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The Architect of Oz

Modern Artifact Combo Competitive Control Infinite Combo WUB (Esper)

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Creature (16)

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Land (20)

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Artifact (9)

Instant (7)

Sorcery (5)

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Welcome to Oz, Planeswalker! What was once a magical and diverse plane is now being ripped apart by Eldrazi. "Wait, isn't that Zendikar? Is Oz Zendikar?" you ask. Yes, and no. Oz is the Modern meta. Just as with that classic children's tale, a wizard has arrived on the scene though, and deemed it time to fix what has been broken. Grand Architect (Oz himself) is not capable of revolutionizing this plane without help though:

Pili-Pala

Oz has granted Scarecrow a brain in return for his aide, which the Scarecrow has in turn used to realize that he is capable of generating infinite mana!

Myr Superion

The otherwise un-castable Tin Man has been granted a heart by Oz, and is now ready and willing to defend his friends. A 5/6 body means he is far more than capable at this task.

Drift of Phantasms

I'm sure there is a Cowardly Lion's ghost in there somewhere. More to the point, our Lion is normally incapable of dealing damage. Oz has provided him with a +1/+1 Lord effect though, so that he can start hitting back.

Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim

The arrival of the Eldrazi scum has also heralded Dorothy's arrive. She's a bit more... sadistic than is remembered in the children's tale though. Like Oz, she is capable of using the other members of the party, martyring the Cowardly Lion and Tin Man for massive health gain and -under the right conditions- martyring any of the three to exile anything that may threaten Oz.

Spellskite

Much like Dorothy, Toto is... horrifying. That said, he is still an extremely loyal puppy, willing to endure anything for his master. Speaking of which, Dorothy also isn't above martyring Toto for a bit of life gain either. Our Kansas-born protagonists are a bit messed up, aren't they? Oh well, beggars can't be choosers, and Oz needs them both.
The Architect of Oz is a rugged and fast combo-centric deck. The deck averages a turn 3-5 win unless it is against heavy control decks, in which case it averages a turn 4-8 win, depending on how control-heavy a hand your opponent drew.
The rugged nature of this deck is three-fold. The first element is its ability to re-claim artifacts from the graveyard, and since the only combo component which is vulnerable to interaction (Pili-Pala) is an artifact which we can re-claim, disruption is not going to stop this deck from going off. Ever. The second element comes from the fact that this deck has a long game plan of flooding the board with a bunch of Myr Superions and 5/5 animated artifacts generated by Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas. As Reality Smasher and Drowner of Hope have so recently proven, most modern decks seem to have some major issues dealing with multiple 5/5's. The third element comes from the fact that all of the combo components are fetched and played via activated abilities, so traditional counter magics cannot stop the deck. Aether Vial is used to play the combo creatures at instant speed without ever having them enter the stack. The Transmute mechanic on Drift of Phantasms and Muddle the Mixture can be used to fetch combo components and win-cons.
The speed of the deck comes from Pili-Pala and Grand Architect both having low Converted Mana Costs, considering they are part of a two card, modern legal infinite combo.

I want to preface this description by saying that the current main board and side board setup is that combination which most consistently gets out the necessary win conditions. However, it is also the combination which is weakest to highly aggressive decks, disruption from decks with forced discard, and niche cards (like Stony Silence, Pithing Needle, and Linvala, Keeper of Silence).

This deck features a number of "infinite" combos but they all hinge on one:
Grand Architect + Pili-Pala

The first thing one must understand about this interaction is that Grand Architect's second active ability which reads "Tap an untapped blue creature you control. Generate colorless mana. Spend this mana only to cast artifacts or activate the abilities of artifacts." is not affected by summoning sickness. There is no tap symbol there. Pili-Pala is affected by summoning sickness though, as you can distinctly see an untap symbol on him. With that out of the way, we can proceed.
The way this combo works is that you activate Grand Architect's first active ability for to turn Pili-Pala blue. Pili-Pala is an artifact creature, so he is a legal target. Now Pili-Pala counts as a blue creature, so he can be tapped by Grand Architect to generate colorless mana. Since Pili-Pala still counts as an artifact, he is allowed to spend that to untap himself. This generates a colored mana of the player's choice. Let's say . You now have a floating. Now that Pili-Pala is untapped, you can tap him again to generate another . Spend that to untap him and make... this time, for fun. You now have . This is a repeatable process which generates infinite mana. The best part is that mana generation happens faster than split second abilities in magic. What this means is that once Pili-Pala has been successfully turned blue, the mana generation cannot be stopped. This means that the only two chances your opponent has to stop this combo are A: When you cast Grand Architect and B: When you attempt to turn Pili-Pala blue.
The second part of the combo involves your win-cons. Those are detailed below.

Note about this combo: Until you have at least one win-con in hand, do not cast Grand Architect unless you have more than one. He is harder to tutor for than Pili-Pala, and all that is required is that he be played successfully to the field to set the combo off.

Turn 3 Win Scenario:
T1: Land
T2: Land + Pili-Pala
T3: Land
Attack with Pili-Pala to tap it. Once you have Pili-Pala tapped, play Grand Architect.
Use Grand Architect's second active ability to tap himself. This generates two colorless mana. Untap Pili-Pala with that mana to produce one blue mana. Use that to turn Pili-Pala blue using Grand Architect's first activated ability. From there just make mana forever. Then win. Because it is possible to abuse the infinite mana combo the turn that Grand Architect is played, there is absolutely NO rush to play Grand Architect, therefore it is wisest not to play him until it's combo time. If you know that your opponent has some way to interact with Pili-Pala then FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD DON'T TRY TO GO OFF, just wait until the coast is clear!
As a general rule of thumb, Pili-Pala should be played on your opponent's end step using Aether Vial. I will explain how this works later in the description. If you don't have Aether Vial, just cast Pili-Pala whenever you have the spare mana so that he won't have summoning sickness if you top-deck Grand Architect. Just know that the last thing you want is to have all of your components assembled while Pili-Pala just sits there in the yard, which is why we try to play him with Aether Vial where possible. Safety first kids!!!

Grand Architect + Staff of Domination + Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas

This combo not only produces colorless mana, but it wins the game single-handedly. Users must be aware that Staff of Domination has to have been in play for at least 1 full turn for this combo to win the game, otherwise it only produces colorless mana.

Here is how it works:Staff of Domination is in play. This is a requirement.
Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas either is in play, or is played from hand. You use his -1 to turn Staff of Domination into a 5/5 artifact creature.
Grand Architect either is in play, or is in hand; whichever Tezzeret was not. You can use Grand Architect's ability to turn Staff of Domination -which is now an artifact creature and thus a legal target- blue. You can then tap it via Grand Architect to produce colorless. This can only be used to activate the abilities of artifacts or to play artifacts. Luckily, Staff of Domination is an artifact. You then spend on Staff of Domination's first ability to untap itself. Then tap it via Grand Architect to generate colorless. Spit, Rinse, Repeat. This combo produces colorless per iteration, but given that you can spend all of the excess on Staff of Domination's other active abilities AND untap the staff via its first ability, this simply wins you the game. Why? You can draw your whole deck which will eventually draw you into Viridian Longbow, and given that Staff of Domination is now a creature which can be equipped with the bow, AND has the capacity to untap itself, you can deal infinite damage in one damage increments.

