Yes, Standard...for quite a while, actually. Most of this stuff is from M15, so you'll get another year out of it.
We knew going in that this was going to be an interesting deck to build. It's in this really weird place where there are a lot of cards in Standard begging for this deck to be built. But at the same time, there aren't quite enough solid artifacts that we can really go crazy. And there aren't quite enough artifact-dependent cards to fill out the outer corners of the deck. That said, we put our heads to it and came up with something. And what's more, you can build it for under $40! Let's take a look.
Let's start with the creatures. Our curve starts bright and early at 0 with a playset of Ornithopter. On its own, it doesn't do much. But the point, of course, is what we can do with it. You can put an Ensoul Artifact on the Ornithopter for a 5/5 flyer. In a pinch, it makes great fodder for Shrapnel Blast. It also supports
Chief Engineer
nicely. And look at our sole one-drop, a playset of Cloudfin Raptor. On turn 1, you can drop an Island, play a Cloudfin Raptor, and evolve it immediately with an Ornithopter. Cloudfin Raptor is there because it can pick up counters from Ornithopter, all of our two-drops, and the creatures at the upper end of our curve.
The aforementioned
Chief Engineer
, as a four-of, is one of the cards that enables this deck to make truly degenerate plays. All of our creatures that arent big artifacts themselves are at or below two mana, allowing us to build up a big stable of creatures to convoke with. Along similar lines, another two-drop on our list is a four-of
Generator Servant
. This lets us ramp into our higher end in the most absurd way possible--with haste. Lastly, we've got a pair of Phyrexian Revoker. They make fine Ensoul Artifact targets in a pinch, and with a Chief Engineer out you can often drop one for free and have an extra body. They also evolve a Cloudfin Raptor, even if it's already evolved once. And in case you haven't noticed, planeswalkers and mana dorks are all over the place in Standard right now. One of these will shut them down for days. What more could we really ask for out of our two slot?
Our last two creatures are where you can start getting ridiculous. First, a playset of
Juggernaut
. It generally makes a good convoke candidate, just because it's 5 points of power and you can probably hit it before turn four. With a Generator Servant, it can be swinging on turn 3! Still, that's relatively tame--big artifacts in Standard right now are pretty limited, especially given a budget to work within. One thing we did have room for, though, was a playset of
Scuttling Doom Engine
. Under ideal circumstances, you could wind up dropping this guy on turn 3 without haste, or turn 4 with haste if you stuck a Generator Servant. He's huge, and there aren't going to be many early game creatures that can block him outside of a matchup like G/W Aggro.
We also have some spells. We run four Shrapnel Blast because we have no shortage of artifacts to pitch to it. Also helping its case is the fact that you can pitch a Scuttling Doom Engine to it and blast 11 damage at something. Every now and then, this is going to let you win a game out of nowhere. We also run two Lightning Strike, because until they let us run six Shrapnel Blast, this is the next best thing. Beyond just pointing at your opponent's face, a Lightning Strike will drop most early game threats. By the time your opponent sticks anything truly unmanageable for burn, you have something huge of your own.
Lastly, we have four Ensoul Artifact. There's always a bit of danger in using Auras, especially when there are as many removal-heavy decks as there are right now. But the possibility of having a 5/5 flyer crashing in on turn 2 is too good to ignore. And if your opponent is that heavy on removal, you can always just put it on a Darksteel Citadel. Permanents that are both lands and indestructible tend to be difficult to deal with.
Speaking of which, we start our land base with four Darksteel Citadel. Not having the colored mana there isn't great, but having extra targets for Ensoul Artifact and Shrapnel Blast makes up for it. Particularly the former--with the amount of removal in Standard right now, indestructible is pretty huge. Two
Izzet Guildgate
smooth our color requirements within reasonable bounds. Beyond that, we have 11 Island and 7 Mountain for a total of 24 land. Why so many Island? Between Cloudfin Raptor, Chief Engineer, and Ensoul Artifact, most of our really explosive plays require early blue mana--significantly less so for red mana. Shrapnel Blast and Lightning Strike are better gap-closers late in the game. The slight loss of consistency with Generator Servant isn't ideal, but it's a worthwhile sacrifice to guarantee our blue-centric plays.
There are a couple big-budget upgrades you can make if you have the money, or happen to have the cards lying around. Naturally, Steam Vents are welcome additions to the land base, and on this list, Temple of Epiphany is a strict upgrade to Guildgates. Some of those Juggernauts would love to be Soul of New Phyrexia if you have the resources to make it happen. Overall, though, this list is fairly specific in the cards it wants to run, so there aren't that many other favorable substitutions to make.
As for sideboard, like usual, we don't want to say anything specific. Everybody's metagame is different, but we do have some general suggestions. Fortunately, all these cards are also fairly cheap, so if you try out the deck and decide you like it and want to start tuning it for different matchups, you can add these fairly easily.
Look at the number of dual lands in Standard right now, and tell me what kind of just and loving God lets
Burning Earth
be a fifty-cent card. You're running red; you owe it to yourself to stick a few of these on sideboard.
As we've alluded to, removal--both targeted and sweeping--is all over the place right now. Fortunately, Darksteel Forge is pretty easy to pick up and still has a few more months in Standard. What's more, you can convoke it out with Chief Engineer, softening the blow of its 9-mana cost. Then you can make sure nobody blows up your Scuttling Doom Engine but you.
As a fun trick for matchups like G/W Aggro where your opponent's creatures are just bigger than yours, you could always try
Polymorphist's Jest
. Because there are few things more embarrassing than trading a Brimaz for a Bronze Sable.
Against anything that gains life--U/W Control, we're looking at you--Skullcrack is inherently worth including. Also makes a fun response to a Gray Merchant of Asphodel.
While there isn't a lot to use it against in Standard right now, if ever a graveyard deck starts taking off, Tormod's Crypt is back in Standard and ready to put those decks in their place. While it's not the best target in the world, you could also throw an Ensoul on it if necessary.
Built by Armstrong of The Mana Source--for more info and strategy ideas, check out the video deck tech here!
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