Standard Artifacts have the tools to be competitive
Standard forum
Posted on July 23, 2015, 5:24 a.m. by Johnny5
Has anyone been brainstorming or testing with Artifacts in standard? I saw Hoogland on the stream last weekend with a control version of the artifact deck utilizing Darksteel Citadel and Thopter Spy Network along with Hangarback Walker, that seemed like it could be a competitive build. It placed 7th in it's first tournament, so i'm sure the people who have been wanting to play u/w control will jump on it. My playgroup went in the direct opposite direction and built a mono blue version with a much more aggressive early game. How many more builds do you think we will see revolving around Thopter Spy Network? Does Ornithopter have a place in these builds? Someone should really build the Affinity style deck that uses Day's Undoing to refill. Do you guys have any ideas?
alanwescoat says... #4
Thopter Spy Network is a horrible card. It will not see play in competitive Standard. Day's Undoing is a consideration, but so far, I have never wanted to have that card in my hand. Plus, I already traded off the one I pulled for the pre-release...lol. Ornithopter clearly has a place until it rotates out in October. My favorite opening play is:
Turn 1
Darksteel Citadel
Ornithopter
Springleaf Drum
Bonded Construct or Keeper of the Lens
Turn 2
Island
Ensoul Artifact on Darksteel Citadel
Swing for 6 or 7 damage.
Turn 3
Tomb of the Spirit Dragon
Chief of the Foundry
Swing for 8 or 9 damage.
July 23, 2015 6:35 a.m.
bijschjdbcd says... #5
A 'fixed' Blitterblossom that draws card in blue?
Most definitely not a bad card.
July 23, 2015 7:22 a.m.
alanwescoat says... #6
It is the 4 CMC plus the delayed effect. It does NOT compare with Bitterblossom.
July 23, 2015 7:49 a.m.
alanwescoat says... #7
Still, I will revise my opinion about Thopter Spy Network. Not terrible. Not bad. Not bad for control. Not at all good for aggro. Midrange? ...Hmm... It might get played in limited quantities.
July 23, 2015 8:10 a.m.
magnetcrocodile says... #8
Thopter Spy Network does wonder for my deck. The Thopter produced is a great target for Ensoul Artifact or Shrapnel Blast. Thopter Engineer gives more utility with haste
July 23, 2015 10:27 a.m.
A turn 4 win in standard is pretty beastly, and can really only be matched with RDW. Ensoul artifact is still a thing, and shrapnel blast is great with all the free thopters were getting from everywhere, not just Spy Network. I played Izzet artifacts when RTR was still in standard and it seemed to work well with alot of sideboard options.
Its not ready for my meta, being 70 cards still, but i like cycling through the deck freely with so much drawing.
July 23, 2015 10:28 a.m.
alanwescoat The 3 turn scenario you presented is the aggro side of the deck, and that wins games about half the time by itself when it gets a good draw. The thing that makes Thopter Spy Network or Day's Undoing so good in an artifact deck like the one you described is the ability to play a legitimate late game. Dump your hand? Refill with Day's Undoing before your opponent gets to untap for turn 3. No more gas in your hand? Top deck a Thopter Spy Network and watch the thopters overwhelm even the scariest of opponents. They wrath your board? In response, activate Tomb of the Spirit Dragon and gain enough life to stabilize with thopters again. The early game has been great with artifact decks for as long as Ensoul Artifact has existed, it's the mid to late game we were missing. With the inclusion of these powerful turn 3-4 plays the deck has the tools to be tier 2 AT LEAST!
July 23, 2015 5:10 p.m.
alanwescoat says... #11
Johnny5, yes. I am giving Thopter Spy Network a second look. My current sideboard is terrible for the deck, so including 2x Thopter Spy Network on the sideboard could give it that mid-rangey sweeper-recovery capacity. The thing is, I had a game where I had my opponent down to 8 life and lost all five of my creatures to Languish, but I still had a Ghostfire Blade and topdecked Chief of the Foundry on my next turn, which secured me the win two turns later. that was not exactly luck. The deck plays out like that.
In my build, I am striving to emulate Modern Robots, and it works out pretty well. On that note, while I see that lots of people suggest Day's Undoing, my go-to choice for card draw is Artificer's Epiphany, which I chose to omit from my initial build. I prefer it as an instant. I can play it on my opponent's turn, it does not end my turn, and it does not run the risk of giving my opponent an advantage. I can think of a lot of situations where I would not want to play Day's Undoing but virtually no situations where I would not want to play Artificer's Epiphany.
A lot of Standard cards serve as reasonable substitutes for Standard Robots staples.
Ornithopter, Springleaf Drum, and Darksteel Citadel are already used in Modern Robots.
Bonded Construct replaces Signal Pest.
Chief of the Foundry replaces Master of Etherium.
Ghostfire Blade replaces Cranial Plating.
Artificer's Epiphany replaces Thoughtcast.
Hangarback Walker replaces Arcbound Ravager. I fully expect Hangarback Walker to join the ranks of typical options for Modern Affinity.
There is also a lot to be said about having Pithing Needle on a stick in the form of Phyrexian Revoker.
July 23, 2015 9:37 p.m.
alanwescoat says... #12
OMG! Right after I posted my last comment, I checked that someone had commented on my deck. Bident of Thassa. Wow! Bident of Thassa really works.
July 23, 2015 9:40 p.m.
Jimmy_Chinchila says... #13
Here's my take on it:
Whether or not it's a tier 1 deck, it's certainly fun to play
July 26, 2015 1:36 p.m.
I'm squarely in R/U artifacts for the remainder of this giant 8 set standard season, but the problem im having is whether to go Ramp, Control, Burn, or go wide with lots of robots. A package of Chief Engineer, REnowned Weaponsmith, and generator servants can get Doom engine, Soul of phyrexia, Pilgrim of the Fires, and even Ugin out very quickly but you're hand is almost dead once you get one of these out. Running control with simple thopters and flyers to wittle your enemy down is not my forte, but so many cheap blue counter spells such as neutralizing blast and dissolve make it a viable option. Burning the EFF out of my opponent utilizing Pyromancer's goggles and cheap artifacts to fuel Stoke the flames seems like it could work as well.
Ideally, having a sideboard to shift between 2 or 3 of these play styles would really put this deck above and beyond, but finding that balance for game 1 is tough at the moment.
July 30, 2015 11:45 a.m.
Kalibroxin says... #16
I'm currently using a deck that uses this combo:
Whirler Rogue + Mirror Mockery + Sigil of Valor
This is just one part of the deck tho, and after reading these posts, I decided to put up my deck so others can see it.
GeeksterPlays says... #2
I built a Blue-Artifact-Colourless control recently using some stuff from the Origins pre-release.
It performs well so far, although there are sure to be mant tweaks ahead. It centers around bouncing, tapping down or countering the opponent's creatures while an Ensoul Artifact'd Ornithopter or Darksteel Citadel gets some hits in. Thopter Spy Network is also in there to generate some chump blockers, or a few extra damage hits if needed plus the card advantage can become immense.
Scion of Ugin is also in the deck, as he doesn't get affected by Ugin, the Spirit Dragon's -X ability (being colourless) plus they count as a Dragon for Silumgar's Scorn as well. I like Displacement Wave as the finishers being 5-drop or higher it's quite likely I can bounce the opponent's field and leave what I need still out, and it basically says "Cast for 0UU and get rid of all opponents tokens" which is also handy against some deck types!
Check it out, I appreciate any feedback! Ugin's Thopter Network
July 23, 2015 6:09 a.m.