The new affinity list! Updating this primer with a new explanation behind my choices! Welcome back, Mox Opal
Affinity is an Artifact-based aggro deck that also goes by the name Robots. The name comes from the mechanic in the Mirrodin block, primarily Affinity for Artifacts on cards like Thoughtcast, Frogmite, and Myr Enforcer. With the release of the Scars of Mirrodin block, Affinity has gained a ton of new tools and evolved into a powerful and synergistic deck that only uses only one Affinity card: Thoughtcast.
Affinity is a Tier 1 Modern deck and one of the few real aggro deck in the format with elements of combo and tempo. It combines low-costed creatures with evasion and highly efficient spells in the form of Thoughtcast and Galvanic Blast, and it is also highly resilient to removal and board wipes. The deck has numerous complex synergies that rewards strong pilots with faster clocks. Theoretically, the deck can win on as early as turn 2, although in reality it mostly wins on turn 4 or turn 5 with light disruption.
While Affinity seems like a simple plays all my creatures and turn them sideways deck, it's one of the most complex decks to play in Modern simply because it is one of the few decks in Modern with reliable mana acceleration and its spells are so cheap. Having access to 4 or more mana by turn 2 means there are many different possible lines, and it takes someone with an intimate knowledge of Affinity and also of the deck the opponent is playing to know the best line to take to maximize clock and minimize blow outs.
The root of modern Affinity traces back to the Mirrodin block in 2003, when the most infamous deck in the history of the Standard format was built: Ravager Affinity. Ravager Affinity changed the game in a way that Standard players today would not be able to comprehend. Artifact lands like Great Furnace, Seat of the Synod, Vault of Whispers, and Glimmervoid were the major mana sources powering the deck. The artifacts lands were broken in design, as admitted by WotC, because they effectively decreased the cost of Affinity for artifact spells by 2. Affinity has ridiculously fast hands because it runs cards like Frogmite, Myr Enforcer, and Ornithopter that quickly overran the opponent in conjunction with broken card advantage via cards like Thoughtcast and Skullclamp. The deck also had win conditions outside of combat damage because it ran Shrapnel Blast and Disciple of the Vault to force wins out of nowhere.
Because Affinity warped the Standard format in such a way that it was either play Affinity or anti-Affinity, WotC decried that Affinity had to die in Standard. On June of 2004, less than 3 months after the release of Darksteel, Skullclamp was banned. On March of 2005, Arcbound Ravager, Disciple of the Vault, Great Furnace, Seat of the Synod, Vault of Whispers, Ancient Den, and Tree of Tales followed suit in being banned while in Standard. The reasoning was simple. Magic is at heart a game, and games are about having fun and variety. In addition, in 2010 Wizards of the Coast decided to change the rules so that damage no longer goes on the stack because it enabled Arcbound Ravager to sacrifice creatures that already had damage on the stack to gain extra +1/+1 counters.
Today, the Mirrodin block, specifically the original Affinity deck, is credited with causing more people to quit Magic because it has become “unfun” than any other set or deck. Ever.
