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7 months ago ::
Nov 13, 2012 - 8:45PM
#1
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Hello fellow MTG players, I just started playing MTG a week ago after watching countless people I know play the game. Therefore, I am about as new as you can possibly get in the world of MTG. I have, however, have played a few years worth of Yu-Gi-Oh and thus have a kind of minute inclination of how card games work. A few hours ago, my friend and I put together a deck that I thought would be fun to play with and was fairly unique. I would like you guys and gals to see what you could do to improve it. I'm not looking to win any tournaments with it, but I would like it to be good. I honestly can't tell you specifically what my main purpose is, but I have a few combos that made me chuckle when I came across them. I really like the mana boost, infinite mineslaver, mycosynth w/blightsteel and win-ridiculously-fast-with-tezzeret combos in this deck. If you come up with an idea that would make this deck better, even though it may change the way the deck is shaped, then please tell me. Afterall, I do have the final say in what I put in my deck. I don't have a budget: Money is NOT a problem. I want this deck to stay Vintange legal. Any thoughts and/or constructive criticisms would be much appreciated! Here it is: Land and mana producing artifacts: (21)2x Cloudpost  2x Glimmerpost  4x Dimir signet  1x Sol ring  4x Seat of the synod  4x Vault of whispers  1x Tolarian academy  1x Academy ruins  1x Mox Sapphire  1x Mox Jet  Creatures: (18)3x Broodstar  3x Memnite  2x Mycosynth golem  1x Steel hellkite  3x Rusted relic  4x Master Transmuter  1x Blightsteel colossus  1x Wurmcoil Engine  Sorcery, Instants Etc: (21)3x Tezzeret the seeker  3x Mindslaver  4x Expedition map  4x Go for the throat  1x Thoughtcast  1x Time Walk  4x Mana Drain  1x Rush of Knowledge 
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7 months ago ::
Nov 13, 2012 - 9:23PM
#2
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Well if money really is no issue then theres no reaosn to not include the 1 Black Lotus  . Also Sundering Titan  would be icing on the cake but if its going to be Vintage then lands arent even really that big a deal anyway though.
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7 months ago ::
Nov 14, 2012 - 7:05AM
#3
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I remember hearing about Black Lotus a little while ago. It certainly looks like a card that I'd like to use in my deck (as well as anyone, I'm sure). As for the Sundering Titan , it looks intriguing, but I seem to have the most problems with not having enough defenses in the first turns and not having enough blue. Thanks for those suggestions though!  This thread has 30 views and 1 reply? Is this normal? Am I not providing adequate information? If no to the previous two questions: Could someone ask me what they'd like to know before providing any tips? I'm getting the feeling that either, A.) My deck is already almost maxed-out on its potential (likely?) or B.) I'm not doing a good enough job of conveying neccessary information. ¯\(°_o)/¯
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7 months ago ::
Nov 14, 2012 - 7:23AM
#4
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Date Joined:
Oct 28, 2012
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This thread has 30 views and 1 reply? Is this normal?
Yes it is.
But then if you factor in you're running several cards that at the cheapest are $500 than a lot of us probably don't have the expirience building with that kind of money. The casual forums are, on average, less likely to have $500 decks let alone single cards. The Vintage or Legacy forums might be able to help you out more.
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7 months ago ::
Nov 14, 2012 - 7:24AM
#5
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The whole "money is not a problem" thing is probably throwing people off. You've got some serious power cards in there (as in Power 9), which most people don't view as casual fodder.
Your best bet would be to head on down to the Vintage forum and see what help you can get there.
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7 months ago ::
Nov 14, 2012 - 12:44PM
#6
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I like Ethersworn Canonist  and Scourglass  , even if you arent running white. Then there is Time Sieve  if you have the artifacts to sacrifice ( Nuisance Engine  ).
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7 months ago ::
Nov 15, 2012 - 5:50AM
#7
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Date Joined:
Sep 16, 2010
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Can you give an idea of what types of decks you're playing against? Vintage contains some extremely powerful decks, which to be honest, this deck has no business competing against. This is not just a crack on your deck specifically, but all transmuter decks would be trounced by the better vintage decks. Ok, you've got a few things going on here. First, there is an affinity theme. Straight up affinity decks are among the most powerful in the game and tend to use cranial plating  combined with artifact lands and cheap or even free artifacts. Some also use master of etherium  and most all use steel overseer  . Affinity is an all-in aggro strategy -- and a very good one. If you go this route, you'll want to get rid of virtually all high-cost spells and control spells (you might still use ethersworn canonist  or atleast side-board it). And most affinity decks use as little as 18 or even 16 lands. You've also got some artifact-control type stuff in here. Ethersworn Canonist is virtually auto-include here. Again, depending on power level, lodestone golem  can shut a lot of other decks down -- especially in multiples. Master Transmuter can go in a deck like this, but here's the deal: There has never been a solid transmuter deck in any format. I love the card. Jacob Van Lunen loves the card (infact, if you're set on including her, search for his "heartless transmuter" or "thousand-year transmutation" decks). The art is fantastic. But, it's really slow and a lot of other cards do similar things better. In Vintage, in particular, most people use goblin welder  for a similar effect. In budget-casual, Esperzoa  works as a completely viable bounce engine with a bigger body. Also, when I see mox's, time walk, and mana drain in a deck with rusted relic  , I'm a little confused. So, let us know what you're up against, what type of deck you'd like to build (seems like you want a combo deck?), and what the most fun cards are that you would want to build around. Also, let us know what cards you absoloutely will not let go of. That would go a long way towards getting quality suggestions. Welcome to the forums!
