Manemaan here it is in the early stages.

Key to the City looks great with the blob, but what if you end up grabbing it with Madcap Experiment instead of the gearhulk? Could be a bit of a whiff for the damage you end up taking...

Nice idea in general, keep working on it. +1

rorzor A big whiff if it takes 3+ life. Key will probably drop to a 2of when the Combustible Gearhulk is spoiled. Drop a Key an Arlinn and something else to 3of CG. That'll make 10 very nice artifacts that aren't Key to the City and 2 that are keeping damage minimal most of the time. Even getting the first Key looks like it has some value if it costs 4 mana and 2 life. Having an unblockable 10/10 Verdurous Gearhulk with Vigilance and Haste when I +1 Arlinn has an immediacy to it that I like.

I guess the question is does Madcap Experiment hurt or help the consistency and how many artifacts does it take?

I think your forward planning to include CG makes a lot of sense if you are hoping to make the most off Madcap Experiment, especially if CG ends up having haste. Another thing about the key is that you need to discard cards to use it effectively, and this deck doesn't have a whole lot of card draw besides Expedite, which might be a problem depending on how quickly you can reach your wincon.

At this stage, what do you imagine is your 'on curve' turn of plays?

I imagine a Madcap Experiment based curve going like:

T1- play dryad

T2- play vessel

T3- pop vessel, play madcap, get gearhulk

T4- play arlinn/key, big gearhulk swing

Would be a very powerful curve, though maybe weak to removal/bounce.

Keep up the brewing! Keen to see how this deck does in the new meta.

I am concerned about card advantage. Looking to replace Lightning Axe for that reason. Malevolent Whispers has synergy with Key to the City so I'm looking that way first. Fall of the Titans has synergy with Vessel of Volatility so that's a possibility. I'd put in Grapple with the Past for Traverse if I Took out Lightning Axe to balance instant/sorcery.

Traverse the Ulvenwald and Expedite both have card draw and Key to the City fuels its own combo while it feeds Delirium. The turn after you use it, it can draw a card for 2.

Your curve wins in 5 on a dream draw but there are other very strong openings

T1- play Traverse

T2- play Key

T3- play Blob and Key towards Delirium

T4- play Arlinn, +2 Blob Key Blob for Delirium swing for 8 (5 unblockable Blob 3 ooze)

T5- play Skysovereign, Consul Flagship crew with 3/3 ooze, +2 Haste from Arlinn. 3 etb damage and 3 damage on attack. swing for 14 (8 Flagship, 3 new ooze, 3 Blob)

also in your dream curve, turn 3 you can expedite the Gearhulk and swing 9 (8 unblockable Gearhulk 1 Dryad)

Not unblockable, just trample...

Good point, I forgot that you end up with an extra the turn you get the gearhulk out. Trample for 8 at T3 is almost just as good as unblockable anyway, unless they have a deathtoucher ;) but even then thats a lot of damage.

Your ooze curve does check out, I think the only observation is you must discard a dual type card (gearhulk) to the key in order to enable delerium (along with a land/enchantment/instant/planeswalker on the other turn) by turn 4. Not a bad cost though for the effect of early unblockable ooze.

I love the deck idea, originally I was worried you were trying to do two different things (gearhulk/ooze) that dont naturally assist eachother that well. But I think you could pull it off. I do worry about your hand size if you dont win by T6 though, but I guess theres still brewing to be done and more kaladesh to be revealed.

If only Combustible Gearhulk had some card draw and maybe a way to burn them out as a finisher it would be perfect in this deck. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Our prayers were answered. The 6 cost pushed Hanweir out, it couldn't crew the Flagship alone and the 6 cost meld was second best now. Moved Duskwatch back in for draw power, ramp, and its ability to crew on the back side. Moved in Malevolent Whispers in for Lightning Axe. Looking to play it turn 4 or 5 when Key is powering something else. Its 4 cost is a boost to CG over the 1 drop axe and its madness is more card advantage.

Moved Mirrorpool in for Hanweir but I'm questioning it. Very powerful but it'll take 2 mirrorpools to activate 1. Maybe 2 Drownyard Temple and 2 Mirrorpools is the way to go. Maybe Mortuary Mire should go in that 3of. Putting the turn 3 Gearhulk back on top before dropping another Combustable or even risking a Madcap Experiment seems pretty nice.

