Ensoul artifact package with Origins and thopter tribal support!
This is the start of an ensoul artifact deck with the additional support from magic origins. The cards I plan to add are:
3 Thopter Engineer
3 Chief of the Foundy
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
2 Foundry of the Consuls
I have had some success with this in Khans standard shortly after M15 came out, but there has really been no support for this archetype until now. The link to my old deck is: http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/deck.asp?deck_id=1221290
Anyways, I need help narrowing down the last card choices. In the past, winning was extremely dependent on getting an early ensoul and making it stick. Now that that thopter engineer can give artifact creatures haste, and that chief engineer will be better with the cards that create additional creatures (like thopter engineer and pia and kiran nalaar), getting a hasty scuttling doom engine will be viable and be very difficult to deal with, and can act as an additional win condition.
As far as card choices go, there are 12 cards that can be ensouled on turn 2 (ornithopters, ghostfire blades, and darksteel citadels), and the stubborn denials are there to protect against removal. Creatures are not so much of a concern, as little in standard can match against either an ensouled artifact or a scuttling doom engine. The Nalaars give you another way to blow up your doom engine for 8 damage, though the shrapnel blast will still give you 11. The new cards give additional shrapnel blast targets, and the chief of the foundry can help to give the token thopters some damage potential and turn your ornithopters into real threats. The ghostfire blade is an all important card that you will never be sorry to have in your hand. The shaman of the great hunt is for haste damage, card draw, and a way to further the damage potential of the thopters.
One thing that is really nice is that as long as you have blue by turn 2, the color of your mana should not be a problem. You will want blue mana on turn two for either a chief engineer or an ensoul artifact, but other than that, the only thing on this deck that requires effort is the 2 red mana needed for the nalaars, which is a 4 drop anyway.
As far as matchups go, anything with forests should be favorable until they board in reclamation sages, so the silumgar sorcerers will be important sideboard deck. However, something green and white can use dromoka's commands, which are really problematic and stubborn denials will be crucial. I previously found control decks to be a problem at times, but I think stratus dancers (which can easily be ghostfire-bladed) make a big difference post board, and the addition of the thopter engineer to give creatures haste will be a big boost as well. Against red decks, in the past it has usually been a race, and I have found it to be a 50/50 matchup, but the wild slashes will hopefully help a lot to slow them down. As an aside, stubborn denial would be great against collected company decks.
Please let me know your thoughts on this deck or a similar one you have tried. I am really curious to see if this archetype has what it takes to compete with the abzan decks of the world. I really thought about using the bonded construct, but I thought the restriction on not attacking alone was too much of a drawback. The thopter spy network has potential as well, and I am sure there are some ideas that I have not thought of at all. Thanks for your help, and good luck brewing!
