[Primer] Jhoira, Contraption Captain

Commander / EDH Artifact Combo Infinite Combo Primer Storm UR (Izzet)

Koplarski

Artifact (35)

• 1x Aether Spellbomb
• 1x Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Basalt Monolith
• 1x Chromatic Sphere
• 1x Chromatic Star
• 1x Cloud Key
• 1x Darksteel Forge
• 1x Everflowing Chalice
• 1x Helm of Awakening
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Jeweled Lotus
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Lotus Petal
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Mishra's Bauble
• 1x Mnemonic Sphere
• 1x Mox Amber
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Mox Opal
• 1x Mycosynth Lattice
• 1x Mystic Forge
• 1x Pithing Needle
• 1x Pyrite Spellbomb
• 1x Rings of Brighthearth
• 1x Sculpting Steel
• 1x Semblance Anvil
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Soul-Guide Lantern
• 1x Talisman of Creativity
• 1x Tormod's Crypt

Creature (27)

• 1x Ancestral Statue
• 1x Birgi, God of Storytelling  ^Flip
• 1x Chief Engineer
• 1x Dockside Extortionist
• 1x Drafna, Founder of Lat-Nam
• 1x Emry, Lurker of the Loch
• 1x Enthusiastic Mechanaut
• 1x Esior, Wardwing Familiar
• 1x Etherium Sculptor
• 1x Foundry Inspector
• 1x Ingenious Artillerist
• 1x Jhoira's Familiar
• 1x K-9, Mark I
• 1x Memnite
• 1x Ornithopter
• 1x Padeem, Consul of Innovation
• 1x Phyrexian Metamorph
• 1x Phyrexian Revoker
• 1x Psychosis Crawler
• 1x Reckless Fireweaver
• 1x Riddlesmith
• 1x Sai, Master Thopterist
• 1x Thassa's Oracle
• 1x The Reality Chip
• 1x Transplant Theorist
• 1x Trinket Mage
• 1x Urza, Lord High Artificer

Instant (6)

• 1x Chain of Vapor
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Hurkyl's Recall
• 1x Paradoxical Outcome
• 1x Reality Heist
• 1x Retract

Planeswalker (3)

• 1x Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
• 1x Tezzeret the Seeker
• 1x Ugin, the Ineffable

Commander (1)

Land (28)

• 1x Academy Ruins
• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Cascade Bluffs
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Beacon
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Crystal Vein
• 1x Darksteel Citadel
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Fiery Islet
• 1x Forbidden Orchard
• 1x Great Furnace
• 1x Inventors' Fair
• 3x Island
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Mountain
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Seat of the Synod
• 1x Shivan Reef
• 1x Spire of Industry
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x The Mycosynth Gardens
• 1x Urza's Saga
• 1x Volcanic Island

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Backstory

I've always loved artifacts in MtG. I've been playing since the mid 90s and have had many artifact based decks over the years, both in 60 card and EDH. When the artifact masterpieces were announced, like many players, I knew I had to have them, but if I did, they had to be in a deck that was at least semi-competitive for my play group. I didn't want them just to sit in my binders. I wanted to fill my playmat during a game with as many shiny baubles as I could to distract my enemies and make them think "Which threat is the one to go after first?" and to make them fear whenever I say "I have some triggers..." or "I have a response..."

It all started with a gift of a Masterpiece Chromatic Lantern. From there I started foiling out the deck with my favorite printings of each card. I've omitted cards from the list because they were not available in foil, that's just how I want this deck to look. Basalt Monolith was an exception due to it's combo potential and because I acquired a Beta printing of it. Mana Severence is another exception, but I love that card too much to remove it.

Paradox Engine, before it was banned, was the main driver for the deck. Since it's ban, I've been tweaking this deck's power level for my play group. It's stupid fast and can explode with action very early game, but it's not unbeatable by a long shot. That's by design. I wanted to have intentional flaws in the deck to make it a bit harder on myself. Board wipes can be a bad time for Jhoira, but the amount of card draw and mana you can produce in a single turn is crazy and if played correctly you'll be going some sort of infinite the same turn Jhoira hits the battlefield. If you make a mistake while playing against this deck by picking the wrong threat, you'll have a bad day.

This deck has been edited and tweaked quite a lot over the years that I've been collecting the foils that I wanted and tried and I still tweak and change things all the time based on new releases and current play group power level. Not every card is a key card to winning the game, but there are so many different ways to threaten your enemies very quickly in this deck list.

I do keep this list up to date whenever I change a card, so it’s always accurate with the card printing currently sleeved in my deck box.

Cheers!

How it plays

Where are the counter spells?

First thing you'll notice is yes we're playing blue, but there is are only a few instants in the deck and only one counter spell effect (Unwind fits the theme too well not to include). That's by design. I have control decks with combos and counter spells and tutors (Oh my!). I didn't want that feel for this deck. This is an artifact storm combo deck where you need to get the right pieces in place for the contraption to work.

What happens when a contraption breaks? (i.e. Enemy removal killed all my stuff dude!)

