I've been running Slice and Dice in a board sans FTKs with much success (fish and FCG.meta). Then again I don't run any Decrees. Starstorm is another card I've been toying with because it's wishable and has the same basic effect but is easier to scale.

It is very mana intensive, but only in the first few turns. Once you get a few things on the board you have room to play. This deck has a very decent mid to late game. I usually end up playing catch-up to fast aggro though.

I have not tried the lotus, but I don't know how it will play out. I think the lotus is only playable in the various workshop decks because of the workshops. Since I'm not running them I doubt it would help since the only way to get them into play would be with welder and if I can weld something in I'd rather it be ravagers or a fatty.



Most of my testing against belcher was with the version running force, which is why I had such favorable results. In light of everyone telling me to use force I'm going to do more testing versus control with and without it.

For quite a while I was running

-1 Gorilla Shaman
-1 Swamp
-1 Mox Jet
-1 Demonic Tutor
-1 Yawgmoth's Will
+1 Seat of the Synod
+4 Force of Will

I've tried other changes as well along the way. The current list was something I started using only a few days before posting the list. I had been switching Force in and out for a while because the original list we started with used no control elements and focused solely on setting up a soft lock. That version runs very smoothly, but I can't play blue without some sort of disruption, and also a possible answer to combo. Cutting Transmuters or Magi was tried but this deck really does want to draw them. I always wanted to see one of them over whetever else I could possibly draw. The only time they got taken out was during sideboarding.





I'll admit that the 3 monkeys does seem excessive. I probably only need 1, but I'd like 2. Like I said above, they are a recent addition. I've gone through alot of testing and I never really settled on the perfect number. Three monkeys was the last number I was testing before posting this list.



A version that a friend of mine is running has completely cut black and all counter magic in exchange for a full complement of moxen and strip/waste effects. The 3 CoB are mostly leftovers from a previous version that ran a 4cc syle sideboard and 3 maindeck Cunning Wish, with StP and disenchant in the board. I was never really happy with that version so it was changed over time. I just kept them around because I needed to have black mana when I drew DT or Will. That's something that I think I'm going to change right now.


I never said the deck was amazing but it has alot going for it, which is why I thought I'd post it. The fact that it can switch between aggro, combo, and control is one of it's strengths. I was hoping to take it to the SCG tournament this weekend to get some real performance data but that doesn't look like its going to happen. My only results have been from about a month of testing.


I didn't include a board because it's been changed so often. At one point I was running the board of 4cc complete with Cunning Wish in the maindeck but I wasn't really happy with that. I've still not settled on a board. That has been altered more than the main deck.

You really only need 2 of the 4 main creatures in the deck for things to start working he way they should.

Transmuter + Magus
Magus + Welder
Welder + Transmuter

You'd like to see Ravager as well but its really not necessary to cast early.

Transmuter doesn't NEED to be on the board. The deck has alot of other things it can do.

And I'm not going to agree with anyone saying for is better here. I've tested this alot. The deck really does need the extra push it gets from a Drain.

Memnarch and Neurok Transmuter make the ability just a little bit better. Just a little bit.
It's useless unless I have a Welder, or oh, I don't know, maybe a Ravager?



The ability to destroy artifacts comes in handy when you have the ability to turn perms into artifacts with Memnarch. Theres a whole lot of synergy regarding the various creatures and their abilities.



You are trying to turn an aggro-prison deck into bad Draw7. Stop.



Magus contributes to the soft-lock that the deck is trying to generate. Force does not. Understand?

Cutting Magus is not an option. Your comments are based on some random idea of how you think the deck will play out. Magus is core to the deck. It simply does not function the way it should without him. If anything is pure madness it's your idea that cutting him for Force is a good idea. If anything should be cut for Force it's both black cards, the lone basic Swamp and a Gorilla Shaman. That is something I have tried in the past and after much discussion I have decided that this deck wants the Black cards over force for the reasons I listed in my initial post.

The amount of Gorillas could be tweaked but 3 is a fair number for a deck that wants to play both aggro and prison depending on the situation. Shaman helps in both of those departments by contributing to a number of combos.