I just had a "tappedout playtest" between this deck and my recent G/B Em-ramp-kul deck, and it was extremely close. I now feel that the gearhulk side of your deck is particularly strong, especially with the Combustible Gearhulk. Like you said, the burn and card draw potential is huge.

Delirium didn't happen until the late gamethough, I feel like it might be harder to enable than first thought

oh and I now realize Arlinn + Skysovereign is just plain crazy good. Especially as she can pump out wolves to be pilots if need be.

Thanks for the playtesting! Arlinn + anything is really just gold. Vigilance and Haste on a big body is so valuable. I see how anticipating the need for a pilot and being able to get one there is great.

I put in Drownyard Temple and Grapple with the Past They should push delirium up a couple turns and they work together well and with Key to the City. Being able to ramp on turn 4 by bringing back Drownyard, basically getting 2 lands with Grapple and setting up for a stronger turn 5.

Is 3 Flagships too many? Would another Drownyard help a curve that tops at 6? Would a 1 of Panharmonicon be worthwhile? Another Duskwatch? Another Madcap!

I have found Grapple with the Past works very well at enabling delirium, I definitely think it would be good in your deck. Similarly Drownyard Temple is really good for its ability especially in delirium builds, though the generation isn't really relevant now that you took out Mirrorpool. BTW when I playtested this deck, one of the best moves I saw was a T7 Mirrorpool sac to generate a second Combustible Gearhulk. The three extra cards it gets you will give you a good chance to fetch a replacement land, so it could still be decent include, perhaps just as a sideboard - especially if you have Grapple with the Past already. Oh and here's a funny play - if you sac Mirrorpool to copy a Grapple with the Past, then the original grapple can bring back your Mirrorpool and you end up digging 6 cards deep into your library for the copied grapple to find a creature/land you want. Likewise instant-speed copying a Skysovereign, Consul Flagship that is about to die to some form of artifact hate on the stack is nice.

I would stick with 2 flagships personally, you don't want to have that legendary rule bite you. Especially if you already have a flagship and your Madcap Experiment fetches you another one.... that would be painful.... though at least you get the ETB trigger.... Meh, 3 could be done I suppose, it is very powerful and you definitely want to draw it. Though I think an extra Combustible Gearhulk would be better potentially.

Speaking of ETB, I don't think Panharmonicon has enough in this deck to trigger it efficiently. Yes, the ETB triggers in this deck are all amazing, I just don't feel like there are enough cards with them to justify an otherwise dead drop. IMHO Panharmonicon only belongs in a constructed deck where every single creature/artifact has ETB value.

Also, your mana curve is rather depressed in the drop area. Maybe more drops might not be a good idea at this stage. It might feel a little underwhelming, but maybe a ghirapur guide could fit in? It would work well with the whole "difficult to block effectively" strategy and it can pilot the flagship.

other drops that might work if you feel like pumping out that part of your curve:

just a thought

I feel like the rare times Mirrorpool is usable and the rare times it will swing the game wont align often enough for the amount it slows down the deck.

I took out a Mountain and both Gnarlwood Dryad, put in freshly spoiled Metalwork Colossus and 2 Traverse the Ulvenwald pulling out lands will power up Red Gearhulk and make Madcap less painful. Abandoning the early game for ramp and utility.

I don't worry about the 3 drop because some of the best starts don't need one.

Best starting pairs

1. Madcap Experiment + Vessel of Volatility Turn 3 combo

2. Arlinn Kord + Duskwatch Recruiter Turn 3 recruit for a Gearhulk and transform Duskwatch Turn 4 Arlinn Turn 5 Gearhulk with haste and vigilance

3. Grapple with the Past + Inexorable Blob followed by Key or Arlinn or Madcap turn 4

4. The next best start might be any 3 of these and assume you'll catch its partner by turn 4.

I'm not happy with Malevolent Whispers I want to keep is sorcery speed and expensive but with more synergy.

1. If you get stuck with Arlinn Kord + Grapple with the Past turn 3 could be spent bringing Drownyard back and hopefully you grabbed a Verdurous Gearhulk with Grapple.

I'm still looking. Let me know what you see.

I agree with removing Malevolent Whispers, though it could be a sideboard option for edge cases.

