UR Modules ... Really?!? (Standard MTG Deck)

UR Modules ... Really?!?

Standard Artifact UR (Izzet)

clayperce

Creature (21)

Land (24)

Artifact (12)

Instant (3)

3x Glimmer of Genius

Sideboard

Other (15)

Maybeboard

Other Sideboard Options (5)

Cards to Test (3)

I know this looks like some weird 60-card draft deck. But it's an absolute blast to play and surprisingly powerful ... seriously!

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and suggestions!

Strategy and card choices

WIN-CON: The deck has a bunch of different win-cons:

Go tall with +1/+1 counters from Fabrication Module.
Go wide with 1/1 Servo Tokens from Animation Module.
Grind 'em down with 1/1 Thopter Tokens from Whirler Virtuoso and Maverick Thopterist.
Ping 'em to death with +1/+1 counters from Walking Ballista.
Go infinite with Whirler Virtuoso and 3x Decoction Modules. This is REALLY rare, but I've actually done it once in real life. Adding more draw and tutors (and maybe some Saheeli Rai) could make this wincon more reliable, but that's not what I'm trying to do with this deck.

MOVE TOWARDS THE WIN: Thriving Turtle is a great early blocker (and sometimes, can become game-winningly huge). Glint-Nest Crane and Glimmer of Genius can find gas. Inventors' Fair can tutor a needed Artifact.

PREVENT OPPONENT'S WIN-CON: Creatures with enough +1/+1 counters can stop anything. 1/1 Servos and 1/1 Thopters can chump block all day. Walking Ballista can ping Creatures and Planeswalkers.

GENERAL VALUE: Reckless Fireweaver makes almost everything hurt more. Inventors' Fair provides some incidental life gain and can Tutor up a needed Artifact. Animation Module can add a +1/+1 counter (or a counter and a 1/1 Servo Token) as a combat trick. Decoction Module can save a Creature during combat, or return a Creature to hand for another ETB effect. Fabrication Module can add a +1/+1 counter as a combat trick.

SIDEBOARD:

Aethersphere Harvester: Great against Flyers and when we need the lifegain.
Crook of Condemnation: For troublesome reanimation decks.
Harnessed Lightning: Superb spot removal for this deck.
Negate: Hard-counter for our most troublesome cards.
Sweltering Suns: For decks that can go wider/faster than us.

MAYBEBOARD:

Other sideboard options:

Blood Sun: For all those annoying Enchantment-Lands.
Magma Spray: For an efficient Exile effect.
Perilous Voyage: For cards that get past Negate.
Release the Gremlins: Great Artifact removal for this deck.
The Locust God: Superb in super-grindy games.

Cards to test:

Makeshift Munitions: Not sure if the deck has enough mana to make this effective, but it's worth a try.
Metallic Mimic: Trying this again, now that I have more reps with the deck.
Panharmonicon: There may be enough interactions in the deck now to make it worthwhile.

Playtips

A few lessons-learned-the-hard-way:

We don't need to mulligan often. If the opener has 2x Lands and a plan (i.e., it has cards that support at least one of win-cons), it's probably a keeper. If not, it's a mul'.
Use Glint-Nest Crane carefully ... we often want to cycle non-artifacts to the bottom of the deck, but not always.
Generally, use activated abilities (e.g., from Animation Module, Decoction Module, Fabrication Module, and Whirler Virtuoso) during the opponent's turn ... either during combat or at the endstep.
Slow play is a real challenge. Keeping track of all the triggers and counters just takes a while (and clicking through all the triggers on MTGO takes forever). Also, there are often SO many possible lines of play it can take a while to decide on the best one. Lots of goldfishing practice seems to helps.
Proper sequencing is important. Some examples: Cast Artifacts before Maverick Thopterist, to help Improvise. Cast Fabrication Module before playing Aether Hub, to get the trigger.
Generally, taking some damage while building out Modules is fine. A Creature that ETBs and sets off a bunch of Module triggers is great; one that ETBs just to block an opposing Creature is pretty meh.
Maverick Thopterist is the only Creature we have that doesn't die to Fatal Push, making the 'go tall' strategy very risky against Black decks.
Harsh Mentor and Tocatli Honor Guard are brutal. Kill on sight.
Solemnity, Trespasser's Curse, and Overwhelming Splendor are horrible, and Authority of the Consuls is troublesome. If these become more prevalent, we may need more than just Negate ...
Watch out for Fumigate, especially if you're on the go-wide plan.