And as far as your suggestion to add Draw 7's goes, I don't think I even want to respond to that because it's quite possibly the stupidest thing I've read all day. But against my better judgement I'll offer one insight...  with no explanation to back up that proposal you lead me to believe that you sir have no idea what you're talking about.

Instead of Faerie Conclave in UG you might want to try Treetop Village. It's got more punch for the same investment. From my testing I like it quite a bit more than the faeries.

Actually no, that's not the case at all. Generally you don't want to see welder on the opposite side of the table but if it does hit Transmuter is often your answer in combination with either your own welder or magus. In previous lists that ran Fire/Ice welder hurts even less.



Its actually a good question, as those are both decks I've been toying with recently. In fact I generally switch between this and both of those several times while playing online. The only thing I can say is that this is fundamentally a different deck. It does different things and as such, can't really be compared to the others. As I said before this was originally intended to be a T1 Ravager deck, but it ended up morphing into something else. I don't really know how it stacks up to either of those decks, but it does play differently and as such can't really be compared to either of them as far as "why would you play this over them?" goes. They aren't really the same decks.

//NAME: Artifact Control.dec
 
// Lands
        4 Volcanic Island
        4 Polluted Delta
        3 City of Brass
        2 Underground Sea
        1 Swamp
        1 Island
 
// Creatures
        4 Magus of the Unseen
        4 Arcbound Ravager
        4 Goblin Welder
        4 Neurok Transmuter
        3 Gorilla Shaman
        1 Pentavus
        1 Platinum Angel
        1 Memnarch
 
// Spells
        4 Mana Drain
        4 Brainstorm
        4 Thirst for Knowledge
        1 Ancestral Recall
        1 Black Lotus
        1 Demonic Tutor
        1 Mox Jet
        1 Mox Ruby
        1 Mox Sapphire
        1 Sol Ring
        1 Time Walk
        1 Yawgmoth's Will
        1 Tinker
        1 Fact or Fiction


This started off as an attempt at T1 Ravager but morphed into something completely different. After some card changes I saw it as a sort of bad aggro deck with a possible control option. In its current state its stuck somewhere between control and aggro, but I'm still not happy with it. I was going to play one of the many incarnations of this deck in the upcoming SCG tournament but now I can't go so I figured I'd post this and get some feedback from the boards.

That's enough rambling. Its easier to talk about this deck if I just go into my card choices. That should begin with my two odd creature choices...

Magus of the Unseen - This was included right from the beginning. I've always loved this guy. In fact I've always had a playset of them in my binder because I knew someday they'd be wonderful. I think that time has come. Everytime he hits the board he is great. In combination with Ravager he's even better. Also he has great synergy with Wedler. Hell, its just a top notch creature in my opinion. In fact I'm often wishing I had him whenever I get into trouble.

Neurok Transmuter - Another odd choice but very utility. Let's Ravager, Memnarch, and Pentavus work under null rod and has great synergy with Welder, Magus, and Memnarch. This guy is glue that holds the deck together.

Now I'll talk about the rest of the deck...

Brainstorm/Thirst For Knowledge - Shamelessly stolen from Control Slaver and abused in this pile for my own needs. It doesn't look as strong here with such a limited supply of artifacts but it works out... sort of. Even in situations where I'm forced to ptch two cards to a resolved TFK I'm still digging, which is always a good thing. This is something that could possibly be changed, though, so I'm open to suggestions here. This was alot stronger when I was running Force of Will, so without adieu..

Force of Will - Where is it? I've tried it off and on with varied degrees of success. I just don't think it's needed. I'd rather have Mana Drain and I don't feel like I have the resources to pitch. I'd rather be casting my blue spells. Mana Drain helps that happen.

Two Black cards? - Originally black was a stronger presence and I ran a full complement of Disciples, but testing showed that they weren't as good as they were on paper. They were the first thing to get cut. I've tried versions that completely cut black but DT just makes for more consistency and YawgWill really does say I win in this deck. The only thing that can be said for cutting black is that it promotes better consistency in the mana base, but I feel its pretty strong as is.

Fire/Ice - I want this so badly. If black does get cut, it would be to make room for these guys. Two at least. I miss them very much. Some of my alternate lists included a pair and I never hated seeing them.