Note: This combo only requires you to have a 5/5 Staff of Domination artifact creature. TECHNICALLY Tezzeret isn't critical to this combo, but since he is the only method this deck has of turning artifacts into creatures, him being played and being used to animate the staff is a necessary step of set-up. This secondary combo is more slow and far more easy to disrupt than the primary combo, so just like the "Go wide and beat down" strategy of the deck, you should not be actively trying to assemble this combo. It will happen naturally if at all. The only exception is if you have an animated staff in play and can tutor for Grand Architect and play him to set the combo off on the same turn that you tutor for him.

Hangarback Walker = An / creature. If it dies: LOOK AT ALL THESE THOPTERS!!! This win-con has been lovingly dubbed: The Hella-Thopter.
Staff of Domination = Draw your whole deck + tap all creatures your opponent controls + gain infinite life. This win-con's nickname is inappropriate.
Profane Command = Infinite damage to the opponent's face. This win-con's nickname is: You Better Watch Yo' Profanity!
Viridian Longbow = Infinite damage in one damage increments. It has been dubbed: 43 which is a dual reference to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy AND Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Brownie points if you understand them both.
Trinket Mage = Go find Hangarback Walker or Viridian Longbow. Neither this nor the next "win-con" have nick-names.
Artificer's Intuition = Go find Hangarback Walker or Viridian Longbow assuming you have another artifact in hand.
The rest of your play should be made around fetching all of your combo components. This takes first priority. It's a difficult task, but the deck has more than enough flexible fetch cards to consistently pull the combo off, or stall out your opponent until you draw into each component.
Your second priority should be staying alive. Don't be afraid to use Muddle the Mixture a a counterspell, to fetch tech-cards which will win you the game in certain match-ups, or to find cards that buy you a few turns. Similarly, don't be afraid to use Drift of Phantasms or Hangarback Walker as a blocker. While he can act as a win-con, his primary purpose is to slow the opponent down. Shutting down your opponent can be just as crucial as going off yourself. Once all the components are assembled though... It's game over.
Your third priority is situational. Sometimes, you want to fetch Aether Vial, as it allows you to play your combo components without putting them onto the stack, which means they cannot be countered when played through the vial. It also frees up your mana to use for transmuting or removal. Other times, you just want to flood the board with myr superions and 5/5's from Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas and give them a good old @$$whuppin.

The Deck's main source of damage, when not combo'ing, will be face beating. Suprisingly, this deck isn't that bad at face beating. You can make a bunch of 5/5's or just fill the board with a couple of Grand Architects, turn some artifact creatures like Pili-Pala blue, let Trinket Mage get lorded, and boom, you go wide as a merfolk list. Neither of these "beat down paths" is the deck's primary goal though. Neither should be actively sought out as a path to victory. If they happen, it will happen naturally based on your draws. Long story short, you typically don't win if you don't combo. You just do your best to not lose.

Once you have your infinite mana combo, every card in the deck without exception is expendable in the interest of winning the game.

Against these decks, you want hands that can go fast. These hands usually have two of the following cards: Aether Vial, Pili-Pala, and Grand Architect OR contain Pili-Pala/Grand Architect and Serum Visions/Path to Exile.
You can also keep any hand with both Aether Vial, Myr Superion, and 4-5 other cards, unless ALL OTHER CARDS ARE LANDS.
Mulligan floods.
Against these decks, you want hands that create their own consistency as the game goes on. Hands with 3-4 lands, Serum Visions, Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas, Muddle the Mixture, Drift of Phantasms, and Artificer's Intuition are good.
Mulligan for the tech card that beats your opponent's deck. This is especially true if that tech card is Leyline of Sanctity.
Most Aggro decks are light on spells that can be hit by Muddle the Mixture, though Muddle is still useful to fetch Spellskite, Pili-Pala, Myr Superion, Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim, Golgari Charm, and Profane Command. The plan against Aggro decks buy-and-large is to get out blockers. No, it doesn't matter what creatures you use as blockers as long as they aren't Pili-Pala. Grand Architect can be used a blocker, but only if he doesn't die to whatever he is blocking. Try to keep the board clear via Engineered Explosives and Path to Exile. The most important thing though is to find your combo components and try to kill that aggro deck, because they are putting you on a clock and there is only so long you can stall for.

Against these eldrazi decks, you need to mulligan pretty hard either for an extremely fast hand or Path to Exile + some powerful early game blockers. How to play against them: If you drew a hand with combo potential, combo. If you didn't, don't die. The eldrazi decks are so linear that there isn't much more to the match-up than that.

Junk/Abzan is an annoying match-up, because the midrange version runs so much natural graveyard hate in Scavenging Ooze AND the possiblity of side-board Rest in Peace/Stony Silence. In game one, play Chalice of the Void with one charge counter to stop their forced discard.
Games 2 & 3, Leyline of Sanctity should be able to take care of their forced discard strategies, but players of this deck should aggressively mulligan to 5 to obtain Leyline of Sanctity. If you have the leyline, keep your hand. If you are down to 5, keep your hand. Mulligan anything that doesn't meet one of those two requirements. Your primary goal is no longer to combo off. It is to abuse the fact that you have access to so many x/5's and out-bully the junk deck for control of the board. Myr Superion is especially good at this. Golgari Charm is another great sideboard card we gain access to, as it can either wipe tokens from Lingering Souls or regenerate creatures being targeted by Abrupt Decay/Maelstrom Pulse, so prioritize fetching up a Breeding Pool when you have the opportunity. Did I mention it can also remove Stony Silence? If you do manage to assemble the combo and you can win with it, JUST DO IT!!! MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE!!!
Overall, you are not favored against Junk decks. They tend to win game 1 due to their copious removal suite and forced discard, and the post board games, while slightly more favorable, still do not favor you. If you manage to win game 1 though, you are in great shape!
Note: Many players, both on this site and off, have been discussing running more potent sorcery speed removal in place of their instant speed removal due to the fall of Twin and the rise of the eldrazi. If Junk decks adopt this policy, it bodes very well for the match-up, as this deck can combo off at times where only instants could stop us. I don't find this likely, as cards like Path to Exile are great against the eldrazi and are also instant speed.

