Yeah sure but what if you were to get mirror matched? I have a 5/5 flier and magma jets and lightning bolts. Your pressure is one turn too slow otherwise.

Xenoither That's what the sideboard is for...swap 2x Stormbreath Dragon for 2x Dissolve , swap 2x Circle of Flame for 2x Stymied Hopes , swap 2x Springleaf Drum for 2x Stoke the Flames , and swap 2x Polymorphist's Jest for 2x Lightning Bolt

Why are you playing stymied hopes and dissolves in the sideboard? You're spending mana you need on prolonging the game. Stoke the flames as well? Do you usually have enough creatures out to make it work? Whenever I play this deck I need my creatures only to tap for attacking and that's why I hate chief engineer because it's not only a dead draw late game but it slows you down.

Polymorphist's jest is a good card but again, I'm looking to use all that mana. If I'm too worried about countering you then I'm playing wrong.

Truly it comes down to the fact that this deck is fun but not good. I love playing it but it can only become so good before we get steamrolled by enchantments/creature removal.

STAR WARS!!!!

maxami868 THANK YOU! lmao.

I have to say, I agree that this deck is fun but not good or consistent. Not just yours, any artifact decks in Standard right now, including mine. I'm more excited than anyone that Wizards tried to bring artifacts back into Standard, but the fact of the matter is that it's a pipe dream right now. That is barring of course that Khans/M16 has more for this archetype. As it is now, it can set off and be super deadly, but not every time. I wanted Chief Engineer to be good, but he's really counterproductive to the goal as Xenoither stated, especially since Engineer does nothing for you except help you cast 5 cards out of 60. That spot would be so much better served as something that does more than 1 damage per turn for 2 mana. Speaking of that, I feel like the control aspect is a little awkward in this deck. If you're running control/counters/turns/bounces/whathaveyou, why not just go all out with those spells, Keranos, and AEtherling and be done with it? The main reason to try to build an artifact deck in Standard, as we all know, is Scuttling Doom Engine , Ensoul Artifact , and Shrapnel Blast . All the other ones are very lack luster (except the awesome sideboard options like Phyrexian Revoker and Perilous Vault ) and it's hard to try and make your deck work around three cards, especially when one is a six drop. On the other side of the coin, with three cards being your main focal point, there is lots and lots of possibilities of how to manipulate the trio. Obviously Ensoul Artifact needs to be in the same deck as Ornithopter and Darksteel Citadel so that makes 16 cards main deck that are automatic includes (20 with the Citadels, but I'm not talking lands). Generator Servant , although maybe not an auto include, should be in the same deck as Doom Engine. That puts you at 20 main deck spells and a minimum of 16 more spots after those do do with what you will. I actually really like the Stormbreath and Thassa in here, probably the ones you'd want to keep in the most of your remaining 16 to 20 spots. Anyway, if the control route is the route you want to go, then more power to you and I sincerely hope you can make it work. Personally I would go the more aggro approach, but I'm an aggro player through and through. But I would advise against trying to do both as it can make your flow a little clunky when you're trying to do the balancing act of casting creatures AND holding mana open for control. Sorry for the essay, I really am trying to be helpful. :P

CrovaxTheCursed I really appreciate the input. But, I'm thinking of making it an aggro deck. What would be some suggestions? Also, I'm trying to keep this post rotation. I really would appreciate any more of the input you have.

Actually I like your addition of Spellheart Chimera . I can't think of any other creatures to add besides maybe Purphoros, God of the Forge , but Twinflame could be good to duplicate the Doom Engine. You can also get around the exile by sacrificing the token to Shrapnel Blast . Since Twinflame says exile at end of turn, not exile if it leaves play, you can still get the token's 6 damage upon death that way.

CrovaxTheCursed I like the Twinflame idea but it would only work if I also had a Shrapnel Blast in hand. I'll do some play testing before I make anything official. As for Purphoros, God of the Forge , I'm not sure if I want this in here or not for the simple fact that it's not helping all that much because I'm trying to kill them before I even get too many creatures out.

Also, CrovaxTheCursed, for this deck, you previously stated that Purphoros, God of the Forge doesn't fit well in this deck. Lol.

Yeah I realized that as soon as I posted that LOL. D'oh! He really doesn't fit in here though, I just can't think of any other creatures that would work well for you outside of Goblin Electromancer or Guttersnipe . Neither of which would give you 100% value, and are RTR block.

CrovaxTheCursed Yeah, only one I can think of at the moment are Illusory Angel (could be good for more of getting out a 4/4 flyer quicker. But I have that in my sideboard. Also, do you feel 4x Generator Servant are necessary? I was thinking about it and I am torn on whether or not to keep it at 4 or bump it down to 3 and put in 1 more Spellheart Chimera . I'm not sure though.

You might want to look into Hoarding Dragon if you want to try to keep some consistency and I think it's just as good as a Stormbreath for this deck since Generator Servant actually gives it haste instead of just powering it out on turn 3 and not giving it haste. If you throw three of them in there then it will work better than a Spellheart Chimera or a Guttersnipe since with both, you need a lot of spells and this deck doesn't run that many. A 4/4 flier turn 3 is still good by itself and, unless they mainboard exiles, it gets more Scuttling Doom Engine cards into your hand.

Xenoither That's something I could look into, but I don't want to get my CMC too high for the deck. Maybe a sideboard option. I'll take some polls. What do you think CrovaxTheCursed/maxami868/Jojja/IATEAREPUBLICAN?

