That 4 drop Tezzeret is a reprint for the masters set and will not be standard legal. Sorry to disappoint.

Any thoughts on Treasure Map  ^Flip over Navigator's Compass?

Ogoki I have tested Treasure Map in here and it's better against control matchups or matchups that go into longer games but overall is slow in here comparative. Plus I like having the life gain and the fast mana fix to get a Phylactery Lich out on turn 3 if available. Where as the Treasure Map would take longer to flip to get treasures which yes could be useful but again that'd be late game where this deck ideally should have already won by turn 6-8

Hello,

First i want to say i love, i love your list and all the work you do in. I know its a budget list, but for not a budget list, what you cut for 2 scion
Of urza and what do you think about mox amber ?

Thanks for help guys and sorry for my bad english.

mox amber could be interesting but inconsistent. I would cut the 1 Notion Rain and 1 Traxos, Scourge of Kroog for Karn, Scion of Urza

I really like the synergy that Fountain of Renewal has with the shocklands. Really innovative. I feel as if you don't need Diamond Mare, as you gain enough life from the fountain. I would take them out for Aviation Pioneer.

venomhydra thought about it but I like the feel of the extra life gain plus can be turned into a 5/5 on turn 3 with Skilled Animator. Follow it into turn 4 Zahid and thats already 2 extra points of life if he survives. Right now my debate is to keep Sai, Master Thopterist which has proven useful or go with Thief of Sanity since without using The Antiquities War now not as useful. He's just more defensive in the bottom end vs the thief.

Do you have this deck before you editted it for rotation?

TwoInchWonder14 in what sense?

Hey, just wondering is this your list for GRN post rotation? How did it perform in your post rotation games, if you have played any at all yet? What would you cut for one Karn,

and would you recommend doing so?

SwagtimusPrime karn def fits and I'd pull traxos it you are gonna do just one karn. Ive played the non GRN version in paper and has done really well when it was still the antiquities war and much heavier artifact base. That build I sit at the listed rating on the deck description for wins/loses. The early online testing of this looks promising with the surveil making the etrata tactic very plausable while still having my normal base with lifegain to keep me alive and provide effective damage and defensive capabilities early against the creature heavy or speed decks early with mostly power efficient 4 drops hitting field late game

w33m4n Isn't the deck less consistent with less artifacts? You said the previous iteration had a heavier artifact base. And what about sagas? Are you dealing damage quick enough to not die to aggro? And how sure are you about Etrata?

SwagtimusPrime So the current Idea with this is the artifacts aren't the main focus anymore. It's almost meant to run a bit more like a normal midrange deck. So the artifact base gives me my lifegain to keep this deck alive as needed. The artifacts themself Fountain of Renewal already helps against early aggro while being card draw later if needed. Navigator's Compass give me 3 life one shot and mana fixing to make sure I run smooth.) The artifacts then act as a sort of base to make sure A) Zahid, Djinn of the Lamp can come out turn 4 for alternate casting cost and B) Skilled Animator then has targets so turn 3 one of them becomes a 5/5 and swings unless they use removal on Animator which most times. I'm ok with. It's one less piece to deal with my top end. C) It makes the late game Tezzeret, Artifice Master get that card draw going right off the bat helping fill in my top end momentum. D) Casting with Sai, Master Thopterist out makes some thopters for blockers and bodies for Skilled Animator to make 5/5 fliers late game. Also any of these artifacts work extra duty in the sense that they untap Traxos, Scourge of Kroog anytime they are cast.

Most games I hover around 25-18 life until about turn 4-5. With new shock lands I expect that number to be lower but I should be balancing out against my life gain.

Damage wise if turn 3 Skilled Animator does it's job, Turn 4 on it's pressure with Zahid, Djinn of the Lamp, Traxos, Scourge of Kroog, and Etrata, the Silencer doing their thing. Also Blackblade Reforged attached to any of these Legendaries can only make it worse when they do hit. Still counts as artifact cast if needed and can still be animated into a 5/5 if I have to in the worst case (cannot be equipped to someone as long as he is a creature though)

So far with testing on Etrata, Running 4 with having the new Surveil mechanic going on and being able to draw cards relatively consistently. Ive seen him win me about 20% of games based on his own win con in testing. But his ability to get that 3 guaranteed damage through AND exile a body while doing so either way contributes to the pressure this deck applies and finds ways of having evasive damage that when it does get through is in big chunks. Usually of 5 or more. So for right now it does seem hopeful but all of this is up for editing once paper cards come and I get to test this at my LGS.

My biggest debate is gonna be sideboard decisions right now and if Sai is gonna stay vs having Thief of Sanity which could be really advantageous in here. Also I wanna keep Twilight Prophet around in sideboard against long going game matchups

SwagtimusPrime Did I mention factoring Doom Whisperer into all this late game having the extra life to surveil all the time (filter them lands out late game) and hit what I need(any fat body) almost at will. While applying more flying damage with him?

w33m4n Thanks a lot for the write-up, it made some things a lot more clear. It does sound like a very decent deck. I'm just very undecided which deck I should build in Magic: Arena right now, since I'm limited on my wildcards.

SwagtimusPrime that's a hard choice. Lot of really good options in the new META

You know Ixalan and Rivals of Ixalan will still be I standard right?

Yeah I had a few things from there in before but ended up moving to other things. Although I am still debating on using the immortal sun in here but it would replace tez

rjphilla even now I have Negate, Twilight Prophet in sideboard. Silent Gravestone in sideboard

what do you think of Helm of the Host

Thought of it but i dont like the 5 equip cost. Bit slow

Really like the deck, going to be testing a lot with artifact midrange in the next few weeks.