These Collected Company decks are annoying, but all it takes is some intelligent play and you will be fine. The downfall of these decks is that none of their creatures have a CMC higher than . Engineered Explosives and Chalice of the Void have field days with CoCo decks. Play Chalice of the Voids with two charge counters if you draw it. Artificer's Intuition should be prioritizing Engineered Explosives though, as it is far more brutal against CoCo decks.
Golgari Charm is boarded in to answer Stony Silence, but every now and then it gets to mop up a couple of Eternal Witness'.
Try to save a Muddle the Mixture to counter Collected Company. These decks start to fall apart if you can consistently counter those.
All in all, game 1 is decided by how quickly you are able to differentiate this deck from a Junk deck. If you figure it out, you are favored to win.
You are greatly favored post board due to the fact that you know what deck you are playing against, you SHOULD know how to play against it, and you have every answer you could need. Even if you lose game 1, chances are you will win the post board games.

This match-up is just mind-blowingly easy. First, boggles is light on removal and The Architect of Oz punishes decks like that VERY hard. Your clock is faster than theirs on average. Chalice of the Void placed with one charge counter makes them concede on the spot, and Engineered Explosives with one charge counter murders most of their deck.
Golgari Charm isn't all that great in this match-up. Regenerating creatures doesn't matter because of Rancor, and a global -1/-1 tends to do nothing, since they just make one super huge creature. Boarding it in is still necessary because of Stony Silence.Pre board they might god draw and out-race you. Post board you almost can't lose though.

That is, unless someone manages to bring you back...

Oh look, another aggro deck built entirely around cheap stuff! Chalice of the Void is thrilled. Play it with one charge counter so that it shuts down the majority of burn spells and creatures that your opponent might be using. It is ok to play the Chalice of the Void with 1 charge counter even if you don't yet have an Aether Vial in play. Engineered Explosives should take care of those pesky creatures that the burn player will be using. Leyline of Sanctity saves your face from the burn. Spellskite saves your face too, but is the least useful of our artifact hate cards.
Good strategies against burn do include playing Grand Architect prior to combo assuming you can use him to play Spellskite or a Myr Superion, finding Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim as quickly as possible and using her to sack skites, superions, and drifts for life-gain, and path'ing anything that can attack.
Just as with Junk Aggro, mulligan aggressively for Leyline of Sanctity. Against burn, I would go so far as to mulligan down to 4 for the card.
Game 1 against burn decks is not favorable. You have the faster clock, but The Architect of Oz has a bad habit of hurting itself pretty bad in game 1 via aggressive use of shocklands on T1. Burn players can also just Lightning Bolt your Pili-Pala.
Games 2 & 3 are closer to even. You can still get "out-drawn" by the burn player more often than I would like. If you win game 1 you should be able to win the match-up no problem.
Note: The biggest difference in playing against Delver is that you will play Engineered Explosives with 0 charge counters to get rid of flipped delvers. Otherwise, Burn and Delver are played against in much the same way.

Jund is... intuitive as far as match-ups go. They run A LOT of removal, some graveyard hate, and forced discard. Engineered Explosives is the all-star of this match-up, because even though they have a lot of removal, Jund decks don't have access to Stony Silence AND the majority of their creatures cost 2 mana, which means The Minefield retains it's ability to shut the Jund deck down via Engineered Explosives and Academy Ruins.
Just as with Junk decks, mulligan aggressively for the Leyline of Sanctity. It will stop the forced discard.
Game 1 you tend to lose. You just don't have the tools to play a long, grindy game, and the jund deck picks you apart.
Games 2 & 3 are favored at 60/40 since Jund doesn't gain a whole lot from their sideboard but we are able to even up the playing field. This means you tend to lose against Jund just because overcoming the Game 1 loss is a very difficult feat.
Note: Many players, both on this site and off, have been discussing running more potent sorcery speed removal in place of their instant speed removal due to the fall of Twin and rise of the eldrazi. If Jund decks adopt this policy, it bodes very well for the match-up, as this deck can combo off at times where only instants could stop us.

Against Affinity/Robots, blockers like Spellskite tend to be rather useless due to trample effects. That said, Spellskite is amazing against Arcbound Ravager, which is why we board him in. You can use Aether Vial and bring him in at instant speed, which REALLY pisses off Affinity players. Chalice of the Void can be played with 0 charge counters on it to brick a good 1/3rd of the Affinity deck.
Game 1, either combo off as quickly as you can if your hand is capable, or find Chalice of the Void/Engineered Explosives as quickly as possible. If your hand seems incapable of doing either, I have no idea why you kept it. In games 2 & 3, Engineered Explosives and Hurkyl's Recall do a fantastic job of cleaning up the rest of the Affinity deck.
Affinity is a favorable match-up, as your clock is faster than theirs and they are a rather non-interactive deck in Game 1. Post board you gain WAY more from your sideboard than they do, so the match-up becomes even more skewed in your favor. Just watch out for Phyrexian Revoker. That guy is evil incarnate.

Oh look, another deck like boggles that just loses to a Chalice of the Void at 1 charge counter. Combo'ing off is your first objective, and getting the chalice is your second objective.
Game 1 is favorable, as we already have our biggest tech card main-boarded against Infect.
Games 2 & 3 are highly favorable, as Spellskite ruins infect's day. Most of the time, they can't even Twisted Image him thanks to Grand Architect.

Hatebears is a match-up which puts your skill as a player to the test. They have ways to put you in a lock, using cards like Leonin Arbiter/ Aven Mindcensor /Gaddock Teeg and Stony Silence. You have ways to stop their hate though, such as Golgari Charm.
Against hatebears, you are largely back on the x/5 strategy, but Engineered Explosives can put in some serious work, especially when combined with Academy Ruins. They have the advantage though, as their hate cards come with bodies.
Because Leonin Arbiter is a thing, prioritize using your fetch lands as early as possible. They have enough ways to lock you out of the game without forcing you to become stuck on one land and two or three fetch-lands.
Game 1 you are actually favored, as their best hate cards for The Architect of Oz sit in their sideboard. Just try to combo off and use Engineered Explosives to clear away any hate cards they play.
Post board, the game gets a lot harder for us. The amount of relevant hate in the Hatebears sideboard is over 9000! If you win game 1, you are in decent shape and have a chance of winning the match-up. If you lose game 1, start praying for them to brick every draw for two games straight, or for you to God draw them twice in a row.

Most control decks will TRY to give The Architect of Oz a really hard time, though this deck is built specifically to handle the control match-up better than just about any other combo deck in existence can. Despite being that variant of The Minefield which is most heavily geared to fight aggro decks, The Architect of Oz's worst control match-up is still 70/30 favored.

Eldrazi Control is decent match-up game one. They have less hand disruption that the Junk/Jund decks do, but their creatures are even beefier, which means they cannot be reasonably combated via Chalice of the Void. Engineered Explosives is still quite powerful against the scion tokens and Endless One . Aether Vial is relatively powerful, because it allows you to put combo components into play when the opponent would not expect it and thus maybe bamboozle a win out of him, but your best strategy in game 1 is to just go fast. The second you have all of your combo pieces in hand, go for the combo.

