This $40 rogue Johnny deck landed me first place at GPTQ Hong Kong in Busan, Korea on Magic Origins release weekend. I had wanted 4x Hangarback Walker but had to settle for the 2x I could borrow and substituted 2x Phyrexian Revoker maindeck.
Being that I was playing in Korea, I was certain to face nothing but Spike players all piloting card-for-card clones of tier-1 decks, generally all mid-range. That is exactly what I faced, lots of Abzan/Junk and Firebreak Regent.
Round 1: 2-0 No sideboarding.
Game 1, my life never went below 16.
Game 2, my life never changed.
Round 2: 2-0 No sideboarding.
Game 1, my life never changed.
Game 2, my life never went below 18.
Round 3 0-2 but still made top 4.
Top 4 Round 1: 2-1 against Abzan/Junk.
This was my hardest win of the day. In one of the games I won, I lost five creatures to Languish but was left with a Ghostfire Blade and topdecked Chief of the Foundry, which led to a win for me two turns later.
Top 4 round 2: 2-0
I won 10 packs. Unfortunately, the two byes for GPT Hong Kong are useless to me, being that I cannot afford to travel. I did have the courtesy to ask my opponent in the final round if he was actually going so that I could drop and play him casually for the packs. He was not attending, either, so we just played it out. Sadly, the opponent I beat in the first round of Top 4 does plan to go to Hong Kong, but there was nothing I could do about that.
Obviously, this deck is based on the Affinity/Robots archetype. It is an ephemeral deck in that core components of it will rotate out of Standard in October, while much of its core is new with Magic Origins. This deck has a mere ten-week window.
Other deck builders may be tempted to add red for Shrapnel Blast and possibly Thopter Engineer. In that case, replace 10x Island with 2x Mountain, 4x Shivan Reef, and 4x Mana Confluence. Loss of life from the pain lands can be offset by using Tomb of the Spirit Dragon. Lands that come into play tapped will NOT suffice for this deck. This deck must be lightning fast against all of the midrange currently established in Standard. Adding red will make the sideboard MUCH better than it currently is.
Bonded Construct can attack on turn 2 with the help of an Ornithopter. While Keeper of the Lens appears to be terrible, it is necessary for making the deck play out quickly in a very fluid manner. Interestingly, my early opponents were eager to waste burn spells on it, being that they did not like the card's ability to peek at their Megamorph creatures. That suited me fine. If Keeper of the Lens was merely a vanilla 1/2, I would still be playing it.
Ensoul Artifact is fabulous on Darksteel Citadel and nearly as good on Springleaf Drum or Ghostfire Blade. It also makes Ornithopter very, very dangerous. I hesitate to play it on Bonded Construct or Keeper of the Lens, being that my opponent may burn out the creature as I am casting it. Non-creature artifacts cannot even be targeted by damage spells until after Ensoul Artifact has fully resolved.
Ramroller is simply stellar. It is very nearly Juggernaut at 3 CMC instead of 4 CMC.
Hangarback Walker quadrupled in price in just one week. It is a house in and of itself. Play it for 2 mana and ratchet it up at the end of your opponent's turn. With a Chief of the Foundry out, it can even be dropped for 0 mana.
Chief Engineer allows the cards to spew from your hand very, very fast. While not good by itself, it is a respectable blocker, and the mana acceleration is absolutely nuts!