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7 months ago ::
Nov 15, 2012 - 7:29AM
#8
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Those are some great suggestions! To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what I want from this deck specifically. Yes, I tend to like my combos, but I've been wondering if my deck is trying to do too many things at once? According to game experience, I tend to run a little low on blue mana. This makes sense to me, because I seem to have my deck almost built entirely around Tolarian Academy  . I was thinking about throwing more basic blue land cards in to increase the chance of getting blue. I also am very weak in the beginning of the game due to my high cmc creatures and mana ramping. If I don't draw a couple different cards in my starting hand, I have to work on ramping my mana up over many turns. Once I start getting enough mana, I'm able to play almost all of my cards, but since my mana exponentiates and I have such high cmc cards, I have to spend 3-4 turns to start getting "on the board." This usually sets me back far enough to lose 50% of the time. I don't really care what stays in. I know I want an artifact deck. I know I want affinity. Besides that, I'm up for whatever strikes my interest. As for decks I'm commonly up against, they seem to be; exalted, red-burn, goblin duplicating or some other deck that's barely even playable. Alzabo, could you tell me what the mox's, time walk and mana drain are used in, or exactly why you're confused? I just thought those cards combo well in a deck. I KNOW my deck is not the greatest Vintage deck. Especially since I made 40% of it and my decently card knowledgeable friend put the other 60% together. Maybe it's because I just started playing Magic that I'll look at a combo that one deck is supposed to be COMPLETELY BUILT AROUND and then shove that into my deck, because it's soooo cool and makes me giggle. Therefore, I'll run into many combos and just shove them in to just attempt to have it played successfully. I think doing this is a good learning experience for me with how the Magic card chemistry works in decks, but isn't doing my deck any favors. So anyway, I hope this helps. Thank you both for your posts and I'll look into some of those things on my break.
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7 months ago ::
Nov 15, 2012 - 5:05PM
#9
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Date Joined:
Sep 16, 2010
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Alzabo, could you tell me what the mox's, time walk and mana drain are used in, or exactly why you're confused? I just thought those cards combo well in a deck.
Those are some of the best cards in the game; whereas, rusted relic is kind of meh. It's sort of crazy to think of someone mana draining a dude's spell and then casting a rusted relic from the drained mana.
Usually, "Affinity" refers to the aggro-artifact deck. Key cards include thoughtcast  , steel overseer , cranial plating , blinkmoth nexus  , inkmoth nexus  , artifact lands, mox-anything, sometimes memnite  and ornithopter  . If you just want to include some cards with the affinity ability, thoughtcast is probably the most desirable.
As for ramping, aether vial  is really good (EDIT: ok, this isn't really ramp, but it does let you flood the battlefield with a bunch of stuff). A bit less competitive, but no less fun are grand architect  (best friends with trinket mage  and treasure mage  ), and blinkmoth urn  . thran dynamo  , mana vault  , and basalt monolith  all really excell when combined with voltaic key  .
I would say, rather than including multiples of expesnsive things, like mindslaver  , just include one and then go get it with fabricate  or treasure mage . If you like artifact creatures, sphinx summoner  can grab the fatties.
Artifacts also lend themselves very well to a "reanimator" strategy. The afformentioned goblin welder is probably the best engine. trash for treasure  is also good. Argivian restoration  works in blue. Sharuum the hegemon  can also grab stuff from the yard.
One last tip. Card draw is important. Thirst for Knowledge  is a great option that lends itself well to artifacts in general, and can help fuel the graveyard if you like to play reanimator.
EDIT: Really great 1-drop artifacts: sensei's divining top  , expedition map  (helps find the academy or ruins), basilisk collar  , brittle effigy  , skullclamp  (lets you turn tokens into cards), springleaf drum  .
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7 months ago ::
Nov 17, 2012 - 3:26AM
#10
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Date Joined:
Nov 17, 2012
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This deck isn't half bad. A good red deck would demolish it though. (no pun intended) I might say take out one of your Mana Drains and add another Mycosynth Golem. Not half bad. I look forward to your next deck post Nighthawk.  You are Red/Blue! Take The Magic Dual Colour Test - Beta today!Created with Rum and Monkey's Personality Test Generator.You are both rational and emotional. You value creation and discovery, and feel strongly about what I create. At best, you're innovative and intuitive. At worst, you're scattered and unpredictable.
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