The Minefield: A Modern Artifact Recycler (T3 Win)
Modern
SCORE: 139 | 238 COMMENTS | 30618 VIEWS | IN 78 FOLDERS
Perhaps in the Sultai variant. In my experience though, this deck does not need very much black mana fixing. If there were a blue version of Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth I would run it in here for sure though.
April 29, 2015 6:22 p.m.
ToolmasterOfBrainerd says... #3
Hang on, I have a question.
If you attack with Pili-Pala to tap it, then during the declare blockers step can you untap Pili-Pala to make infinite mana for that phase? If so, that's awesome, even though it only lasts for combat.
July 27, 2015 12:09 p.m.
yes, though as you said it only lasts for the combat phase
July 29, 2015 11:59 p.m.
ToolmasterOfBrainerd says... #5
Sweet. I haven't looked at this deck in weeks and I forgot how cool it is. The only thing I noticed was the lack of Sleight of Hand, the underplayed cantrip. I know some combo decks prefer it over / alongside Serum Visions. I think they're both fine, but I was just wondering your thoughts on which is better to run.
July 30, 2015 12:08 a.m.
Serum visions is preferable in combo decks because it allows you to check the top three cards of your deck instead of only the top two.
July 30, 2015 7:27 p.m.
My mind just broke. So much effort went into making this a superb deck with answers to nearly everything ... Awesome job!
December 20, 2015 11:52 p.m.
Thank you so much!
I try with my decks. I may end up needing to fix the coding on both this deck and Zombies in Kansas (the link is in the description) as HTML/CSS spoiler functions seem to be less and less compatible with various platforms these days.
The Minefield needs some updating of its own... I think the last time I checked this list was almost 4 months ago. I'm certain it could still use some fine tuning.
December 21, 2015 5:17 a.m.
Ok so through a bunch of playtesting... I guess I forgot just how well I made The Minefield. Don't ask me why, but coming back to it after four months spent working on "Zombies in Kansas" and I was expecting something far less competitive and more gimicky than this.
I do however think that I really ought to be playing 2xPainful Truths over the 2xFabricate. I am a three color deck, I have a recurring source of life gain, and given that so much of this deck is either a fetch card to get win-cons, is a win-con, or just draws more cards (or is a land), I think that the card advantage will prove to be a good bit stronger than the fetch which Fabricate provided.
Thoughts anyone?
December 24, 2015 1:56 a.m.
Adameus2012 recently suggested AEther Vial on the zombies in Kansas page. While I rejected the idea due to that deck being built too heavily around Postmortem Lunge, it occured to me that the vial might be a perfect fit for the minefield. Take the following changes:
-3xPostmortem Lunge -1xCavern of Souls --> +4xAEther Vial
-2xFabricate --> +2xArtificer's Intuition to more consistently fetch vials. The vials would then be able to fuel intuition if I didn't need them in certain situations.
-2xCavern of Souls --> +2xShambling Vent/Celestial Colonnade for outlast/ an alt-wincon (not decided which I would use yet). Since the vial allows me to play creatures through Chalice of the Void, I won't need the caverns anymore.
-1xConjurer's Bauble --> +1xAether Spellbomb for more removal.
-2xSupreme Verdict --> +2xEngineered Explosives, since the increase in intuitions makes the explosives far more powerful.
This would make the deck far stronger against graveyard hate, a bit weaker to discard strategies (I have Leyline in the sideboard though, so that isn't a big deal) and FAR weaker to Stony Silence.
It also frees up my mana to use on cantrips and counter magics, since I won't really need to be paying for Pili-Pala nor Grand Architect. With one vial on two counters, I could pull pili in on my opponents end-step, tick up the vial on my upkeep, swing with pili, and then either combo off on main phase 2 or blink in the architect mid combat if necessary.
What do you guys think of this change? Is it a good idea, or am I just getting too excited to "fix" something that isn't broken?
January 7, 2016 3:04 p.m.
ToolmasterOfBrainerd, Adameus2012, and FAMOUSWATERMELON, I would love your guys' feedback on this change.