Does the Eldrazi deck have a crazy draw that can kill you by turn 3? If yes you lose, if no continue.
Can you combo off by turn 4? If yes you win, if not continue.
Did they draw multiple Thought-Knot Seers, both of which were played by turn 4? If yes they probably win, if no continue.
Did you draw 2+ Myr Superions which you can play by turn 5? If yes you are in good shape, if no, continue.
Did you assemble the secondary combo by turn 5-6? If yes you win, if no continue.
Did they have removal in the form of Path to Exile/Eldrazi Displacer for your superions? If yes they probably win, if no continue.
Did they draw three or more Reality Smashers/Drowner of Hopes? If yes they win, if no, they seem to have bricked this game. Continue.
Did you brick draw? If yes you lose, if no you win.
You aren't quite favored here. This match-up isn't un-winnable, but the number of winning draws they have versus the number of winning draws you have is... disproportionate.

Lantern control is another easy win for The Minefield. Yes, Lantern Control is normally very good against combo decks, but first off we have Academy Ruins. That means we can pull cards out of our graveyard and the opponent can never succeed in decking us. We also have Chalice of the Void, which is to be played at one charge counter. Make this play even if you don't already have an Aether Vial in play, as it shuts down the Lantern deck entirely. Engineered Explosives does much the same thing. Try to hold up mana for Muddle the Mixture to counter Surgical Extraction until you have a chalice at 1 in play.
Post board, having access to Leyline of Sanctity means you shut down most of the lantern deck before the game even gets started, and you should aggressively mulligan for it. Hurkyl's Recall gives you another sweeper to use against the opponent, and the Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas is boarded in for consistency.
Yes we board heavily, but this is simply for the sake of optimizations. The fact that our combo does not rely upon attacking, there are too many targets that the opponent has to hit with Pithing Needle for them to reasonably expect to lock us off of the combo, and the Lantern Control deck does not put its opponents on a clock whatsoever. Painter's Servant is boarded in just in case the opponent is smart enough to pith Grand Architect. The only element of the combo which they can stop is Grand Architect turning Pili-Pala blue. Now they can't even stop that.

Tron is a slightly favorable match-up for The Architect of Oz. Chalice of the Void played at one charge counter helps out a lot, as it gets rid of most of Tron's mana fixing and cantrips, alongside Nature's Claim which they will likely board against you. It also gets rid of Relic of Progenitus and Pithing Needle, which are annoying. This said, Tron does not have very much in the way of instant speed removal. The only card that have that qualifies as such is oathstone, and they have to play it before-hand so they telegraph that play. This means that using Aether Vial to play Pili-Pala on your opponent's end step followed by a Grand Architect on your main phase takes away the majority of tron's access to removal.
Game 1 you are favored. The match-up plays out a lot like a combo v combo match-up. Tron more consistently assembles theirs, but your combo wins you the game on the spot. Both decks have some relatively dead draws. For example, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, Spellskite, and Oblivion Stone do very little for the tron deck. Myr Superion does nothing for us though.
Games 2 & 3, Pithing Needle comes in and is pretty useful for getting rid of that blasted Karn Liberated and Oblivion Stone. Chalice of the Void is still very powerful against the tron deck. Neither deck really gains anything too significant from the side-board though, so you are still favored.

We run plenty of basic lands, and on top of that Pili-Pala can provide mana fixing, so Blood Moon decks don't really scare us. Just start fetching up your basic lands instead of those fancy shocklands. Chalice of the Void should be played at 1 charge counter to take care of some of Blue Moons cheap value engines, and then if you aquire a second one, play it with two charge counters so that it can take care of most of the deck's counter spells.
Game 1 you are favored. The blue moon deck does not put you on a fast clock. On top of that, what is normally a dead draw in Pili-Pala is great for blocking Vendillion Clique and turns the opponent's Blood Moons into equally lack-luster draws. Just be ready for a painfully slow game. I can't give tips beyond this for game 1 because it is a largely skill dependent game. If one player is less skilled than the other, it will become obvious in this game.
Games 2 & 3 favor The Architect of Oz a little bit more heavily. Despite the fact that blue moon gains access to Shattering Spree and Relic of Progenitus, all this does is make a Chalice of the Void with one charge counter even more potent. You also gain Spellskite, which is a far more potent tool than you might imagine. I recommend reading the Spellskite section of "On the Proper Use of Quirky Cards"

Grixis Control, despite having access to massive amounts of forced discard and Liliana of the Veil, often runs neither. This means that the vast majority of the deck will consist of counter magics, which is perfectly alright with The Architect of Oz. It makes for slow, grindy games, and this deck takes to slow games like flying squirrel to tall trees.
In Game 1, play Chalice of the Void with one charge counter to cripple the majority of the Grixis deck's efficient value engines. Then just try to jam the combo through as many times as you can. Eventually, the Grixis deck will lose the ability to say no.
Games 2 & 3, play a Chalice of the Void with one charge counter first, and then a second one with two charge counters, so that you shut off the grixis deck's access to cards like Surgical Extraction and the majority of other graveyard hate strategies. Games 2 & 3 are heavily in your favor, as you gain access to Spellskite, and that changes everything in this match-up.

American Control decks have access to a greater amount of removal than their grixis cousins, but the match-up plays very similarly. Chalice of the Void on one counter is your priority in all three games though, as it hits Path to Exile. Most of the CMC threats which American Control runs are creatures, and thus can be taken care of with Engineered Explosives.
Games 2 & 3 you will want to save goglari cahrm for any Stony Silences that your opponent may be using. Pithing Needle is great because it can pith opposing planeswalkers and man-lands.
Game 1 is as close to 50/50 as control decks will come against The Architect of Oz. Having access to Path to Exile and Snapcaster Mage takes away our most powerful tool against control decks: recurssion. That said, we can take away their access to removal via a Chalice of the Void on one.
Games 2 & 3 shift back to being heavily in our favor. Gaining access to a second chalice is huge, Spellskite can eat just enough removal to consistently stick creatures to the board, and intelligent use of Golgari Charm combined with Muddle the Mixture back-up will allow you to combo off even through opposing Stony Silences.

8 Rack is just annoying. You can fight them well enough, because Engineered Explosives can take care of The Rack and Shrieking Affliction. Chalice of the Void with 1 charge counter can take care of most of the opponent's discard spells. If you get a second chalice, play it with 3 charge counters if possible. That takes care of Liliana of the Veil, Ensnaring Bridge, and all those other pesky 3 mana discard enchantments.
Game 1 you lose a fair bit of your hand. Find Chalice of the Void as quickly as possible, but (if at all possible) try to keep it on top of your deck instead of being in your hand so that you can't be forced to discard it. That always sucks. Game 1 slightly favors you. Your best hate cards for 8-rack are artifacts which you can pull back out of the yard via Academy Ruins, which they cannot force you to discard. This means that even when 8-rack succeeds in keeping you off the combo, you can keep them off of their discard strategy just as easily.
Games 2 & 3 are a dramatically different story. Hard mulligan to 4 if necessary finding Leyline of Sanctity. You have Pithing Needle to take care of Liliana of the Veil and you have a more consistent method of getting rid of your opponent's "punishment" artifacts and enchantments. That and the leyline are really all you need to turn this match-up from being sketchy to insanely favored.