That's about it for card choices and such. Now I want to talk about match-ups. The decks I ended up playing against the most were fish, monobrown, and a little belcher.

Fish - I have bigger beats and I can get them out fairly fast. Conclaves are the biggest problem. Null Rod is a minor issue and I have ways of dealing with it. My strategy is usually to play aggro and make trades in my favor. Once a fatty hits the board my opponent usually scoops.
 
Monobrown - Once Welder or Magus hits it's usually time for the scoop. This deck has too many answers for artifacts. Usually broken plays are made and my opponent cries.

Belcher - When I had Force the match-up was about even. I'm not sure now. I still have answers but Force helped alot. I'll say that any version of this deck that doesn't have Force has an unfavorable match-up with any combo, but thats not always true, especially versus a deck whose winning strategy relies on an artifact. The recent re-inclusion of gorilla shaman helps alot here but more testing would be needed.


Conclusion...
I've been toying with this for about the past month or so and it shows promise, but it is still very much a work in progress. Maybe in the hands of someone more skilled it might actually evolve into something, but right now its just a pet project developed by myself and another gccg user. If nothing else I hope this sparks some conversation. Even if it's just to tell me to stop posting...

Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Criticisms?

LDV is auto-loss versus slaver. Given the popularity of slaver, why would you even consider running it?

I guess I'll be the first one to vouch for wizardscupboard.com. I've dealt with them on numerous occasions. I've never bought power from them but I have purchased a mana drain and several other money cards. Never had a problem and my cards were always shipped next day, and in the condition listed on the site. The best thing about them is that they provide an actual scan of the more expensive cards and have the price adjusted for the condition of each card.

PS - they are easy to deal with and nice to boot. I bought a signed alpha demonic tutor from them but I got an email the next day telling me that it was actually beta. they said if i wanted it anyway they'd knock $5 off the price even though beta cards usually go for more than alpha.

I think I've seen this decklist before. You wouldn't happen to have stairs in your house would you?

I never had a problem with the red mana sources. Apparently it's much more productive to waste a man-land than it is to hit my volcanic island.

In order to deal with dragon I maindecked stifle, which can also deal with quite a few other things. Originally it was only going to be two stifles so I cut a faerie conclave and a fetchland to make room but then I ended up not being able to find a third null rod and had to go with something else. I ended up putting in another stifle just in case. It was useful a few times.

The energy flux was probably a mistake. As for the voidmage. I think he sucks hard. I was looking for something as a replacement and found goblin vandal. In an artifact heavy meta I think he's great. I don't know how I feel about him now. He served his purposes but I think If I had to go back I probably would have put the vandal in the sideboard and maindecked 3 fire/ice and probably another null rod if I'd had it. That would have most likely been the optimal build in this meta.

I'm going to. Actually I was planning on using dragon during the tournament since I had only 1 force of will when I arrived. My dragon deck, meanwhile was complete, except I only had 2 bazaars. Luckily I found a vendor who had a playset of forces. Ready to wince I asked him what he wanted for them. When he said he'd only sell the playset, and he wanted $28 total I nearly shit myself. I picked up 4 forces for $7 each. The extra one, as well as my two bazaars and a few more goodies go up on ebay soon

This is my first tournament report and also my first tourney. I spent about a week building and playtesting decks before I finally picked two to take with me. My final decisions were a green/black homebrew dragon build i've been working on, and gay/r. I could only do so much testing because I had no idea what the field was going to be like, so I took a box with me that contained the cores of both decks plus enough alternate cards and sideboard options to complete them in almost any environment and have a chance.

I get there on saturday morning at around 11 and see that trading and casual play has already started. I talk with a few people, trade away some block stuff for a chrome mox, and end up playing a few games before registration starts. I see lots of power floating around and get a little nervous because I am completely unpowered.

Everyone seems pretty cool so I walk up to one guy near the back of the room and ask if he has anything to trade. His reply, with a disgusted look on his face is, "We can trade after the first round. By the way, my name's Damien. I'm ranked 17th in the state."  I look at him for a minute while he sneers and I reply, "My name's Fritz. I'm not ranked 17th in the state." Then I walk away. I hear him mumble to someone standing near him as I turn, "Oh great, another smartass."

