@eleriumavenger part of the down side to this deck is its reliance on 0 costing spells to trigger off an early Erayo flip, due to this the deck runs a relativly low CMC and thus a smaller quantity of lands making anything beyond 3 CMC almost entirely unrealistic to run unless it is an absolute must for my win condition. Because of this I can not justify running most to all proliferate cards and many other major artifact boons like Tezzeret as they take up important deck real-estate while being relativly speaking dead cards until I reach my late game which would be less likely to occur if I take away from it. That being said thank you for the comments I always appreciate them.
January 15, 2016 12:20 a.m. Edited.
@DuTogira I like the concept of Hangarback Walker in this deck but it practice it falls short as he utilizes +1/+1 counters rather than charge counters to beef-up. Additionally if I choose to bring him out for 0, which is a consistent part of my early game strategy, he would simply die and have offered me nothing.
January 15, 2016 8:21 a.m.
That's another one of those high mana cards as for me to effectively get use out of it I would need to pay 4mana which is not realistic as I would likely be able to use the card only once per turn which is why Energy Chamber makes more sense in a long running situation.
January 15, 2016 11:39 a.m.
Might I ask why you run Astral Cornucopia and Everflowing Chalice? This deck doesn't seem to need big mana, and those cards are both large mana sinks which so nothing to immediately affect the board state.
I might try to just increase the number of Energy Chambers you run and then also add some Power Conduits
January 15, 2016 11:45 a.m.
I require 0 cost cards to pull an early Erayo flip so they are a must by that alone, additionally I don't cast them for their "x" I just cast them for 0 and add charge counters to them over time, which is important for fortifying my mana base so that I can win through Orochi Hatchery or Darksteel Reactor.
January 15, 2016 11:54 a.m. Edited.
In that case, how about Engineered Explosives. It won't bite you in the butt because you can charge it up, it supports the control nature of the deck, and it's a 0 mana spell for Erayo.
January 15, 2016 2:26 p.m.
I might up the count on the explosives then and drop one Everflowing Chalice. It seems slightly more powerful to me than mana acceleration. I would also be inclined to suggest Chalice of the Void... But that one is probably too big of a nonbo with the rest of the deck.
January 15, 2016 3:44 p.m.
I would also replace Remand with either Dispel or Thirst for Knowledge. As a control deck, you need a source of card advantage. I'm currently trying to find ways to help this deck answer creatures. As it stands, you currently lose to Lingering Souls or a flipped Delver of Secrets
Flip because this deck has no way of clearing opposing 0 cmc creatures without also destroying almost all of its own artifacts.
I am assuming that they play aforementioned spells before you lock them out. There will be plenty of games where they stick a few creatures before you assemble the lock.
January 15, 2016 3:50 p.m. Edited.
Briber's Purse is nice, but you don't have ways of replenishing gem counters so that probably won't work.
That leaves you with Chimeric Mass (which I do recommend at this point), but even the mass still leaves you vulnerable to flying, such as what is provided by aforementioned cards.
January 15, 2016 3:58 p.m.
My early game consists of Silence and Remand to prevent the first 2 turns or so of play by which I either have the lockdown up and running or I've failed and will lose. Additionally once I do my my lock down up I don't mind blowing explosive for things outside of 2cmc as I can just wait the game out until I recover.
January 15, 2016 9:18 p.m. Edited.
I mean... If you want to plan your deck as "t2 lock or bust" that's your choice as a deck builder and I respect that. In the interest of making the list competitive (if that is your goal), I would recommend having a back-up plan since this whole combo can get destroyed by a turn 1 Thoughtseize taking Erayo.
January 16, 2016 1:07 a.m.
I can actually turn 1 Erayo with decent fidelity assuming I have her in hand, but this deck is not meant to win outside of its combo as most combo decks run in a very similar fashion. To that end I do not see the problem with its competitive playability as in competitive the victor is often who gets off their combo within the first 3 turns.
January 16, 2016 11:12 p.m.
If you need those 0 cost artifacts, why not go for Welding Jar?.
March 8, 2016 6:22 p.m.
If you got a T2 Erayo flipped against me I would flip the table LGS be damned!
Retract could be nice to pick back up your 0 drops and then play the Astral Cornucopia for mana later in the game.
June 7, 2016 10:49 p.m.
I mostly use the Coretapper to add charge counters to Astral Cornucopia, and Everflowing Chalice, but I know what you mean turn 2 Erayo is suuuuper degenerate.
June 8, 2016 1:57 a.m.
Turn8ScornfulEgotist says... #21
I think that Mana Leak would be stronger than Silence, as Silence is mostly useful when comboing, which your deck doesn't do, or on an Isochron Scepter, which you don't have. Also, I'd bump it up to 2 Academy Ruins because it seems too useful in the face of artifact destruction.
June 9, 2016 11:06 p.m.
Silence is an automatic inclusion in this deck because it can deny turns for my opponent allowing me to set up my rather cumbersome lockdown, while Mana Leak is nice because this is essentially a stalling-control deck the extra cost that leak adds becomes useless as they will likely have an abundance of lands by mid game. At its core this deck simply does not function in such a way that that would allow me to take meaningful advantage of leak in a way that I would otherwise not find in silence.
June 9, 2016 11:18 p.m.
That and it's a nice way to get Erayo, Soratami Ascendant off easily which is a pretty central idea for the deck.
eleriumavenger says... #1
Fuel for the Cause / Inexorable Tide /Tezzeret's Gambit all provide proliferate to fuel your counter Strategy
Tezzeret the Seeker for the Reshapes
Indomitable Archangel as sideboard for decks heavy on removal
Stoic Rebuttal becomes counterspell when you have metalcraft
January 14, 2016 5:04 p.m.