CLASSIC MODERN AFFINITY
Along with myself, Classic Affinity is back to the game. After reviving my Boros Burn, I have decided to finally assemble my very own Affinity deck, which has taken so much backseat way back even before the Pandemic. I gotta admit that with the banning of Mox Opal, I lost interest, and decided to sell the pieces I have acquired. Fast-forward now, and with the printing of Urza's Saga, my interest was rekindled.
Affinity nowadays has branched out in several varieties from its usual "Robots" build. Despite that however, some cards such as Cranial Plating remained a staple in most builds. The real best thing is the aforementioned Urza's Saga, which is an auto-include in all builds. With this, I decided to build a variation that go back to the deck's Mirrodin roots (less the banned Artifact lands of course).
THE DECK
It is somewhat a blue deck that utilizes Affinity-based artifacts and creatures. At its core, its an aggressive deck that could vomit your entire hand in the first few turns that could immediately overwhelm the opponent. The deck primarily wins through combat damage, and has the tendency to overextend quite lot, which could be a bad thing sometimes. However, once you learned the trick of snowballing artifacts with this deck, it could easily steal games. Post-board however, you may want to shift gears from aggro to midrange, and expect all sorts of artifact hate.
CREATURES
Frogmite - good 'ol affinity frog sees play in this deck and can land as early as turn 1 with all those legal artifact lands and zero costed artifact buddies. It can be an early beater or a blocker. I always run 4.
Memnite - a free 1/1 robotic dude and an affinity enabler, especially in the early turns. Can chip some early damage, serve as an early blocker, or even power-up your Springleaf Drums for that colored mana you might need. I always run 4.
Ornithopter - the classic free to cast artifact flier that is also an affinity enabler, especially in the early turns and also an early blocker. It can also power-up your Springleaf Drums for that colored mana you might need. Unlike some of the other early dudes, good 'ol Thopter have flying, and can suddenly deal massive damage when suited up with Cranial Plating or Nettlecyst. I also run 4.
Sojourner's Companion - a new lizard critter that is somewhat a better version of Myr Enforcer given its ability to fetch you an artifact land that you might need. If you can land it (which is really not hard to), it is a decent beat-stick and a good blocker. I run all 4.
Thought Monitor - a new flying critter that is really Thoughtcast with wings. With the deck that easily empties its owner's hand, its good to draw cards while also adding threats to the table. Like Ornithopter, it can be a huge monster when suited up with Cranial Plating or Nettlecyst. Additionally, you can bounce it back via Aether Spellbomb if you need to draw cards again, or if you just wanna save it from removals. Run 4 with no questions.
Patchwork Automaton - relatively new to the affinity cause, this robotic dude have a built-in protection in a form of ward. When played in the early turns, it can easily grow big. Having no evasion or trample may seem bad, but good 'ol Shadowspear can easily answer that. I currently run 3.
Gingerbrute - a new hasty dude with an unusual evasion. You can eat him (not literal) to gain some life, or better yet, suit your gingerbread man with either a Cranial Plating or Nettlecyst to end games out of nowhere using its unique evasion ability. A singleton copy is fine, since it can be tutored via Urza's Saga.
NON-CREATURE ARTIFACTS
Cranial Plating - the classic broken equipment in any artifact decks, that can easily turn small critters into lethal threats. Always remember that it can be attached at instant speed if you have two (2) spare black mana. Always run 4.
Springleaf Drum - turns your seemingly weak and irrelevant critters into Birds of Paradise for a turn, that may sometimes catch opponents off-guard, whenever all your lands are tapped out. It can be tutored via Urza's Saga. I always run 4.
Aether Spellbomb - bounce enemy threats or even one of our own as necessary. It can be used to draw a card also, and is tutorable via Urza's Saga, so a singleton copy will be fine.
Nettlecyst - a singleton Living Weapon artifact that can power-up critters with evasion for a massive damage. It is at times good on its own, most especially if you can suit-up your Germ token with Shadowspear.
Shadowspear - one of the best weapons in the deck's arsenal, granting trample and lifelink to the deck's huge critters. It can also turn off indestructible and hexproof of ALL PERMANENTS your opponent's controls. Do note that you can activate this ability even if it is not equipped to a creature. This equipment is usually the primary target of Urza's Saga, so a singleton copy is good to go, since it is also legendary.