January 7, 2016 3:06 p.m.
Adameus2012 says... #12
If you went with 2 chalice 2 engineered explosives, and 4 vials, energy chamber may be very useful in here. As an added bonus if they are unneeded you can pitch them to intuition. It maybe better to run the energy chambers in SB for having added control against grindy types of decks.
January 7, 2016 5:17 p.m.
The problem with Energy Chamber is that the card does nothing by itself. It can support other cards in my deck... But it's not something I would want to draw as the game goes late. The chalice and the explosives also don't tend to need to go over 3 charge counters, which this deck can afford to pay for in mana. The vial stays at 2 almost all game long, so it supplies more than enough for itself.
January 7, 2016 6:13 p.m.
Okay so I went and tweaked the deck. This feels broken. Like, T1 broken. Maybe I'm just not giving the BGx decks enough credit but HOLY SHIT DOES THIS FEEL BROKEN. AEther Vial combined with transmute abilities is just nuts. A turn 1 vial allows me to transmute on turn 3 for Pili-Pala, play him on my opponent's end step, then untap, tick up the vial, and combo off on turn 4 like a splinter twin deck would, only my combo cannot be countered at any phase except for when I try to make Pili-Pala blue. Since that only costs 1 mana, I obtain access to as many Dispels as my mana base can support at that phase of the game without even having to play the card. Gonna be in the think tank for the next few hours reworking the description. This is just... broken.
January 7, 2016 8:33 p.m.
Adameus2012 says... #16
I was thinking the aether vials would provide a sort of inevitability that the combo needed to be more evasive of effects that would stop it. Umm, not to get you off track or anything, and i know it would require some color tweaking, but I personally could see a Wishboard with this deck being absolutely brutal when you combo off, or to take care of a hiccup in your gameplan. Just a thought (a very greedy one)
January 7, 2016 9:09 p.m.
ToolmasterOfBrainerd says... #17
Wow......
I'm going to playtest this for a bit then see what happens. I'd actually hold off on the description until you're done tuning the deck, because the only thing worse than re-writing a primer is re-writing it twice the same night. Glad you finally found what you need to make the deck work! I'll comment later with my opinion after I've playtested.
January 7, 2016 9:18 p.m.
A Wishboard would be absolutely amazing in this deck... if wishboards were modern legal D:
If you are referring to Glittering Wish, I would rather just stick with what I have. That card runs the only two colors my deck doesn't so... yeah.
January 7, 2016 10:14 p.m.
ToolmasterOfBrainerd says... #19
You could make Minefields in Kansas with a wishboard XD
Seriously though that would be hilarious. 4c combo deck with a wishboard. You can get things like Abrupt Decay alongside the Bomberman combo and a Wishboard. The base would have be UB with a GW splash for Glittering Wish and
The one card that I've never quite understood is Artificer's Intuition. What do I do with it? All it can fetch is Engineered Explosives or Spellbombs, which seems a little weak to me, especially because you can't really use it when going infinite. I think I'm missing some major use of it because it wouldn't be a 3-of if it did nothing.
The Vials seem insane. The shenanigans and how well it frees up your mana is perfect for this deck.
Oh yeah. I'm also going to start building either this deck, or Zombies in Kansas. That or I'll get into commander, but this seems like a better use of my magic money. It'll take me a long time because I'm going to build it out of prize packs alone. After I finish Rocket Science (4 cards left - snap, cliffs, urborg, and GFTT), I'll need somewhere to spend my money and, well, this deck is about the coolest thing I've ever seen as far as brews go. You should definitely win a GP with it some day because the world needs to see it.
January 7, 2016 10:34 p.m.
The sad truth about my condition is I will probably never win a GP with this, nor even attend a GP. I don't have the financial/temporal means to attend one myself (full time job and student living with just my mother), and my friends and family are all either broke or fear that magic is like cocaine to me, and refuse to support me attending tournaments like that. As to whether or not I have the skill to win a GP... I know I am one hell of a brewer if I put my mind to it, and that I'm a good player, but I don't know if I'm THAT good at actually playing the decks I make.
