Cool deck even though Energy is dead now ;). Mainboard, as you said, looks good. Is there a payoff for the Vault of Catlacan Mana or just being able to activate Animation Module a bunch? Perhaps Nezahal, Primal Tide as a payoff to bring in against control because it's big and looks fun :). I think Maverick Thopterist could be a consideration for the sideboard or even the main. Not sure about Metallic Mimic in the sideboard. You'll already he generating plenty of counters with your combo pieces unless you wanted to go really tall and wide I suppose but not sure what that buys you. I'd consider a boardwipe for any potential unblockable/big Mana trample decks that might pop up in the new standard. This deck looks great at clogging up the ground, air and sea unless the opponent is running one of the aforementioned strategies. I've always loved the modules and all the synergies, and who doesn't love a good infinite combo!? Best of luck and happy brewing!

Maybe Era of Innovation

Cragon18,
Thanks so much! I really appreciate your inputs; you've given me a TON of things to think on and test! Here are some initial thoughts:

• In testing so far, there's almost always been something useful to do with Vault of Catlacan. Extra +1/+1 Counters and Servos from Animation Module for sure, but also huge Walking Ballistas, tutoring with Inventors' Fair, or block-then-bouncing Glint-Nest Crane or Whirler Virtuoso.
• Nezahal, Primal Tide is an intriguing option ... though The Locust God might be better in that kind of role. I'll have to check them out.
• Maverick Thopterist is worth looking at for sure ... not sure why I hadn't thought of him earlier!
• Yeah, I'm not sure about Metallic Mimic either. The card is pretty much terrible on its own, but it's just sooooo good with Animation Module (choosing Servo), Whirler Virtuoso (choosing Thopter), and especially Walking Ballista (since we can then tutor for it Whir of Invention after choosing Construct).
• The board definitely feels a little weird without some sweepers ... but so far, the deck hasn't really needed them (I found they often hurt me worse than my opp, plus it can just chump-block so effectively). But yeah, since we will almost certainly see more "can't be blocked", Trample, and Lifegain now, I probably need to just plan on it ...

Thanks again!

Marcs7,
Oh, Era of Innovation is really interesting. I'll check it out; thanks much!

Hey friend. Love this list. I'm thinking you could perhaps cut 1-2 copies of the Modules if you've got 4x Whir...maybe you've found that the stacking of the effects are worth it, but that might be a way to clear a slot or two if needed. As for the sideboard...I'm all about counterspells, personally. Spell Pierce would save your team from sweepers, spot removal, or even stop a planeswalker played on-curve, for example. I'd suggest testing it over some copies of Negate.

But that's about all I've got for now, since this is a sweet brew! I'll keep thinking on it, though. Good luck!

landofMordor,
Thanks much; I'm really loving it too :-)

That's a really good thought on trimming some Modules ... I was actually thinking about trimming a Whir (since we don't particularly want one in an opening hand), but it might make more sense to go the other way. And while Decoction Module and Fabrication Module stack very nicely, extra Animation Modules aren't really that great. I'll definitely play around with the mix!

I love Spell Pierce in general, but in this deck I've found Metallic Rebuke is almost always better. I keep going back-and-forth on conditional counters vs. hard counters though ... not sure yet where I'm going to come down on that!

Thank you again!

Great stuff! Take a look at https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/the-inspectors-schedule-izzet-artifacts-1/, made that in a very similar vein I think, you can see how good the Thopterist is there.

Ah! I hadn't noticed the Rebuke since it was in your maybeboard. Also didn't remember it because I've been brewing non-treasure Pirates, where Lookout's Dispersal is king. My bad, haha. It's been my experience that cheap counters, even though they are usually conditional, have more blowout potential. So I tend to go for that high-ceiling low-floor, when my deck is solid enough that it could win without counters, as yours seems to be. So one blowout puts you over the top of a close game, whereas a hard counter does that less often.

Cragon18,
I just wanted to say thanks for bring the first to recommend Maverick Thopterist. It's really good in the deck.

Corrosive_Cat,
Similarly, thanks for pointing me towards Reckless Fireweaver ... I hadn't thought about running until I saw it in your Artifacts deck.

No worries dude! Yeah it's great; looking good

It's taking me a while to playtest this deck, as there are so many micro interactions for me to get my head around.

