I got into Magic last summer and have been experimenting with low(ish) budget decks. I've hit all the colors so far and wanted to take a shot at a colorless artifact deck, so here's what I came up with! This is my 4th deck, and every other deck I've made I tried to bring in around the $50 mark, but this one goes a good bit over. Wall of text incoming!
Chronomaton can add a counter each turn. While a little mana pricey overall, this card is underrated for how well it can scale; he's a 1 drop that can turn into a big problem, and nobody wants to blow a big spell removing a creature you played on turn 1. Additionally, while another creature is swinging under Silent Arbiter's effect, you can safely put a counter on him every turn. Phyrexian Revoker is essentially the creature version of Pithing Needle and is good for buying you time to get the Urza lands and some bigger bodies out. His effect doesn't cancel when he dies, so he can mess up your opponent's game plan early, including shutting down planeswalkers. Etched Champion isn't a huge offensive threat, but it isn't going anywhere once it's on the field and can stall your opponents or clean up small, pesky creatures. Chief of the Foundry is an all around solid card, and awesome target for Prototype Portal, especially when Silent Arbiter is up.
All Is Dust is a fantastic board wipe that can tilt the board hugely in your favor and can be cast from tapping our trio of Urza lands.
Darksteel Juggernaut is this deck's primary threat. 40/60 cards in this deck are artifacts, not including tokens, which gives each instance of this guy a super high ceiling. Darksteel Citadel is essentially a +1/+1 land to him that can be copied with Prototype Portal, also allowing you to place 2 lands per turn. Swiftfoot Boots can be attached to make it extremely resilient, and give it a small power and toughness bonus since it's an artifact. I chose these over Lightning Greaves because of targeting from Rogue's Passage as a fallback in case they do bring out a creature that's bigger. It's very easy to turn this guy into an 8/8 that damage and deathtouch can't stop, and makes him an immediate threat. Loxodon Warhammer lets you run people over, and even if they don't lose any creatures to your swing, you pick up handfuls of life at a time. If you get 2 out with Silent Arbiter, since only 1 can attack each turn, you get to choose which attacks, can move equipment around after (mana permitting), and defend with the untapped one for a constant cycle of indestructible combat matchups. Worth noting that he still dies to -1/-1 counters if your opponent can get enough on him with something like Wither or Tragic Slip. Buried Ruin on the sideboard should bring him back in most cases besides being exiled.
The end-game for this deck is getting out Eldrazi Monument, which shouldn't be too hard with Kuldotha Forgemaster and Inventors' Fair. Myr Turbine essentially turns it into a +1/+1 flying and indestructible buff with no downside for your team. By the time this comes out, the game shouldn't last for more than a couple more turns. This will handle defending against flying creatures your opponent controls, albeit a little bit later in the game than is ideal. If getting a token generator (either Myr Turbine or Prototype Portal) is taking too long, you can just bring it out and swing with your fliers, sacrificing Silent Arbiter along the way if he's out and slowing you down.
Sideboard picks are mostly defensive. Swap in Darksteel Forge for Eldrazi Monument to protect all your artifacts, not just creatures. Steel Hellkite is an awesome flyer you can trade for Darksteel Juggernaut, and you can use your mana advantage to essentially wipe out a section of your opponent's board each turn. It also gives you some flexibility in attacking with a flyer that doesn't have to attack each turn; however, it doesn't potentially hit as hard. Buried Ruin swaps in for Rogue's Passage and/or Tomb of the Spirit Dragon if they're running a lot of removal. alchemists's vial speeds you up and works well with Silent Arbiter's ability. Sidenote: Rogue's Passage and Alchemist's Vial synergize really well with Steel Hellkite's ability, despite being an expensive combo. But hey, that's why we're running Tron, right? Finally, Jester's Cap lets you take chunks out of your opponent's library, and can be used in conjunction with Prototype Portal for more control. It also gives you a heads-up for anything you might want Phyrexian Revoker to take care of. Apostle's Blessing is here for some fast, early artifact protection.
Criticism and advice are always welcome! Thanks for checking out this deck!