Artificer's Intuition is so heavily played because it gives you a plan for the long game. It doesn't help the deck win, but it turns almost every artifact in the deck into either a Chalice of the Void or Engineered Explosives, which is perfect for longer games. It also finds Nihil Spellbomb and Pithing Needle for those match-ups where I need it. You also technically CAN go infinite with it. Combine Auriok Salvagers with the intuition and suddenly Chalice of the Void can be swapped for a spellbomb and you win.
If I were to make a version of this deck with a wishboard, I would just make it bant and run drift instead of Perplex and keep with the vial strategy so that I can avoid black entirely. Ironically that deck could make better use of Pyrite Spellbomb than The Minefield could. Actually it really wouldn't be all that hard to turn The Minefield Bant and gain access to that wishboard... That's a project for later.
January 7, 2016 11:26 p.m. Edited.
ToolmasterOfBrainerd says... #21
Temur doesn't get you a wishboard. Glittering Wish is GW. Bant would, though.
I'd sideboard 1-2 of those Artificer's Intuitions for when you need them because I'm finding them to be pretty dead. Tutoring up a Vial is not great because you won't have it at 2 counters until 5, which is a little late I think. Ditching an extra Vial you get later for a spellbomb or Explosives is nice, but not worth it being a 3-of. 1-2 should be plenty.
Feels like a dumb question, but have you ever considered Path to Exile for extra removal?
I would really consider putting Vials in Zombies in Kansas. Worst case scenario it doesn't work and you abandon it quickly, and, well, I think we're seeing what the best case scenario can look like. Vial is one of the best things that could have happened in this deck.
January 7, 2016 11:36 p.m.
The thing with zombies in kansas is that it was built around lunge. Snapcaster Mage and Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
Flip have nowhere near as much synergy with the vial, and while the vial seems to synergize quite well with the combo, the control aspect of Zombies in Kansas is reliant upon lunge.
I'll switch one intuition with one explosives.
I have considered path, but it doesn't work with this deck. It lets aggro decks kill you faster which forces you to have more removal since you don't have many blockers. It gives control and midrange decks more mana to use for removal to stop you from combo'ing. All in all, bouncing creatures with Aether Spellbomb has seemed more rewarding for this deck than the path.
January 7, 2016 11:41 p.m.
ToolmasterOfBrainerd says... #23
Makes sense. It really wasn't until about nowish that I really began to appreciate how pillow-forty this deck is. Dropping a chalice on 1 to dodge their removal just long enough to get the combo off is an amazing feeling. And this deck can just stall for like 4-5 turns with random disruption and draw cards the whole time making it into
Vial into Snap is fantastic, especially when you were keeping it on 2 for Pili-Pala then need a change of plan. It's less good with Jace for obvious reasons, but not having to pay 2 mana for Snap makes a bigger difference than I thought it would until I played Snap and Vial in the same deck. Regardless, Vial doesn't look like it will play well with Lunge, which is probably reason enough not to run it. But I still can't shake the feeling that you should at least test it.
January 7, 2016 11:47 p.m.
I can give it a shot I guess. There are a lot of hilarious interactions that could follow me putting it in. Turn 4 vial in an architect and a batterskull. the snap interactions.
Regardless, I need to finish updating The Minefield first. If you are planning on building this deck, take it to a GP for me some day. I'd love to see how it does.
January 7, 2016 11:51 p.m.
ToolmasterOfBrainerd says... #25
Oh. You can't vial a Batterskull because it's an equipment. That's a pain....
I'm still a high school student so it'll be a bit before I'm able to even get it in my hands, much less take it somewhere big, but at the very minimum I'm going to proxy up this deck to show off to my friends. Someday I'll try to get this in paper. I hope it can keep up with the meta, which is generally shifting to be much less artifact-friendly.
ToolmasterOfBrainerd says... #1
No Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth? I think it has a spot in here.
April 28, 2015 11:22 p.m.