You need to get parts and rebuild. Sometimes you can salvage some parts and build up easier and other times you're building from scratch with a whole different design that's better and faster of a threat.

Can you win in four turns or less with a god hand?

Absolutely. I'll talk about wincons and combos later.

Will you have the protection for that game winning god hand combo?

Probably not. There is some instant speed protection, but not a lot. Don't worry about it much though, there's plenty of ways to rebuild after a total board wipe and you'll usually rebuild faster than most with your cheap spells and amazing card draw. One contraption breaks, but another one will take it's place to threaten your enemies.

What are your enemies doing?

It honestly doesn't matter too much. You're an expert at building contraptions and you'll rebuild whatever contraption you choose to win again and again.

Strategy

Basic Concept:

Ideally you want enough land and artifact ramp in your starting hand to be able to get Jhoira out and start drawing a ridiculous amount of cards by casting historic after historic, causing Jhoira's ability to trigger as many times as you can in your turn so you can draw into a wincon/combo and make every enemy dead or scoop up their cards.

Early Game:

It's fine to play it slow and hold on to cheap spells and ramp until a turn you can play Jhoira and immediately cast a few {0} to {2} spells for additional ramp and card draw in that same turn. Use your various tutors to search for ideal artifacts based on the combo you want to go for. I'll cover each tutor and what answers it can tutor for later in the Key Cards section. Don't be afraid to try and draw out counter spells and other removal early on with scary artifacts and creatures.

Mid Game:

Typically by turn 6+ you are casting and drawing so many cards during your turn that most enemies are just watching with dropped jaws as you continue you cast spell after spell, keeping your hand at 6+ cards almost all the time. Turns can go long for you, but honestly that is part of the advantage. Enemies lose focus on which threat is the most important. I've had games where someone blows up one of my permanents to immediately follow up with (edited for family audiences) "Gosh dang it! I forgot you had insert various higher threat card name they should have targeted instead!"

Late Game:

If you haven't been board wiped by turn 10+ you most likely have an extreme board presence and are blinding your enemies with the amount of foil shininess that is emanating from your playmat. You could keep going, delaying the inevitable win in favor of going for something grand and ridiculous or just end it as soon as you can and get onto the next game.

Planeswalkers:

Your Planeswalker cards are definitely threats, but only one has a game winning effect built in. I've used them as removal bait in many games since if they can't counter them, you'll get awesome benefit if you know what each one is strong at and how it interacts with the rest of this deck. Let's talk about each one for a bit and why they're in the deck.

Dack Fayden

My favorite Planeswalker. I personally can't build an artifact deck that has access to {U}{R} without Dack for completely personal reasons, so he's here, but there's a lot to love! His +1 is decent hand fixing early game. Mid to late game his +1 is less effective, but can be great when you cast him after a nasty board wipe or to use before Daretti's -2 for some great synergy. His -2 has made plenty of turn 1 Sol Ring players very sad on turn 2 and mid to late game it is great for getting back baubles that might have been stolen from you or someone else's baubles that are too shiny to pass up.

Daretti, Scrap Savant

Opponents got you down with their destroy artifact cards and abilities? Daretti has got your back. His +2 is similar to Dack's, but you discard first, so we already know the value there. His -2 is the real help and what I use him for mainly to get those important artifacts back from the graveyard to your enemies despair. I usually don't play him until I need to get something back from my graveyard or I need a threat on the table to distract my opponents from something else.

Jace, Wielder of Mysteries

A recent addition to the deck after a game where I drew 40+ cards into my hand in a single turn. Ancestral Statue + Jhoira + Jace is a fun win condition when you draw into it. His +1 is nice as it mills either you or your opponent as well as draws you a card. Jace being Jace.

Karn, the Great Creator

Pair Karn with Mycosynth Lattice to shut down all your opponent's permanents with activated abilities, including lands. Throw in his -2 to get back an exiled artifact that you needed to win the game for added giggling.

NOTE: The ability to get any artifact from outside the game is not an effect I personally have used. The returning from exile is more important, but if there's some artifacts you'd like to squeeze into your sideboard for situational purposes, then feel free! I just haven't gotten that far with this deck yet. I have added some cards to my sideboard that I think will be key cards that Karn can help get in the right situations.

Saheeli, Sublime Artificer

Playing an artifact storm deck? Check. Way to create a ridiculous amount of 1/1 creature tokens? Double check. An ability that copies your high value artifacts for additional value (I'm looking at you Aetherflux Reservoir)? Triple check.

Tezzeret the Seeker

My regular playgroup knows to remove him as soon as they can because he let's you untap two of those mana rocks for a crazy amount of mana production each turn and can tutor 4 CMC or less artifacts straight to the battlefield right away. If that wasn't enough reason to not let him resolve, he'll win me the game with his -5 and all the 5/5 artifact creatures storming my opponent's gates.

Ugin, the Ineffable

{2} CMC cost reduction is the main reason I have Ugin here. His -3 is also a really nice way to remove other commanders or trouble permanents, as long as it's one or more colors.

Wincons/Key Cards

So... There's a lot going on here, and to be frank, I probably have missed some combos, but here are the combos and cards that I've used over and over to great potential.