Token Decks are not a huge problem for The Architect of Oz, as they tend to be far less interactive than most other deck archetypes, and are incredibly weak to cards such as Engineered Explosives.

Elves is a match-up which is draw dependant. The Architect of Oz is favored, as Engineered Explosives can save you from a few of Elves nut draws, while Elves have nothing to save them from yours. Both decks are incredibly fast with the right draws, so this match-up plays out remarkably like tron does.
Yes I consider Elves a token deck. The point of the deck is to go wide and just mob the opponent. Sounds like a token deck to me.

Against White Weenies, you typically can just combo them to death before the board state every becomes overly threatening. Even if the opponent starts to build up a threatening board because you just can't find your combo components, Engineered Explosives fixes that handily. This is an insanely easy match-up for The Architect of Oz, both pre and post board.
You board in Golgari Charm in the case of things like Intangible Virtue and Bitterblossom.

Go check White Weenies. It's the same thing.
Other combo decks are interesting, because there is no general strategy for playing against them other than "don't let them be the first to combo." This said, each combo deck that The Architect of Oz faces up against can be dealt with, but be aware that sideboarding can be dramatically different for each.

Dredge is just a pain in the ass. This deck does not block well in the early turns, so it's just a race between you and the dredge deck (which has little in the way of removal and disruption). Mulligan for fast hands, or post board, for Rest in Peace as it is rather powerful against Dredge.

This match-up is just silly. Living End decks tend to combo off a bit more quickly than you do, but you can counter Living End, and the deck folds if you stick a Chalice of the Void with 0 Charge counters on it, because then they become unable to cast their win-con.
Be careful, as Living end does run Ricochet Trap , and nothing sucks worse than losing the game to your own win-con. If you are combo'ing off against Living End, use Staff of Domination to make yourself draw the majority of your deck, and then combo off with Viridian Longbow to win in one damage increments.
Living End is a favorable match-up both pre and post board, though it is more favorable post-board than pre-board.

You tend to be the first to combo off against Ad Nauseam, which means you are favored in Game 1. Play Chalice of the Void with 0 charge counters to get rid of the pacts which Ad Nauseam runs and to counter Lotus Bloom. Play a second chalice at one counter to get rid of cards like Angel's Grace. The best way to win against Ad Nauseam is to go infinite on life with Staff of Domination because they have access to Angel's Grace, but any method will do, given enough time.
Games 2 & 3 you win with Staff of Domination, as they board in Leyline of Sanctity just like we do. This said, your leyline is a lot more impactful than theirs, because they are forced to try to win via Laboratory Maniac and using Staff of Domination you can draw into Golgari Charm to get rid of their leylines. You can counter their Laboratory Maniac via Path to Exile, which is where you obtain the advantage.

Merfolk is an interesting kind of combo deck, because for the most part, it is actually an aggro deck. It wins by beating face over and over, but I consider merfolk to be a combo deck because with one single Merrow Reejerey + Aether Vial you can pump out every single merfolk of a given CMC onto the field for free. Block what you can (Islandwalk permitting) and remove whatever you can't block. Merfolk is light on counter magic, removal, AND flying though, so winning against merfolk is not all that difficult most of the time. You simply go off before they can kill you. Engineered Explosives really helps us out, while Chalice of the Void is a bit of a dead draw given that the merfolk deck also runs Aether Vial AND Cavern of Souls.
Merfolk is another match-up like tron and elves, where it's just a combo deck trying to race another combo deck.
Overall, we are favored against Merfolk, but you need to focus on speed and not trying to build a pillow-fort. Wet pillows are the worst.

Storm is a great match-up for us. We can go off about as quickly as they can, they are fairly non-interactive which means they aren't likely to stop us, and if you play a Chalice of the Void with two charge counters, they just up and concede! Your first chalice should probably still be played at 1 charge counter, as shutting down storm's cantrips can cripple the deck just as badly as shutting down their combo. Don't be afraid to play Grand Architect to the field pre-combo in this match-up. You can always use him to help you ramp into a 2 charge counter chalice, and storm has a hard time dealing with creatures with more than 1 hp.
Storm in general just isn't very strong against the kind of hate that The Architect of Oz can dish out. They gain access to post board Empty the Warrens , but you can answer that too with Engineered Explosives.
All in all, storm is a fantastic match-up for The Architect of Oz, both pre and post board.

This match-up is actually really simple, and highly favorable. You race the Reanimator deck to combo off. Yes, he is capable of going off faster than you, but he is not guaranteed to. Chalice of the Void with two charge counters on it also tends to piss them off.
Pithing Needle can name Grislebrand to shut down the deck's primary combo, and the second can name Borborygmos Enraged to shut down the deck's second combo. The deck can still win by just smashing your face in with a Worldspine Wurm, but that is why we keep one Engineered Explosives boarded in. It can take care of those 5/5 wurm tokens.

No Swaps. I'm not kidding.

Just race the Tooth and Nail deck. He doesn't like playing interactive games, but that doesn't mean you can't blow up any small mana dorks with Engineered Explosives, Path to Exile his big guys, and Muddle the Mixture his Tooth and Nails. Just another non-interactive combo match-up really, and another favorable one that gets better post board.

Heartless Summoning Combo is another one of those match-ups that is all about the draws. If you draw your combo components, combo off. If you draw Engineered Explosives/Golgari Charm, blow up his Heartless Summoning when he plays it so he can't combo off. You are favored against them, just like you are favored against literally every combo deck that chooses not to interact with its opponent. Pillow forts can in fact contain explosions.

Maybe one day you will be unbanned. Until then, adieu.

As a combo deck, Scapeshift is really sturdy all around, as it is very good at controlling the opponent's deck while still combo'ing off. What this means for us is that Aether Vial is going to be crucial. This means that The Architect of Oz needs not try for speed, but instead just needs to be more stable than the Scapeshift deck. Aether Vial with Academy Ruins ensures that this will be the case. Games 2 & 3, mulligan to 5 against Scapeshift for Leyline of Sanctity, as it will shut down their combo. From there, Spellskite should be able to protect your combo creatures from Scapeshift's removal suite. Again, go read up on Spellskite. Knowing how to beat Electrolyze is critical in this match-up.

