends a whole card to kill the Inspector. This one drop acts as an early pressure enabler, but also as a Revolt enabler for a couple other cards in the deck. During my first FNM with this list, this card was the one I was always happiest to have in my opening hands, as well as later on in the game. An extra body that draws another card for three mana, and potentially creates another Servo? Deceptively powerful. How do we make a Servo with our Inspector, you might ask? Wait just a few cards to find out!
Fatal Push: If Inspector is my favorite 1 drop creature, then this is my favorite 1 mana spell in Standard. In practice, Push overperforms in this deck. I used to play 3 Grasp of Darkness and 2 fatal push, but Revolt is very, VERY easy to trigger in this deck, so it's very rare to find a dead matchup for Push. I'm sticking to 3 maindeck, though I don't think it would be incorrect to put a fourth Push into the board. It can destroy some of the most prominent threats in the format without Revolt--that warrants a position on its own. But being able to kill Kalitas, Tireless Tracker, Rishkar, Felidar Guardian, Mindwrack Demon, Aethersphere Harvester.....the list goes on for quite a while.
2 Drops
Hidden Stockpile: THIS card is what made me want to build this deck. If you're interested in a deck like this, but think this card is underwhelming, please, PLEASE go test with it. I used to play 3, but the card gets better in multiples. Seriously. This card will help you win control matchups and allow you to BE the deck with a better lategame against Vehicles. If THAT'S not enough, it helps you fuel your aggression, too! Your opponent has one X/2 creature, and all you have are two Servo Tokens? Attack with both! They can block one, but then you make a new one at your End step! They take the two damage? Pay a mana, sacrifice a tapped Servo, and Scry 1! End step, new Servo!! Fun Fact: You can play this post combat after your opponent makes some trades, and Revolt will trigger off of Clue tokens, too.
Zulaport Cutthroat: This is probably the most important card in the deck. Cutthroat can allow you to come back in games that you otherwise would have no way of winning. It can also allow you to win from seemingly nowhere. We can play so many of these Sacrifice-as-a-cost abilities on cards like Hidden Stockpile and remain on the offensive while doing so thanks to the Cutthroat. I don't think I could be convinced not to run 4 of this card not matter the matchup. This card gives you resilience against mass destruction removal, and is a bit absurd alongside of Yahenni. I won a match against Mardu Vehicles by draining my opponent for 12 after combat with 2 Cutthroats in play. If they don't have an answer for this card, they may not find themselves alive much longer.
Syndicate Trafficker: This card really underwhelmed me at first, but I've come to find it to be irreplaceable in this list. It can really be great on offense and defense, and in this shell it's activated ability is a whoooole lot of upside. The number of Servos and Clues that you can feed to the Trafficker usually let you have protection up for it at any time. By being a 3 power creature on its own, it can trade up very nicely. Your opponents will usually be looking to see when you fail to leave up mana for it to be protected, especially if they're playing Walking Ballista. Gotta be careful of Hangarback 2.0.
Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim: Ayli is pretty interesting here. She's been the Sac outlet that gets activated the least number of times, but always trades for at least 1 of my opponent's cards. A 2 mana 2/3 Deathtouch is very hard to deal with. I've never had a game where I've found her to be bad, or at least worse than most other cards I could draw. It is possible to get her second activated ability to become active with the life you can gain from your Cutthroats and your Shambling Vents, though you're probably just winning already if you can laser your opponent's board with 30+ life.
3 Drops
Weaponcraft Enthusiast: To those of you who have ever cast spells such as Hordeling Outburst, Timely Reinforcements, Secure the Wastes, and similar cards that create multiple creature tokens for one card, That's exactly what Weaponcraft Enthusiast is doing here. Fabricate 2 will more likely than not be creating 2 Servos, rather than put 2 +1/+1 counters on the Enthusiast. Trust me, you wanna go wide here. While 2 power and 3 toughness for 3 mana might seem just okay, having these stats across 3 bodies really clogs up the ground, and it can often stop your opponent from just bashing in with their Veteran Motorists and Toolcraft Exemplars, especially if you have a Cutthroat in play. This is my favorite 3 drop to cast for free off of Sram's Expertise- 6 creatures for 4 mana! Curving into a Gideon or an Angel after this card is a beating. Lastly, the Exemplar is a great creature to sacrifice to Hidden Stockpile, since the Servo you get actually has 1 power! Sometimes Enthusiast is a turn 4 play, where you get to Scry 1 and make 3 Servos instead.
Yahenni, Undying Partisan: I need to tinker with my numbers to fit a third Yahenni in here, this card is more powerful than it is currently being credited for. In a world of Fatal Push and Unlicensed Disintegration, Indestructible is very powerful. Haste on this creature makes for some very good surprise swings, and actually makes Yahenni a great draw late game, especially if you have a Push in hand with mana to cast both cards. The biggest appeal to playing Yahenni over another 3 drop (previously, I was running Bygone Bishop) is that Yahenni is a manaless sac outlet, meaning we can use them to sacrifice our entire board of creatures with, say, a Zulaport Cutthroat in play. Always remember the triggers for when they get bigger: whenever a creature an opponent controls dies. Don't miss them!