Well, I've never been an advocate of Hoarding Dragon . It doesn't come out until you have 5 mana which is a little late to be tutoring for Doom Engine. There's no immediate way to get rid of him when you need your artifact without relying on another card, or in your case, relying on your opponent to kill it since you have nothing to sacrifice it. If he never dies, you spend 5 mana on a 4/4 Flying which is underwhelming to say the least. If you had a readily available source to kill the Dragon when you need your card, I'd say mayyybe. Bet even then, you'd have to use two cards and over 5 mana to get a Doom Engine in your hand. In the end would that be worth it? You want your deck to be able to win without Doom Engine. Obviously that's what we want the main win con to be, but you have to have flexibility in a removal heavy format, not mention Stain the Mind will probably be run more often. As for Generator Servant , I see where you're coming from as he's a 2/1 for two mana if you don't have something to ramp into. However, I like him in here because you don't want to be caught with a Doom Engine in hand, 4 mana, and no Servant.

CrovaxTheCursed so you're saying yay or nay to the idea?

I don't understand why a 4/4 flier for 5 is underwhelming. That's a lot of damage that must be dealt with. It also tutors for your win con and can, in worst case scenarios be a win con itself.

Xenoither: Illusory Angel is faster I believe and even though it tutors for your win con, I do agree that you should be able to win without Scuttling Doom Engine . I am still playtesting this with the 2 Spellheart Chimera , if it doesn't work out, I'll be thinking of swapping the 2 Illusory Angel for them.

I was saying nay to the idea of Hoarding Dragon . A 4/4 Flying for 5 mana is underwhelming because you can get that, plus pro white, plus haste, plus monstrous with Stormbreath Dragon , and at the same exact casting cost. I don't know in what deck or what planet Hoarding Dragon is just as good as Stormbreath Dragon , but I'll reiterate my point on not being able to get your artifact from the Dragon at will. The tutored Doom Engine does nothing for you in exile, and there is literally no way to retrieve it by your own volition. All it would do is take a Doom Engine out of your deck, effectively eliminating your chance of drawing into it, and leave you with a 4/4 Flying. I just don't see how that would benefit you more than a Stormbreath. Sure, it could deter the opponent from trying to kill the Dragon right away, but also keep in mind that if they Banishing Light your Dragon, you do NOT get your artifact as the Dragon did not "die", it was exiled. That's another front-running reason why I would stay away from Hoarding Dragon .

Awesome deck, and awesome discussion! I love how Generator Servant speeds things up. +1

@UpperDeckerTaco: Illusory Angel can only come out when you cast another spell. In a topdeck war it will not gain you anything unless you want to be stuck for one more turn. I run them but I hope I have an Ornithopter in my hand as well or it costs the same as Stormbreath or Hoarding.

@CrovaxTheCursed: Sure it does fall off to exile but that's why you have a sideboard. It's also a may ability and if you have seven mana open to monstrous a Stormbreath then you are playing way too slowly or you're against control in which case you've already lost since you weren't able to play underneath it. Hoarding Dragon makes it so that they have to kill it otherwise it's a 4/4 flier that will kill them if they don't stop it in time. What decks run Banishing Light mainboard? Even at FNM I don't run into that card that much. Just try out Hoarding Dragon , it makes the deck a little more consistent (which, truthfully, isn't saying much).

What decks run Banishing Light mainboard? I don't even know what to say to that. How about any deck with White in it that's not a weenie build (and even then, they have it in sidebard)? You may not run Banishing Light at FNM, but a lot of people do. At my shop it's the first thing in everyone's tool belt. Maybe that's not the case at your shop or at UpperDeckerTaco's, but nevertheless it's a widely used card. I see where you're coming from about a 4/4 Flying that must be dealt with eventually, but on a case-by-case- basis, I feel like Stormbreath has more value. With Hoarding, you have to rely on Generator Servant to give it Haste, which in turn loses you another creature. There's also the chance that you'll never see the tutored artifact. Sure it might be a slim chance that depends on the opponent, but there's still the chance. With Stormbreath, I don't see a downside in any situation, he's always good even if the pro white or monstrous isn't relevant. I'll say again that if you had any kind of sacrifice outlet, I'd go with Hoarding over Stormbreath. Until then, I say Stormbreath. Ultimately it's up to the deck builder on the final cut, but I sure do appreciate the debate. :)

cowboy_hippie thanks!

Xenoither and CrovaxTheCursed good discussion. It's definitely giving me the what ifs and what nots.

What about Haunted plate mail? It's a 4 mana cost that gives +4/4 to creature so make Scuttling Doom Engine a 10/10 and then if you only have 4 mana it's an instant 4/4 plus add it on with ensoul artifact

@CrovaxTheCursed: I'm talking about top 8 decks man. That's all my FNM plays usually. However, you're talking about eventualities that will always happen during control matchups. Detention Sphere is the go to card for what you're saying but other than that I've never seen a deck play Banishing Light . That is beside the point but that is just in response to your inability to believe that it might not be run at a card shop.

You always have to worry about those things during control matchups anyway and this deck will probably always lose against control matchups since Supreme Verdict , Detention Sphere , and (in some cases) Banishing Light . If you're looking to monstrous Stormbreath, you've already lost. When the game has gone on that long with this deck, which is an aggro deck, the control matchup will always have an answer.

The real question is, would you rather have a 4/4 with haste on turn 3 by saccing Generator Servant or would you want a 4/4 with haste by hardcasting it on turn 5?