This deck is a brew which is one of The Architect of Oz's worst match-ups post board due to the sturdy and flexible nature of Chord of Calling.
Game 1 is actually favorable. You can play Chalice of the Void on two charge counters to stop the Chord player from using the majority of his creatures. Engineered Explosives can take care of most of the creatures he manages to sneak through the chalice, and you can combo off much faster than the chord deck can. Chalice of the Void on 3 counters won't even stop chord, because it checks what the CMC of the card was when it was cast, not what its vanilla CMC is, so chord is usually cast as a 6+ CMC spell. Chalice can't fight that.
Games 2 & 3 are where it all goes to crap. The chord deck gains access to Slaughter Games which blows us out and Stony Silence to blow us out. If the chord player is smart, he/she gets rid of most of his 2 cmc creatures to board these in, so Chalice of the Void becomes considerably worse post-board. You just have to race the Chord deck and hope you can kill him before he has the mana to access all of these answers.
One thing which you have going for you is that both Chord Toolbox and The Architect of Oz have powerful long game plans, so it isn't all that uncommon to be able to win a long, grindy game. The chord deck is still favored if it draws well though.
Against Chord, if you lose game 1, you probably are going to lose the match-up.

Pithing Needle is brutal against these decks, as two Pithing Needles can take out every copy of two different Planeswalkers, and can be salvaged when necessary. Spellskite might seem like a good card to board in, but truth is he doesn't make us go any faster, and this deck just isn't threatened by walker decks. There is no REAL need for the needles even because you can just race the Walker decks, making them an easy match-up for The Architect of Oz.

This match-up is about another easy one, because a combo deck like The Architect of Oz doesn't care how high your life gets, and such decks as Soul Sisters sacrifice speed for their life gain. If the Soul Sisters deck actually starts gaining a bit of ground against you, just wipe the board with Engineered Explosives. Regardless, killing the soul sisters deck by going infinite before they can kill you with minions should be a breeze.

Academy Ruins

It is useful to grab Pili-Pala from the yard. Since you don't ever play Grand Architect until it's time to go off, the only way your opponent can stop you is by killing Pili-Pala. Academy Ruins primary purpose in this deck is to ensure that Pili-Pala can -and will- always be played. To this end, Academy Ruins is very fun to use with Aether Vial. What you can do is put Pili-Pala back on top of your deck when your opponent kills it for a grand total of and a tapped Ruins, and then Vial the Pili-Pala back in on your opponent's next end step. If he kills it again, spit rinse repeat. Pretty cheap way to keep threatening to win every single turn if your opponent runs out of removal.
The second purpose of Academy Ruins is to give the deck a sense of "inevitability." What this means is that given enough time, The Architect of Oz will win any game. Academy Ruins does this for us because it provides a potentially limitless number of copies of Myr Superions for board presence, Engineered Explosives' for board control, Pili-Palas for threatening the combo, and Hangarback Walkers for board presence.

Aether Vial

This card is the detonator of The Minefield.
First and foremost: Aether Vial does not make you pay for the creatures you summon with it. This means you are free to transmute for Pili-Pala and Grand Architect and then vial them in on the same turn that you transmuted for them. You could also use your spare mana for counter magics or to help you build your pillow-fort.
Second: Aether Vial does not place creatures on the stack. It simply moves them from your hand into the battlefield. This means that creatures being put into play with Aether Vial cannot be countered, which is not only extremely useful against combo decks, but it is what allows us to play Chalice of the Void without too much fear of the chalice biting us in the @$$.
Third: This deck is built with a lot of CMC creatures. This is intentional. What you can do is refuse to put charge counters onto the vial once it has two, and then use the vial to play creatures on your opponent's turn, at instant speed no less. A prime example would be playing Pili-Pala on your opponent's end step to see if he is foolish enough to tap out against you. Then, on your upkeep, you can tick the vial up and then play Grand Architect without having to pay for it, allowing you not only to combo off, but to abuse the fact that (once in play) Grand Architects first ability basically provides you with as many Counterspells as your mana base can support.
So the way you use Aether Vial -summatively- is you leave it at 2 charge counters until you combo off, and you use it to play creatures on your opponent's turn like a sneaky little hobbit.
The deck is considerably less threatening if it does not draw Aether Vial, so try to find it as quickly as possible if it isn't in your starting hand.

Artificer's Intuition

This card isn't all that quirky. It is used as a method of turning any artifact which you may draw into a situationally useful artifact. It's purpose here is to provide a very powerful long game plan. As such, the biggest quirk of this card is recognizing that fetching it with Muddle the Mixture OUTSIDE of the combo is something that should only be done if you plan on playing a game that will last another 6+ turns.

Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim

Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim has very few quirks. The only one you really ought to be aware of is that she can gain you 4-6 life per turn when combined with Spellskite/Myr Superion and Academy Ruins, with the Myr Superion synergy also hinging on having a method of playing it turn after turn.
The major quirk which players must be aware of is that whenever you transmute Muddle the Mixture and are considering fetching up Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim, ALWAYS compare her usefulness against those of Spellskite and Myr Superion, especially the superion. I can't tell you how many times I have beat a burn deck because, even though I was around 4-7 life, instead of fetching up ayli I went for a superion and just killed the burn player within 2-3 turns.

Chalice of the Void

Chalice of the Void may be the quirkiest card in this deck, and the greatest difference between people who are good with this deck and people who are great with it tends to be how Chalice of the Void gets used, and when. Typically you don't want to be casting it with one charge counter on it, as that gets rid of Aether Vial, Serum Visions, and Path to Exile. However, there are many exceptions. These situations are listed in the match-up table. A generic Chalice of the Void drawn in the first 4 turns of the game should be played at one charge counter, as the most efficient and therefore most generically powerful cards in modern are costed at one. A chalice drawn later into the game should be played with two counters as the most powerful DECKS in modern tend to rely on 2 CMC spells. Eldrazi: Eldrazi Mimic and sideboard cards; Affinity: Cranial Plating and Arcbound Ravager; Any White Deck: Stony Silence; Grishoalhoard: Goryo's Vengeance; You get the idea.
If you EVER plan beforehand to be playing Chalice of the Void at one charge counter, you may want to cut one or two Serum Visions from the deck while boarding.
Players also should be aware of the rulings on Chalice of the Void, ESPECIALLY: The number of counters on Chalice of the Void matters only at the time the spell is cast. Changing the number of charge counters on Chalice of the Void after a spell has been cast won't change whether the ability counters the spell. If the Chalice had the correct number of counters when the spell was cast, its ability will trigger. If the Chalice had too many or too few counters when the spell was cast, the Chalice's ability won't trigger. (taken from gatherer.wizards.com).
Final comment: You can in fact play Chalice of the Void for 0 mana. Playing it at 0 means it will counter such cards as Pact of Negation, but will not counter creature tokens coming into play. It will however, piss the hell out of affinity players, bloom titan players, and a couple of other select decks.
Also be aware that Chalice of the Void is considered to have a CMC of when on the battlefield. This is relevant in some match-ups where an Engineered Explosives with 0 charge counters is a powerful play.