Cards I've already tested

In earlier testing, these cards were not great. There were a TON of variables at work though, so they may be much better with a different decklist, meta, or playstyle.

Chief of the Foundry: Meh.
Era of Innovation: Good but sometimes a little awkward.
Essence Scatter: A great hard-counter, but creatures haven't been as troublesome as noncreatures.
Gonti's Aether Heart: Meh.
Hope of Ghirapur: Meh.
Inventor's Goggles: Too inconsistent in this deck ... needs a few more Artificers to be good.
Metallic Mimic: Either amazing or terrible ... just too inconsistent for my tastes.
Metallic Rebuke: Superb general-purpose answer, but I've found I want hard-counters.
Opt: Good, but the Energy makes Glimmer of Genius better.
Reverse Engineer: Good, but Instant-speed makes Glimmer of Genius better.
Shielded Aether Thief: Just a little too cute for my tastes.
Storm the Vault → Vault of Catlacan: I know it's almost a Tolarian Academy, which is so bonkers it's been Restricted in Vintage and banned in EDH and Legacy. But in this deck, it's been either too slow to be useful, or a total win-more. Either way: Ugh.
Whir of Invention: A superb tutor, but it hasn't really been needed.

Huge shout-out to Wonkothekiller ... his or her deck started it all.

Please remember to +1 Upvote if you like it!

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Went 2-3 tonight; struggled with Approach decks — Feb. 3, 2018

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First real tournament with the deck!

Unfortunately, I found out (the hard way) that Approach of the Second Sun decks are a really tough match-up :-\

0-2 vs. UW Approach (almost exactly this deck). Game 1, I found out exactly how terrible a go-wide plan is against a deck with multiple Fumigates. Who knew? In: 4x Negate / Out: Maverick Thopterist and Reckless Fireweaver. I don't remember much about Game 2 ... except that I got crushed.
0-2 vs Bant Approach. Same thing as my first match, except with Hour of Promise and Carnage Tyrant. Ugh. Went tall in Game 1, but just couldn't get quite there ... we were 20 life to 1 when my opp cast his second Approach. In: Negate / Out: Maverick Thopterist and Glimmer of Genius. An early Ixalan's Binding on my Whirler Virtuoso basically took me out of Game 2, since my deck gave me nothing after that except Lands and more Virtuosos ...
2-0 vs. Abzan Tokens. Reckless Fireweaver and a full set of Modules made Game 1 easy. Thought about boarding in Sweltering Suns just in case, but ended up running it back with no changes. Whirler Virtuoso and a full set of Modules made Game 2 even easier.
2-0 vs. UR Pirates. Game 1 was tight, since my opp had City's Blessing and 2x Slippery Scoundrels. But an early Glint-Nest Crane and a couple Thopters from Maverick Thopterist got 'er done. In: Sweltering Suns and Harnessed Lightning / Out: Glimmer of Genius and Reckless Fireweaver. Game 2 was no contest, as my poor opp was stuck on two lands until it was WAY too late.
1-2 vs. Mardu Vehicles. A great opponent and by far the most fun match of the night. Game 1 was all mine. In: Aethersphere Harvester and Harnessed Lightning / Out: Glimmer of Genius and Reckless Fireweaver. I got utterly ran over Game 2 ... just couldn't get enough blockers out fast enough to stabilize, leaving Aethersphere Harvester dead in my hand. In: Negate and Harnessed Lightning / Out: Glimmer of Genius and Reckless Fireweaver. It felt like Game 3 could have gone either way (e.g., if I had found one more Negate or my opponent had found one less piece of removal), but my opp got there just a little before me. Really wished I had some Magma Spray in the sideboard, and have added it to the Maybeboard as one of the "Other Sideboard Options" ...

As always, thanks to everyone who's made comments and suggestions so far! They're all archived here or behind the View Archive button below.

First time out: 4-1 — Jan. 22, 2018

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Multiple tweaks — Jan. 19, 2018

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Revision 9 See all

(6 years ago)

Magma Spray

maybe

Top Ranked	Achieved #1 position overall 6 years ago
Date added	6 years
Last updated	6 years
Legality	This deck is not Standard legal.
Rarity (main - side)	17 - 5 Rares 25 - 6 Uncommons 7 - 4 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.11
Tokens	Energy Reserve, Servo 1/1 C, Thopter 1/1 C
Folders	standard, decks im going to eventually build, Standard, Standard Decks, decks, Decks, Interesting Standard Decks, Decks, Favs, 10_Deckideen von anderen Leuten
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