After recently reviewing videos online, I came across a video from Playing on a Budget about the cards
Quest for the Holy Relic
and Argentum Armor. While his deck was pretty cool, I figured out a way to make the deck just a little better, and keep the budget under $50 (only reason it's nearly $50 is because of the Path to Exile I just happened to own).
His deck involved repeatedly bouncing creatures using cards like Glint Hawk,
Faerie Impostor
, and Quickling to get triggers from
Quest for the Holy Relic
. The deck relied more on one card than synergies within the deck itself. I took this idea, did away with the "bounciness" of the deck (took blue out altogether), and added more artifact synergies within the deck.
The deck still uses
Quest for the Holy Relic
, Ornithopter, Memnite, and Glint Hawk as the main focus. With these cards, there will be times when you will be able to play a Quest on turn 1, along with 1 or 2 zero cost creatures. On the second turn, if you have a Glint Hawk, you'll be able to bounce an Ornithopter or Memnite, getting two more counters on Quest. all that is needed is one more creature, and we can acquire our 1-of Equipment in the deck....Argentum Armor.
Argentum Armor's major drawback is that it is incredibly expensive to play and equip.
Quest for the Holy Relic
takes care of both of these problems at the same time, and you are left with at least a 6/8 flyer, and destroying an opponent's permanent each turn.
I wanted to see what other artifact creatures would be great for a deck like this, and a found one of my old lists for a Tempered Steel deck. Signal Pest was already on my mind, being in my Kuldotha Rebirth budget deck, but I found other creatures and spells that work great here as well. Vault Skirge and
Court Homunculus
are very efficient creatures for 1 mana, and Vault Skirge quickly becomes the primary creature that I wanted to equip Argentum Armor on.
It was really at this point that I noticed how many artifacts I had in the deck. It only made sense to have a playset of Cranial Plating in the deck. I needed removal, so I added my only Path to Exile to the deck, but Dispatch acts as a poor man's Path most of the time.
This deck's curve is exceptionally low. There are so many 0 and 1 drops that there should be no problems getting great opening hands often. I had 4 slots left, but I didn't know what to add. I wanted to add speed to the deck, and make it so I don't rely on Quest for my only explosive start. I added a playset of
Springleaf Drum
s. This will allow me to play more creatures earlier if I don't draw the Quest, and it gives me a "free" artifact to count towards Dispatch and Cranial Plating. Here are the sequences that I would like to start the game with:
Sequence needed for second-turn sac:
Turn 1: Plains ->
Quest for the Holy Relic
-> Ornithopter, Memnite
Turn 2: Plains -> Glint Hawk, replay Memnite, play 1-drop creature. Sacrifice Quest, grab Argentum Armor, equip Ornithopter, attack with Ornithopter, destroying their land.
Starting on my turn two (their turn 1), I can destroy the one land they play each turn, making it nearly impossible to put up a defense against so many low-drops.
Sequence without
Quest for the Holy Relic
:
Turn 1: Plains -> Ornithopter ->
Springleaf Drum
-> Glint Hawk -> Replay Ornithopter
Turn 2: Darksteel Citadel -> Signal Pest -> 2 one-drops.
This sequence will make it very tough for the opponent to recover, as I will likely have a ton of evasive damage.
This sequence also gives me the best means to cast AND equip Cranial Plating in the same turn on an untapped creature:
Turn 1: Darksteel Citadel -> Ornithopter ->
Springleaf Drum
-> Vault Skirge.
Turn 2: Darksteel Citadel -> Cranial Plating, equip Cranial Plating to Vault Skirge (using Drum and Ornithopter.
This will allow me to really get ahead of my opponent, by attacking on turn 2 with a 7/7 flying, lifelink creature. The great thing is, even if they manage to destroy the Vault Skirge, I still have the Ornithopter (and any other creature I've played) to equip the Cranial Plating to.
Of course, all the sequences mentioned are best-case situations, but they are definitely possible. This deck has multiple angles of attack, which is great against a lot of different styles of decks.
I don't have a lot of budget options for the sideboard, but I think the cards I've included will help against a lot of decks.
This deck is versatile, and I think it's well balanced enough to handle a lot of the better decks out there. If you want to try out a fun deck this week, but don't have a lot of cash, give this one s whirl.
