The Crabs (1976)

Modern Affinity Artifact Budget Emerge Sacrifice UB (Dimir)

EldritchEvil

Creature (21)

• 4x Crabomination
• 2x Elder Deep-Fiend
• 4x Merchant's Dockhand
• 2x Ornithopter
• 3x Refurbished Familiar
• 2x Surge Engine
• 4x Thought Monitor

Sorcery (3)

• 3x Thoughtcast

Land (22)

• 2x Archway of Innovation
• 5x Island
• 4x Mistvault Bridge
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 6x Swamp
• 4x Underground River

Artifact (10)

• 2x Nettlecyst
• 2x The Enigma Jewel  ^Flip
• 4x Vat of Rebirth
• 2x Worn Powerstone

Instant (4)

• 2x Counterspell
• 2x Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip

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Maybeboard

Creature (12)

• 4x Bomat Courier
• 4x Dross Golem
• 4x Gingerbrute

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Inspiration A budget modern deck inspired by the short film of the same name. Just like in the short, we're trying to sacrifice our machines (artifacts) to bigger payoffs (Crabomination and Elder Deep-Fiend) for the win.

The Fodder

In order to rush out our crabs, we need a few key cards, beginning with Thought Monitor. Early artifact drops make this card a beast, with a high CMC that makes it a perfect target for Crabomination. We also have Refurbished Familiar as a budget Thought Monitor that can also offer some card advantage while shaving off our Emerge costs. Furthermore, causing opponents to discard fills their graveyard to guarantee a better Crabomination cast. Worn Powerstone is basically a crab egg: by itself it can manage all of the generic cost of Crabomination!

Card Advantage

The low CMC of most of the deck means we need to a way to maintain our hand. Merchant's Dockhand offers a lot of value for one mana. We can make its ability cheaper with The Enigma Jewel  , and tap our Vats of Rebirth, artifact creatures, and artifact lands to quickly comb through our deck. Thoughtcast and Thought Monitor offer more direct, cheap card draws as well.

The Payoff

Once we've started our crab island military experiment, we'll need to start seeing some results. Crabomination is the deck's figurehead card, offering cheap card theft and a big body. Our Elder Deep-Fiend eats Crabominations and Thought Monitors alike. Flashing it in can prevent attacks, remove key blockers, and suppress lands and artifacts. Nettlecyst can also be a huge body that benefits from a strong board state. We can also attach it to our smaller flyers and Surge Engines to create big threats.

Supporting Cards

These additions keep the lights on and the water running. The Enigma Jewel  is a nice T1 play that offers great support for Vat of Rebirth, Surge Engine, and Merchant's Dockhand. Our Ornithopters serve as free early blockers and affinity. Since our artifacts will end up sacrificed or destroyed often, Vat of Rebirth offers a nice way to get new ETB triggers for our best cards. We also run two copies of Malakir Rebirth  for the same reasons. Bringing up the rear is Counterspell, which is an all around nice defensive option that can be found with Merchant's Dockhand.

Surge Engine

Surge Engine is a strong all-rounder. It presents card advantage, evasion, and affinity to synergies well with the rest of our game plan. Even if it gets destroyed early, Vat of Rebirth serves as a nice way to bring it back or contribute to later reanimating larger creatures.

Lands

Aside from Underground River, most of our lands are less for mana fixing and more to support our spells. Mistvault Bridge does tap for blue and black, but its artifact status is what keeps it in the decklist. Archway of Innovation finds another way to cheat out Crabomination, and our single Phyrexian Tower can add triggers for our Vats and accelerate our late game.

I'm always open to suggestions, so leave a review or card recommendation!

Date added	1 month
Last updated	2 weeks
Legality	This deck is Modern legal.
Rarity (main - side)	5 - 0 Mythic Rares 22 - 0 Rares 10 - 0 Uncommons 12 - 0 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	3.34
Tokens	Phyrexian Germ 0/0 B