Drift of Phantasms

Against board states where the opponent is capable of pushing through 3+ damage per turn, don't be afraid to play him as a blocker.
Otherwise, feel free to hold him in hand in case he is necessary for transmuting.

Engineered Explosives

Engineered Explosives will not destroy man-lands, even if they have gone man-mode. The card explains this (vaguely), but players still often make the mistake of thinking it will destroy man-lands. It won't.
Be aware that when you cast it, the CMC of Engineered Explosives is equal to the amount of mana you spend to cast it. When the explosives are in hand or in play though, it is considered to have a CMC of 0. Just be careful you don't accidentally get your own explosives countered by Chalice of the Void. If you have to, pay an extra mana of a color which you already spent on the Engineered Explosives, or even 2 colorless generated by Grand Architect, to change the CMC of the explosives as it goes onto the stack. Because of the way the sunburst mechanic works, this won't change the number of charge counters the explosives come into play with.

Engineered Explosives & Chalice of the Void

But Du, we already went over these!!!
Yes, young grasshopper, but there is still one more critical rule that applies to both cards which you must learn: if your opponent is capable of pushing through 3+ damage per turn, and you have the option to chalice, explosives, or cantrip/transmute for combo components, pick the cantrip/transmute UNLESS you can both play and detonate the Engineered Explosives in the same turn. Chalice of the Void is only to be played if your opponent does not have significant control of the board. If your opponent does, you are on a clock, and you need to be racing to kill your opponent, not sitting there trying to build a pillow fort. Pillow forts don't work if the enemy is already inside!

Golgari Charm

You will typically only board this in against decks that run white, so as to have an answer to Stony Silence. This means you should try to save Golgari Charm for Stony Silence, but there will be exceptions. These exceptions will present themselves when either of Goglari Charm's other two modes allow you to 2 for 1 or 3 for 1 the opponent in terms of value. Do not ever 1 for 1 with it unless you are removing Stony Silence or are forced to in order to survive.

Grand Architect

Grand Architect has a lot of quirks, so be prepared for an essay here.
First: Your first copy of Grand Architect should be saved for your first combo attempt. Exceptions to this rule involve situations where you need him as a blocker AND can use him to play some other artifact creature such as Myr Superion or Spellskite in order to not die.
Second: Be aware that he provides a lord (+1/+1) effect to all blue creatures. I can't count the number of times this has been relevant for saving Drift of Phantasms from dying to Goblin Guide + Lightning Bolt or some similar combination of 5 damage sources. This is also relevant because Grand Architect can turn artifact creatures blue for , which can be used to save them from death by damage.
Third: Be aware that Grand Architect can tap ANY blue creature under your control to generate . This is especially relevant because you can leave blue creatures like Drift of Phantasms up as blockers, and then during your opponent's combat step, after blockers have been declared, tapping down your blue creatures to use as fuel for a card such as Staff of Domination.
Fourth: Grand Architect + Painter's Servant allows you to continuously pump out CMC artifact creatures. It also acts as a counter to Pithing Needle The reason for this is that the only phase of our infinite mana combo which does not generate mana (and which is thus vulnerable to the needle) is when Grand Architect tries to turn Pili-Pala blue. Painter's Servant does that job for him.

Hangarback Walker

This card actually is quirky. Feel free to play him with only 1 +1/+1 counter. He can grow bigger and can be reclaimed with Academy Ruins if the game is going longer, and replaces himself with a thopter when he dies.

Muddle the Mixture

Muddle the Mixture's usefulness changes based on different match-ups. Against aggressive decks it is typically most useful to fetch powerful creatures such as Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim, Myr Superion, and Spellskite. Against decks that run Collected Company/Chord of Calling, it is critical to save Muddle the Mixture to counter those cards. In control match-ups, it tends to be used to fetch Artificer's Intuition to make sure that you can get Aether Vial/Engineered Explosives/Chalice of the Void out to grant your own creatures immunity to counter magics, and to disrupt your opponent's creatures. In combo match-ups, Muddle the Mixture is most often used as a counter-spell to disrupt some critical combo component/enabler. In any match-up though, Muddle the Mixture is extremely useful to fetch Pili-Pala to guarantee the win for The Architect of Oz.

Myr Superion

He's as quirky as goyf, come on guys! Your three methods of playing him are Grand Architect, Aether Vial on 2, and 2 Pili-Palas working in conjunction.

Painter's Servant

He's got one quirk: always name blue. It makes for better synergy with Grand Architect.
Also, it's funny... he got boarded out for Rest in Peace.

Path to Exile

Bear in mind that Path to Exile can be used on your own creatures for ramp. You will run into situations where this is relevant every now and then. Not that much of a quirk, just keep it in mind.

Profane Command

Profane Command is a rather obvious win-con. The quirkiness of this card comes from its two alternate uses though. You can choose to use the -x/-x mode in conjunction with the return to battlefield mode to effectively 2 for 1 an opponent, both killing off their creature and returning, say, a Myr Superion to the field.
Profane Command is great as a non combo finisher too. You can name the "x creatures gain fear" in conjunction with the "target opponent loses x life" mode to effectively grant two or more creatures unblockable, and deal a bit of damage to the opponent. You would be surprised just how much reach this can give the deck. (My record is 18 damage; fearing 3 superions and dealing 3 damage)
This isn't a quirk, but note the KTK Polluted Delta. Whenever you draw THAT SPECIFIC DELTA, compare its usefulness against a copy of Profane Command. I am still debating running 19 lands and 2 commands against running 20 lands and 1 command.

Spellskite

Spellskite should be used to protect Grand Architect/Pili-Pala/Staff of Domination to ensure that you can get off an infinite combo (your primary win condition). It receives support from Muddle the Mixture once you have a copy of both Grand Architect + Pili-Pala either in hand or on the field. This being said, it usually is worth it to risk playing the first Grand Architect + Pili-Pala combo the minute you have all the tools you need to win (unless you are faced off against a control deck), especially since you have three more copies of the combo in your deck, with at least three other cards to hard-fetch each component of that combo.
Spellskite also combo's very nicely with Aether Vial. Take the following scenario: You have Pili-Pala and Spellskite in hand, it is your turn, and you have an Aether Vial with two charge counters. You also either have Grand Architect or a Drift of Phantasms to transmute for him. Play Pili-Pala that turn. The reasoning for this is: If your opponent has some spell like Electrolyze and you play the Spellskite first, the second that you try to vial in Pili-Pala on their end step, they will simply Electrolyze both the Spellskite and Pili-Pala, and since Spellskite is already a target of Electrolyze, he won't be able to redirect the 1 damage going at Pili-Pala. However, if you play the Pili-Pala first, your opponent is forced to try to remove him, or you just win next turn. So he uses Electrolyze and targets Pili-Pala and something else. Maybe your face, it doesn't matter. In response to the Electrolyze, you vial in Spellskite and then activate his ability to change the 1 damage headed at Pili-Pala to Spellskite, since Spellskite was not a legal target when Electrolyze was first cast. You can do this same thing with Forked Bolt . Against all other removal spells, it doesn't matter which you play first as they only target one thing, but for the sake of proper sequencing, in a scenario like the aforementioned one, you should always play the Pili-Pala first and leave the Spellskite as back-up to be Vial'd in.