Aetherflux Reservoir

• This is the card that wins me most games. It's pretty easy to see why. Starting life at 40, only need 11 more life to kill off a player and we've got a lot of mana and cheap artifacts to cast during our turn making this my most used way to kill off players. I've even been able to use it twice in a turn (yes, 100 life) to kill off two players separately. It's crazy good. When you see this card in your hand, there's a good chance it'll win you the game.

• NOTE I have started to track the number of spells I cast each turn, whether or not I have Aetherflux in my hand, for a couple of reasons. 1) You could draw into it on a long turn and then have to try and go back to see how much life you need to gain each spell cast. 2) Your enemies never know when it's going to come out if you do it all the time.

Aetherflux Reservoir + Rings of Brighthearth

• Same greatness of Aetherflux, but now you can kill someone else for {2} or kill off a whole four player game for 50 life and {4}

Aetherflux Reservoir + Ancestral Statue + Infinite Mana OR {4} cost reducers

• Cast Ancestral over and over and over for infinite life and then nuke everyone with Aetherflux.

Aetherflux Reservoir + Sculpting Steel / Phyrexian Metamorph / Saheeli, Sublime Artificer

• Double/Triple/Quadruple the life gain for faster nuking!

Walking Ballista

• Another great card to draw into once you've got mana production. Drop this guy with as many counters on him as you need and then remove them all to nuke away any target. Got an infinite mana combo? Then just win the game already! Can be used with Emry, Lurker of the Loch for a free cast trigger as well when he's in your graveyard.

Reckless Fireweaver

• 2 CMC creature that can threaten every opponent very quickly with the amount of spells you'll be casting. Just like Aetherflux, pair it with Ancestral Statue for repeatable cast triggers.

• Also triggers off the insane amount of tokens you can create with Saheeli and Sai since the ability triggers on ETB instead of cast.

Sai, Master Thopterist

• Similar to Saheeli for helping us create a lot of 1/1 creatures, but they also have flying! In addition, don't forget about his activated ability to sacrifice some artifacts and draw some cards in a pinch.

Mycosynth Lattice + Darksteel Forge

• Want some protection from board wipes? Here you go. I've been asked before "Where is insert destroy all artifacts card name here? Would be great with this combo!" Yes, it would. I had Nevinyrral's Disk in a previous build of this deck, but I never used it because it was either too mana intensive to do or I could win the game without trying to complete the trifecta. I decided to cut the Disk as it's the card of the three I never cared to cast if I didn't have the other two pieces already in place on the battlefield.

Hurkyl's Recall / Paradoxical Outcome / Retract

• These three cards are just great in this deck. Outcome is my favorite due to the ability to pick and choose what I return to my hand, maximizing the amount of cards I get to draw. They are also great at responding to a board wipe to save at least your low cost mana rocks to be able to rebuild easier. Hurkyl's has the added benefit of being able to return my opponent's artifacts to their hand whenever I need to as well.

Cavern of Souls

• I use this by choosing Artificer for the creature type for added mana fixing for my important colored creatures and counter protection.

Tutors:

I'll go over each tutor found in the deck and what key cards they can help you conjure from your library

Trinket Mage : Targets some of our answers for the deck, along with a sweet wincon once you get infinite mana.

• Walking Ballista / Tormod's Crypt / Spellbook / Not to mention all the mana rocks...

Tribute Mage : Get some protection for those important creatures, but also some nice utility based on the game state.

• Lightning Greaves / Swiftfoot Boots / Pili-Pala

Trophy Mage : I call this my Combo Completer since it can get a lot of pieces to our infinite combos

• Rings of Brighthearth / Basalt Monolith / Metalworker / Staff of Domination / Sculpting Steel / Scrap Trawler

These three can get you anything you need at the moment. Use them however you choose for the game at hand.

Whir of Invention : Instant speed Darksteel Forge or Mycosynth Lattice makes people very sad in response to certain board wipes.

Inventors' Fair

Tezzeret the Seeker : Don't forget that -0 is an option for his -X ability to grab Artifact lands or other 0 cost artifacts.

Infinite Mana Combos:

Color:

• Grand Architect + Pili-Pala

Colorless:

• Basalt Monolith + Rings of Brighthearth + {2}

• Metalworker + Staff of Domination + 3 artifacts in hand

• Grand Architect + Staff of Domination + Karn, the Great Creator OR Tezzeret the Seeker

Top Ranked	Achieved #32 position overall 4 years ago Achieved #21 position in Commander / EDH 4 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Artifact 4 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Storm 4 years ago
Date added	4 years
Last updated	10 months
Exclude colors	WBG
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	25 - 0 Mythic Rares 39 - 0 Rares 18 - 0 Uncommons 14 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.32
Tokens	Construct 0/0 C, Copy Clone, Servo 1/1 C, Spirit 1/1 C, Spirit 2/2 C, Thopter 1/1 C, Treasure
Folders	Commander, Saved Decks, Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain, Commander ideas, Johira, This looks dope., EDH, Decks I Like, cool decks, W jhoira build