Anguished Unmaking: I wanted a maindeck "catch-all" removal spell/answer, something that could handle the worst of problems. Torrentil Gearhulk, Ishkanah, Copycat....Unmaking solves them all. In aggressive matchups like Mardu Vehicles, these probably come out for a couple Skywhaler's Shot, as the life loss is very relevant there.
Stasis Snare: This card started off as just a budget alternative to Anguished Unmaking, and quite frankly functions in almost the same way. However, some decks are playing Artifact/Enchantment removal out of the board, so be cautious if you choose to play Stasis Snare.
4 Drops
Sram's Expertise: This is the other card from Aether Revolt that made me want to build this deck. As I previously mentioned, Weaponcraft Enthusiast lets this spell turn into 6 creatures on turn 4, though it can also act as 3 Servos and a removal spell. The power of casting multiple spells in a turn leads to some very aggressive curves, and can really close a game out on turn 5 if you follow up with an Angel of Invention. If Gideons aren't a problem for you to acquire, I still think this card should be run alongside Gideon. The effect is incredibly powerful, free spells feel REEEEEALLY good.
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar: Okay. It's him. Chad, who's fun to be with. All the things he does are great. Play s many as you can, really. Even just making an emblem right away is good here. He can even trigger Revolt!! He's very, very good.
5 Drops
Angel of Invention: Now, I felt like this card was very weak for its cost. The numbers seemed off to me, like the card was too frail to be worth 5 mana. In practice...I learned how wrong I was. If you want to play a budget version of this deck, this card is what you need to start off with 4 of. 3 creatures for one card along with an anthem effect isn't something that anything else in Standard can fill the void of, currently. This is your reward for curving out, and it's also a card that can bring you back into the game. I won a mulligan to 5 on turn 7 by hitting all my land drops and then playing an Angel on turns 5, 6, and 7. The power in these fabricate creatures really comes from them making all of the singleton removal so much worse. The best part of the Angel is that it dodges Fatal Push--something that you might find wins more games than you think.
I'll do a proper writeup on my Sideboard at a later time, as it's been in flux with various cards I've been testing (spicy things like Behind the Scenes). For now, I'll discuss cards I have listed and the reasons why.
Authority of the Consuls- The sideboard answer of choice against Copycat
Fragmentize- Hits Heart of Kiran, Cultivator's Caravan, Aethersphere Harvester, Aetherflux Resevoir, Aetherworks Marvel, Scraphear Scrounger, and some other fringe Artifacts/Enchantments.
Lost Legacy- Another card to bring in against Saheeli decks, but also can be brough in against decks playing Ishkanah and other cards that will swing a game out of your favor singlehandedly (Sadly, we can't name Walking Ballista.)
Collective Effort- Now, here's a spicy inclusion. I tried this in the main deck, but didn't find I was liking it enough to play it over another creature. This card plays perfectly with Sram's Expertise, as you can buff you creatures and use your new Servos to Escalate the remaining two modes. I think that if we see some powerful Enchantments printed in Amonkhet, then this card may warrant more inclusion. Until this, this card will sometimes be too clunky in practice at 3 mana as a sorcery. Being unable to destroy Vehicles is a big downside.
Transgress the Mind- Great to bring in against control and matchups where you feel your deck wants to be the aggressor. I could see reason to play 3 of these in the sideboard.
Kambal, Consul of Allocation- This is a nod to the Aetherflux Resevoir decks, though it's also a good card to bring in against spell-heavy control deck, as they have to deal with Kambal before they can effectively do much else. Kambal acts like an Eidolon of Revels here.
Marionette Master- I started with this card in the main deck, but found 6 mana was sometimes too steep to play. I think the card is excellent to bring in for grindier matchups, and can close out a game once it resolves. Yahenni interacts very powerfully with Marionette Master, as does Synicate Trafficker.
Other Sideboard Options:Selfless Spirit, Sorin, Grim Nemesis, Behind the Scenes, Call the Bloodline, Flaying Tendrils, Fumigate
As I play this deck more, I'll be updating the sideboard and discovering what cards are favorable in which matchups.
The deck is fairly budget, the duals can be downgraded to W/B taplands from SOI and Evolving Wilds, though the Westvale Abbeys do help a LOT. I only play 1 Gideon as it's all I can currently manage (I'm actually borrowing a friend's copy), but I can't reccomend playing as many Gideons as possible. I would think to cut the Ayli's first, as she's mostly just been a "Good stuff" creature that happens to be a Sac Outlet. This list is very synergistic. Always make the Servos with your Fabricate Creatures. Try not to trade off your Servos, you can make better use of them once you have a Cutthroat or an Anthem effect in play. Unless you have a Hidden Stockpile in play. In which case, play those Servos more aggressively! Getting 1 replacement Servo every turn can let you dig through excess lands with the Scry ability- just remember that you have to do it on your turn.