Staff of Domination

Staff of Domination can be a very powerful tool to slowly gain life and recover against aggressive decks, can tap down your opponent's biggest threat, or can draw cards. It all will be powered by Grand Architect(s) and some number of blue creatures, but it's still a very powerful tool outside of either infinite combo.

Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas

The big quirk here is realizing the power of Tezzeret's +1. It puts tezzeret onto 4 which allows him to utilize his finisher, and will more often than not allow you to draw into either a Pili-Pala to combo, or some other artifact which will be useful in a given match-up. While it can be quite tempting to use his -1 and just turn Tezzeret into a 5/5 factory, 5/5's die to removal. Card advantage does not, and it is VERY important to remember this. Only use his -1 if you absolutely NEED another blocker to save yourself from dying. In all other situations, his +1 is almost always superior.

Muddle the Mixture & Drift of Phantasms

When either of these cards is transmuted, it counts as an activated ability being placed on the stack. This means that only a card such as Stifle can stop a transmute, and regular counter magic cannot. Oh wait, Stifle isn't modern legal... well it sucks to be your opponent!

Trinket Mage

He can be used prior to combo time simply to fetch some artifact that is situationally useful. Players of the deck need not make a special effort to save him as a win-con. While this isn't a particularly complex quirk, it is still a quirk nonetheless. Be aware that Darksteel Citadel can be fetched by Trinket Mage, so you can use him for ramp in those situations where you need it.

Viridian Longbow

Viridian Longbow can be combined with Pili-Pala outside of the combo. What this does is create what is basically the most beautiful combination of Pyrotechnics and Fireball; spend X, deal X damage divided as you choose among any number of permanents in 1 damage increments. This synergy has won me so many control games I cannot even begin to count them.
Once you have assembled this gattling gun, don't ever attack with Pili-Pala. You can just tap him to deal that 1 damage instead, so there is no point.
Ok so I was playing against this guy on untap. I lost game 1 against him because... well he exploded.
So we go to Game 2 and I am on the play. My hand is Island, Flooded Strand, Grand Architect, Painter's Servant, Myr Superion, Myr Superion, Aether Vial. My opponent opens with a Gemstone Cavern turn 0 removing Eldrazi Obligator because, you know, of course he would. For the record, he did not see any of my superions game 1.
Turn 1 I play Island, play Aether Vial, and pass. He plays Cavern of Souls naming you know darn well what, and plays a Chalice of the Void on 1. I guess he didn't like me having Path to Exile since I used it on him game 1.
Turn 2 I draw Polluted Delta. Now at this point, I could play and crack a fetch land to play the Painter's Servant, but my opponent has no eldrazi lands out and my Aether Vial will tick up next turn to let me play him at instant speed, so I just play the Polluted Delta and pass. He topdecks Eye of Ugin and proceeds to drop three Eldrazi Mimics AND a Ruination Guide . That's every card he has in hand for the record. I guess the Eye of Ugin was a topdeck, because that could have been his turn 1 play instead of turn 2. End of his turn I crack the Polluted Delta and go get a Hallowed Fountain tapped.
Turn 3, my vial ticks up to two charge counters. At this point, I am ready to scare the living !@#$ out of this eldrazi player. I draw a third Myr Superion. I play and crack my Flooded Strand getting an Island, tap the Aether Vial to bring in Painter's Servant and name blue. I then spend all three of my mana to play Grand Architect. Bear in mind, ALL of my creatures are blue now. I tap GA to make 2 colorless and summon the first Myr Superion. I tap Painter's Servant to summon the second. I tap a Myr Superion to summon the third. At this point my opponent says something in chat along the lines of "Cool it bro, I'm supposed to be the one playing the explosive deck!" I pass the turn and he reveals a Reality Smasher, turning all 3 of the mimics into 6/5's. He can't play the smasher because his lands only make a total of 4 mana, but Painter's Servant is also stopping Eye of Ugin from working, so my opponent only has access to 2 mana. He looks at his mimics which are 6/5's for the turn, looks at my two untapped superions, and swings. Bear in mind, all of those superions are blue thanks to Painter's Servant and GA is providing a lord effect to blue creatures. The superions are 6/7's right now, not 5/6's, and my opponent missed this fact. I freebie block two mimics and take 6. At this point, I'm at 12 but I don't give a crap. I have 3 6/7's and two 2/4's on turn 3! My opponent, having just thrown away two mimics by mistake, concedes and writes "Dude, I thought you were supposed to make infinite mana with that deck! That's not infinite mana! What it is, is more busted than what my deck does!"

I'm sharing this not because this is a normal thing, but because it is so abnormal yet so hilariously powerful. Draws like this can only ever happen against Eldrazi Aggro because I don't board Painter's Servant in against any other deck (I don't even run it sideboard anymore thanks to dredge), but dang is that combo fun! I played against an eldrazi deck that swung for 18 on turn 3 with 3 6/5's, and I already had such a powerful board that I just freebie'd him into conceding! It may not be the most powerful nor the most busted deck out there, but dang do I love this deck!

I'll keep you guys posted if any other interesting games go on.

Suggestions

Updates Add

Theorycraft discussions — May 16, 2016
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The purpose of this update is just to reset comments. A lot of theory crafting went on, including brainstorming a new grand thopter sword archetype which turned out not to work at all.
The comments make for a good read if you are bored, but do little to explain this deck and therefore are predominantly clutter.

Oh that's odd... It won't let me reset discussions on mobile. Ok, know that I'm getting to it then.

Discussion reset.

More Mana Tweaking — Feb. 24, 2016
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Golgari Charm and Mana Tweaking — Feb. 16, 2016
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A TappedOut Inspired Change — Feb. 8, 2016
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SCG Regional San Diego — Feb. 7, 2016
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Revision 13 See all

(5 years ago)

Top Ranked
  • Achieved #12 position overall 8 years ago
Date added 9 years
Last updated 5 years
Key combos
Legality

This deck is Modern legal.
Rarity (main - side)

13 - 1 Mythic Rares

21 - 12 Rares

3 - 2 Uncommons

18 - 0 Commons
Cards 60
Avg. CMC 1.82
Tokens Thopter 1/1 C
Folders Cool Decks, Rogue Decks, Cool modern decks, Inspirational Decks, Karate, artifact decks, Dr. Modernlove, or How I Learned to Stop Netdecking and Love the Brew, Modern Decks, Build this, Yay
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The Minefield: A Modern Artifact Recycler (T3 Win) thumbnail
The Minefield: A Modern Artifact Recycler (T3 Win)
DuTogira MDN
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