Welding Jar - helps you save any artifact from destruction. It is tutorable via Urza's Saga, so a singleton copy will be fine.
OTHER SPELLS
Thoughtcast - the core card draw of any blue-based affinity deck. It is most of the time cast for a single blue mana, so run 4 always.
Galvanic Blast - does not have the affinity keyword on it, but its Metalcraft is almost always active in this deck. Its the deck's "burn spell" that allows you deal those last few points of damage, or just remove a critter that Lightning Bolt can't kill. Having 2 copies is sufficient.
LANDS
Darksteel Citadel - the classic non-banned indestructible OG artifact land that powers up your affinity count. Run 4 without question.
Mistvault Bridge - an indestructible Dimir artifact land. It enters the battlefield tapped though (for game balancing purposes), but still powers up your affinity count. It black mana can help you move around your Cranial Platings at instant speed. I currently run 3.
Silverbluff Bridge - an indestructible Izzet artifact land. It enters the battlefield tapped though (for game balancing purposes), but still powers up your affinity count. The red mana helps cast those Galvanic Blasts. A singleton copy is good.
Otawara, Soaring City - a utility land that helps bounce back problematic non-land permanents the opponent controls via channel. It almost always never played as a land, and also always costs 3U due to the absence of legendary creatures in the deck. A singleton copy is good.
Treasure Vault - another artifact land the powers up the affinity count. It can be sacrificed as needed for Treasure tokens, and those tokens are artifacts as well. I currently run 3.
Urza's Saga - the best card ever printed for any affinity deck as of date. It is currently the only enchantment land that is also a saga (it can't be countered by spells), capable of producing 1 colorless mana on the first chapter, followed by a large Construct (the deck is almost entirely artifacts, so its really big), which can be done twice in response to the Saga's third chapter ability. And speaking of the third chapter, it allows you to tutor any artifacts that costs 0 or 1 (sorry, X costs cannot be searched due to how it is worded). The tokens are sometimes enough to seal the deal, most especially when equipped by either Cranial Plating, Nettlecyst, or Shadowspear. Always run 4.
SIDEBOARD
Due to the diverse meta of various LGS, this is subject to change, although most inclusions deals with the common problems that affinity has to face. There is really no catch-all answer, so sometimes a losing game is indeed a losing game. However, it doesn't mean that the deck will go down without having a good fight.
Etched Champion - this champion robot has been in decline, especially with the banning of Mox Opal. Most lists doesn't include it, but I find it useful against control match-ups where it is hard to deal with when it enters the battlefield. Its Metalcraft ability is easily turned on in the deck and a 2-of is sufficient as of the moment.
Haywire Mite - a useful bug that can hate out opposing artifacts or enchantments (looking at your Blood Moon), while also granting some life gain. Do note that this bug is actually good also in the main, and is tutorable via Urza's Saga when needed. I currently run 2 for now.
Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas - the only walker that has a very good synergy with the deck. It is capable of reaching its ultimate immediately the next turn after it lands, which can win games. Tezz's +1 is almost always a guaranteed draw, while its -1 ability could also be decent sometimes, especially when you use it on a Darksteel Citadel. As mentioned, you will almost always build toward his ultimate immediately to quickly close out games.
Damping Sphere - it may seem ironic to include something like this on an affinity deck, but sometimes, there are really decks out there that plays faster than us. This will somewhat "level the playing field" and will keep lands producing more than one mana in check (looking at you, Urza lands and friends). I currently run 3.
Relic of Progenitus - graveyard hate with a cantrip attached and is tutorable via Urza's Saga. I run 2 for now.
Pithing Needle - shuts down problematic permanents with activated abilities and is tutorable via Urza's Saga, hence a singleton copy.
Metallic Rebuke - sometimes, there are just threats that cannot be allowed to resolve. This spell is effective in the early turns and you can even tap artifact equipment to pay for the improvise. I run 3 currently.
Counterspell - the classic catch-all counterspell with no conditions or downsides. With a double blue cost, a singleton copy is fine, which at times enough to save your board from a dangerous spell.