Traverse the Ulvenwald is a great include, especially having taken out a mountain.

I like the idea of focussing on ramp and utility in general rather than early aggro - this deck feels like T3 - T7 are when the biggest plays occur, and Traverse the Ulvenwald is a better 1 drop than Gnarlwood Dryad for setting that up I think.

Metalwork Colossus makes sense, and is feasible to cast T6.

I would maybe try swapping a couple of Evolving Wilds for maybe a forest and mountain. They would help enable delirium, mana fix and filter lands out of your library that you don't want your Madcap Experiment to hit. Could be worth the slower pace

I do want Evolving Wilds. What do you think about dropping Game Trail and adding 3 Wilds and a Cinder Glade I feel like this is the least slow solution. I don't use a red 1 drop anyway. 2 lands is a keep in a lot of hands. Opening with Game Trail, Wilds and Drownyard might be worst case scenario.

Yeah I think that is a good idea, Game Trail doesn't gove you as much value as it might seem. Cinder Glade and Evolving Wilds is much better I think.

I was looking for a way to maximize the 5 red on turn 3 from Vessel of Volatility and found Wolf of Devil's Breach. Took out Alchemist's Greeting. Wolf looks like more versatile removal. It has synergy with all the things! Grapple, Traverse, Duskwatch, Vessel, Arlinn, Flagship and it curves perfectly into Combustible Gearhulk. It's looking like any hand with a Vessel or Duskwatch and 2 land is a strong keep. I think this was a big power gain. Bonus, the foils look amazing.

There's a midgame combo where I Traverse a creature, attack with Devils Breach and discard the creature for damage then Grapple the creature back from the graveyard all for 5 Mana

I love ramping into Big guns and I love versatility and I love most of the cards in this deck so I'm really curious to hear how it plays! My biggest concern was whether there is enough ramp to consistently get big stuff out? Are the Devil's breach, Flagship and Arlinn's enough creature elimination to stay alive till the big guys get going? Even if it is inconsistent which may not be a problem, this deck looks like a blast to play!

I'm finding it consistently unpredictable and a lot of fun. Madcap will average 5 damage to yourself but it can be MUCH worse. A fair trade for a possible 10/10 I could haste on turn 3 with Vessel-Madcap-Expedite and make unblockable with Key to the City turn 4.

I tried to do what I could to make sure it hits hard turns 4 and 5. Traverse is quasi-land with midgame utility, same with Grapple so it draws like a 28 land deck. Arlinn Kord  ^Flip +1 for +2 Haste and Vigilance lets the creatures play both sides and 10% faster(in a 10 turn game, 1 round faster) quasi doubling the creature power and the backside Trample is looking better and better. Vessel of Volatility is pure "I only need one bomb to crush you" ramp that helps delirium. Duskwatch Recruiter  ^Flip I probably need one more of, the flip side is really good here. I don't like drawing two but a Duskwatch on turns 2 and 3, recruiting on turn four to flip them and casting Combustible Gearhulk turn 5 with only 4 land in play is a possibility. It would help consistency a bit. Where do I cut(not an artifact)? Arlinn? Drownyard Temple can be discarded to Key or dumped with Grapple to ramp occasionally

I didn't try to push removal because Instant and Sorcery didn't synergize with Duskwatch, Traverse, and Grapple. Focusing on doing Gruul best, attacking will be my removal, and I'll try to sideboard in specifically painful help.

If you draw a few hands or play test it, let me know what you find! Which removal could I 2of for the biggest impact?

Malbrecht after saying it draws like a 28 land deck I convinced myself to drop a forest and mountain to slip in a Duskwatch Recruiter  ^Flip and Cinder Glade adding more power to the 4-5 hole and the downside should mostly effect turn 1 Traverse which I should be holding onto anyway. Thanks for the +1!

rorzor Malbrecht What do you think of todays evolution? More ramp, more removal, more power, more damage to the face, more ways to win! Mirrorpool(it can copy crewed vehicles) is back now that Hedron Archive can pay its cost. Turn 4 Hedron Archive Turn 5 Flagship tap Archive and PAY 2! for Metalwork Colossus!!! Nahiri's Wrath couldn't be worse when Emrakul steals your turn... don't let it go that long.