The real question is not whether machines think, but whether men do.
Artifacts, artifacts, artifacts. Known for their power, a good Artifact strategy is the bane of casual tables all around the world. And who better to lead them then the OG Artificer, the man with the words Lord and Artifice in his name, Urza? The answer, dear readers, is nobody. But unfortunately, the name Urza harkens to Degenerate Combos, Stax, and turn 3 kills, which is not what we're doing today. While cEDH is an amazing way to play in it's own right, we're playing EDH to cast fatties, so by God, we're going to cast fatties.
The reason you should play this deck over a more traditional Stompy deck, like Goreclaw or card:Animar, Soul of the Elements|Animar is because this one has artifacts! No, but seriously, this deck ramps like no other. Drop a lot of eggs, cast Urza, and boom, next turn you have something like 8-12 mana. On Turn 5. In Mono-Blue.
With all that out of the way, let's dive into the primer!
The Power of Artifice Flows Through My Veins
This deck can be fast. No, you won't be comboing off on Turn 4, but my record for big stuff on the board is a Blightsteel Colossus, Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur, Gilded Lotus, Silver Myr, Unwinding Clock, Urza, Welding Jar, Planar Bridge, Archaeomender, 5 Treasure Tokens, and eleven cards in hand on Turn 5. I did this on Turn 5. This happened on Turn 5. That's 62 mana worth of stuff on Turn 5.
But to reach those lofty heights, we need to ramp out Urza as quickly as possible. Now, while this deck isn't budget, I've eschewed some Urza staples, like Mana Crypt or Grim Monolith. Instead, we're running more traditional ramp cards like Sol Ring and Sapphire Medallion to get Urza out a turn or two early. After that, then we can start to pour out the big bois.
Mucho Mana, Mi Amor
As I was saying earlier, once Urza hits the field, you're going to have a lot of mana. And by a lot I mean ... well, I mean a lot (you know what I mean). Now, there a couple of ways to spend this mana, which I like to divide in to three categories:
Roulette Wheel Ronald:
Spin the Wheel of Fortune, and see what happens next! Pour all of your mana into Urza's activated ability, and reap the rewards! Will you hit the biggest of big bois, like Blightsteel Colossus or Darksteel Forge, or a lowly Riddlesmith, or even worse, an mostly unplayable Island? Who knows? WHEEEEE!
Big Boi Betty:
Pour out the big bois from your hand, and watch as your opponents' faces turn from grins into death masks! Will you take all the turns with Lighthouse Chronologist, bounce all the permanents with Tidespout Tyrant, or simply smash face with Blightsteel Colossus? It's all up to you!
Durdling Danielle:
Cast all the eggs, flood the board with 0-2 mana artifacts and creatures ... and do nothing. Because why not?
If any of these sound like you, you'll love the deck! But if you're still not sure, here are some of the pros and cons:
You'll like This Deck If You:
- Enjoy a non-conventional stompy deck.
- Like to break the color pie.
- Don't want to durdle like 99% of most artifact decks do.
- Don't want to win on Turn 4, but still enjoy playing with power.
- Love shiny metal objects.
You Won't Like This Deck If You:
- Don't enjoy playing mono-colored decks.
- Want to play a more conventional stompy list.
- Want to play more streamlined combos.
- Hate artifacts with the burning passion of 10,000 fiery suns.
Now, Let's go over our combos!
I Quite Enjoy Combos
When I said this wasn't a cEDH-level Urza deck by any means, that doesn't mean we've cut some game-ending combos. Let's go over them:
Tidespout Lines:
What you need: Urza, Tidespout Tyrant, and two 0-mana artifacts.
Executing the Combo: With Tidespout Tyrant and Urza out, cast one of your zero-mana artifacts, bouncing a problematic permanent. Tap the artifact for mana, then cast you second zero-cost artifact, bouncing the first artifact. Tap the second artifact for mana, then cast the first artifact, bouncing the second. Repeat Ad Nauseum. You'll have both infinite mana, and your opponents will have nothing on board. Using the infinite mana, cast everything in your deck, saving card:Thassa's Orcale for last to win the game.
Some Notes on the Combo:
- This also works with a zero-mana artifact and a one-mana artifact.
- With two one-mana artifacts, you just bounce all of your opponent's stuff, which is almost always game-ending. With a two-mana artifact and a one-mana artifact, pay one to bounce a permanent. With two two-mana artifacts, pay two to bounce a permanent, etc.
Architect Lines:
- What You Need: Grand Architect, Pili-Pala.
- Executing the Combo: spend one mana to make Pili-Pala blue. Tap it to add two colorless mana using grand Architect's ability. Use that two mana to untap Pili-Pala, adding one mana to your mana pool. Repeat to get infinite mana, cast your entire library, win with Thassa's Oracle.
How to Run the Deck
You Want to get Urza, Lord High Artificer out quickly, so we're running a bunch of artifact ramp to get him out, like Sapphire Medallion and Arcane Signet. After you get him out, all your ramp is dealt with.
If you have nothing to cast with the plethora of mana you've created, pour it into Urza's activated ability. It's always fun to hit a Nezahal, Primal Tide or Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur for just 5 measly mana. Heartstone and Training Grounds lower that to even more. Having them out at the same time means for two mana, you get a card in your deck for free, which is some of the best value you'll ever see.
The first thing we tutor for is Unwinding Clock. There are almost no exceptions. The reason this card is amazing in this deck is because we get to activate Urza's ability at least once a turn. Once, I got it to activate 11 times per turn, which is 44 times a turn cycle. Needless to say, I won that game.
That's All, Folks!
Hope you enjoyed the deck! Remember to upvote, comment, playtest, and spay and neuter your pets. Thanks for reading, and as always, Happy Tapping!