Argy,
No worries at all! And yeah, it's kind of insane. Speaking of which, slow play may actually be my biggest challenge with the deck ... every time I think I've got finally got the optimal line figured out, I'm like, "Or maybe I should bounce this dude EOT ... or this guy during the turn and then recast ... or hold up mana for another counter in case my opp doesn't see it and attacks ... or ..." :-)

Looks like it's going very well.

Argy,
Well, I'm going to reserve judgement until I see how it does in actual tournament play ... but no matter what, I'm having a ton of fun with it!

At the end of the day I think that's the main thing.

I would rather win only a few games with a deck that I love, rather than a tonne of games with a deck that I hate.

Argy,
Amen to that!

I approve of this description, by the way.

I wish more deck builders on this site would take the time to explain how everything works.

Would make playtesting so much easier.

You considered how insane Panharmonicon is? Triggers Decoction Module twice, letting you go infinite a little more often, triggers all energy generation from creatures twice, creates four thopters with Maverick Thopterist, which in turn each deal twice as much with Reckless Fireweaver. If you have two Reckless Fireweavers and play a Panharmonicon and Maverick Thopterist, you deal 20 damage; you can pull this off real easily much of the time. Glint-Nest Crane also finds stuff a lot more reliably.

Also Quicksmith Rebel is fantastic removal, especially combined with Panharmonicon, and even gets played in vintage I think. Turns your modules into little Shock machines.

Corrosive_Cat,
I had actually tested Panharmonicon early in the process ... at the time, I found it to be WAY too high-variance for my playstyle. Seemed like it was either completely broken (with Decoction Module and Whirler Virtuoso) or completely useless (with the other Modules), with no in-between. I'll give it a hard relook though, because I tested it before I had Reckless Fireweaver or Maverick Thopterist in the deck. If not in this deck though, I could see it being really good in a deck that's more focused on the go-infinite wincon ... maybe with some Whir of Invention and Saheeli Rai.

Idk if Quicksmith Rebel is played in Vintage, but I've seen it in Big Red in Legacy, allowing the deck to get even more value from their Chalice of the Void, Ensnaring Bridge, Chrome Mox, etc. Here though, I'm not sure ... seems like LOT for a (potentially) repeatable Shock. I'm sure it's nice in super-grindy games, though, so I'll keep it in mind.

As always, thanks tons for your thoughtful suggestions!

No worries! Yeah I get your points, makes sense; four mana is quite a lot for a deck that often seems to want to be doing quite a variety of things in a turn.

One interesting card I've been looking at is Tilonalli's Summoner. Sounds a bit of a strange suggestion, but it could generate a crazy amount of energy with the Decoction Module. As you say, your deck either goes wide or tall; this could do both. Might be seen as a bit of stretch but I run quite a similar deck, in Izzet, and I've been looking at Makeshift Munitions and Indomitable Creativity as pretty crazy combo pieces with thopters, and the elementals essentially serve the same purpose. Again, probably a stretch but it's a really interesting card!

Makeshift Munitions would definitely be CRAZY in this deck! I've always wanted to play the card, but could never seem to find the right path to make it playable. Now, you can literally finish them off by sacrificing your creatures in response to deadly blocks and your modules to ping them to death!

Tilonalli's Summoner is an interesting card. It creates a crud ton of tokens that probably will stay on the battlefield through Ascend. The real problem is keeping it alive for more than a turn.

I love homebrews and non-netdeck strategies, so keep it up!

Corrosive_Cat and Snivy__,
Thanks so much!

Makeshift Munitions could be hilarious. I'm not sure if the deck has enough mana to really make worthwhile, but it's definitely worth a try.

Tilonalli's Summoner is intriguing, but I don't think it would be a great fit in the current deck. That's partly because the deck is more about chump-blocking (until it can build up enough Modules and mana to combo off) while Summoner is all about attacking. But mostly because the deck doesn't have nearly enough mana to make the Summoner totally useful. Maybe in a more Aggro version though, especially one with Storm the Vault  ^Flip → Vault of Catlacan ...

Thanks again!

f course you deserve an upvote. It's good, it's consistent . I would suggest Metallic Mimic , but you already considered this card. There is nothing I can say , but good job !! I have all the cards sitting around. I will build it and playtest it for sure !!