Dread Thoughts Lead to Dreadnoughts

Vintage Artifact Combo WU (Azorius)

Balaam__

Artifact (11)

• 2x Basilisk Collar
• 1x Black Lotus
• 1x Chrome MoxGC
• 1x Lotus Petal
• 1x Mox Pearl
• 1x Mox Sapphire
• 4x Torpor Orb

Enchantment (2)

• 2x Artificer's Intuition

Land (16)

• 4x Flooded Strand
• 4x Hallowed Fountain
• 3x Inventors' Fair
• 1x Tolarian Academy
• 4x Tundra

Instant (7)

• 1x Ancestral Recall
• 2x Counterspell
• 2x Enlightened TutorGC
• 2x Remand

Creature (13)

• 3x Hushbringer
• 3x Hushwing Gryff
• 4x Phyrexian Dreadnought
• 3x Tocatli Honor Guard

Sorcery (11)

• 2x Fabricate
• 4x Reshape
• 1x Time Walk
• 4x Transmute Artifact

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Maybeboard

Artifact (3)

• 2x Basilisk Collar
• 1x Sol Ring

Instant (8)

• 4x Apostle's Blessing
• 4x Mana Drain

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Ever notice how most of the super duper powerful creatures always have some annoying little drawback that makes them practically unplayable? Take Phyrexian Dreadnought, for instance. Ever wish that you could just ignore that gibberish under the picture and play it for what you want it to be, a 12/12 Trampler for 1? Well put away that sharpie and your unsanctioned errata; give this deck a try instead!

Mana Base

Tundra is an ideal turn 1 play, facilitating payment toward both of our colors.

Hallowed Fountain is Tundra’s baby brother; same card with a slight drawback.

Flooded Strand lets us grab what we need, when we need it.

Tolarian Academy will flood our mana pool with U in short time. It’s Restricted for a reason!

Mox Sapphire: free blue mana

Mox Pearl: free white mana

Chrome Mox: (nearly) free U/W mana

Lotus Petal: free mana of any color

Black Lotus: if you don’t know what this card is, you wouldn’t be reading this. You’re probably playing mahjong or canasta or shuffleboard. Or Marvel Overpower.

Tutors

Little known fact about the word “tutor”: Up until relatively recently, the word tutor meant something entirely different than our modern understanding of it. Instead of the tutor being the one instructing the student, or the act of tutoring being the teaching itself, a tutor was simply one who guided the student to the teacher. So next time you cast that Demonic, Mystical, Enlightened or Sylvan tutor, think how it’s conducting you to the card you actually want to acquire. Enough etymological history; let’s get to it.

Enlightened Tutor allows us to find any artifact we may need at the moment, be it a mana rock, the Torpor Orb or the Phyrexian Dreadnought itself. This goes without saying, but don’t use it to search for Artificer's Intuition—-that’s not efficient.

Transmute Artifact lets us sacrifice a different artifact (like one of the Moxes) to put the Dreadnought directly into play. Just make sure you have 1 at the ready to pay its cost.

Reshape plays just like the aforementioned card, only it’s as if you have poor credit. This time you pay upfront, cash on the barrel head. Tsk, tsk; shame on you. Next time make your payments on time!

Fabricate will tutor up any artifact you need straight into your hand. Plain and simple.

Artificer's Intuition is a bit dodgy. I’m not sure I’ll keep it in this build, but it’s here for now. This will let us acquire the Dreadnought or any of our mana rocks, but not the Torpor Orb. We do have creatures that are essentially Torpor Orb’s on a stick, but I have concerns about this card anyway. My intuition leans against this Intuition; I’ll have to playtest this more to decide.

Lastly, we have Inventors' Fair. Yes it’s a land, but I listed it under Tutors because it can grab us an artifact.

Control

Counterspell. This card needs no introduction.

Remand works nicely to control tempo. It’s like a mini Time Walk!

Draw

Ancestral Recall, the king of card advantage. An obvious inclusion.

Time Walk isn’t draw, per se, but why draw one card (or even three) when you can take an entire turn?

The Gambit

Everything culminates here and now. The goal is to play any one of these creatures:

Hushbringer

Tocatli Honor Guard

Hushwing Gryff

or Torpor Orb, then cast Phyrexian Dreadnought. With any of the aforementioned in play, once the Dreadnought enters the battlefield it’s ability will not trigger, so you end up with a 12/12 Trampler for one measly, stinkin’ mana...

“The sound of trembling we have heard, dread, and there is no peace.”

I could use some help crafting the sideboard. Not sure what to hold in reserve for games 2 or 3.

Top Ranked	Achieved #21 position overall 4 years ago
Date added	4 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is Vintage legal.
Rarity (main - side)	5 - 0 Mythic Rares 44 - 0 Rares 10 - 0 Uncommons 1 - 0 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	1.68
Folders	Vintage, inspiration, new