I'm a smartass? Wow. What an asshole. Anyway, I laugh it off and soon after that, regisration starts. We get our first round pairings and the games start.

My deck looks like this...
4 cloud of faeries
4 spiketail hatchlings
4 goblin vandal
4 grim lavamancer
4 force of will
4 daze
3 stifle
4 standstill
4 curiosity
2 null rod
4 islands
2 volcanic island
2 shivan reef
2 polluted delta
1 flooded strand
4 mishra's factory
3 faerie conclave
4 wasteland
1 strip mine

SB:
4 fire and ice
4 red elemental blast
3 rack and ruin
2 misdirection
2 energy flux

I was expecting lots of artifacts so I brought out the hate. Also I would have been happier with a full set of volcanic islands and an extra null rod in place of the extra fetchland. But what can you do?

--

First Round vs Jamie playing R/G

Game 1 - He plays an urza's land. I waste it away. He lays another urza's land. I strip it. I put out some early faeries and beat him down for a few turns while he puts out alot of land. The only threat I ever see is an urza's rage that takes out a faerie. I easily win.

Game 2 - Repeat of game 1, but this time I win faster.

We finished in 15 minutes. I spend the rest of the time walking around exploring the hotel.

Games: 2-0
Matches: 1-0

--

Second Round vs some guy playing Dryad (no offense, I just don't remember your name).

Game 1 - First turn he lays a polluted delta and grabs a volcanic island. I decide to do the same things and walk right into a stifle. I'm an idiot, folks. Second turn he lays an underground sea and i lay a wasteland, taking the volcanic island right with it to the yard. We play land-go for two turns before he attempts to play ancestral recall. I force. He forces. All I have left is daze. He gets 3 cards and resolves a dryad. I drop a faerie conclave and resolve standstill. He breaks my standstill. I draw into force and counter whatever it was he was playing (can't remember, but I know it was something that would cause me pain). I resolve another standstill and he can't come up with anymore answers so we trade off beatdowns and I end up on top.

Game 2 - I've seen alot of power in his deck by now, and I'm kinda intimidated. I know what his deck can do, and that saved me during the first game, but power cards can spell success.

I draw my hand, take a look, and breathe a sigh of relief. I go first, dropping a land and he does the same on his turn. Second turn I drop mishra's factory, cloud of faeries, cloud of faeries, standstill. He has no answers. I am holding no counters. He breaks my standstill with a timewalk, I don't draw into any counters. He gets another turn to find an answer. He comes up with nothing. On my next turn I drop another standstill and he scoops. He then throws his deck (loaded with alpha and beta power) on the floor and swears alot. I decide its best to leave.

Games: 4-0
Matches: 2-0

--

Third Round vs Alan playing R/B

I played Alan a few times before the tournament started and he seemed like a nice guy. This was going to be a very casual affair, compared to the last match. A relief for me.

Game 1 - We start a wasteland/strip mine figth and 2 turns in neither of us has any land on the board. He comes up with a cursed scroll on his third turn and I spend the rest of the game hoping to draw into null rod. I never find it. He wins.

-3 stifle
-2 grim lavamancer
+3 rack and ruin
+2 energy flux

Game 2 - He plays a first turn duress. I have no answer. He grabs standstill and porceeds to stomp all over me with hand disruption and a hypnotic specter. I was unprepared.

Games: 4-2
Matches: 2-1

--

My round 4 opponent drops. I'm credited with a win. I spend this round watching another match and talking to judges. This is the last round of swiss so I'm definitely making top 8, which isn't much of a big deal in a 15 person tournament. Still, I'm happy.

Games: 6-2 (technically)
Matches: 3-1

--

Quarterfinals. I hear the pairings and I hang my head low. I'm going to have to play Mr. Ranked-17th-In-The-State-Damien. I'm not intimidated by him. I just don't want to have to deal with his attitude. Hopefully it won't be unbearable.

Game 1 - He puts out some artifact lands, a few modular creatures, and a skullclamp. I draw into a null rod on the second turn, resolve it on the 3rd. He swears alot and gets a few threats onto the board before I roll over him with manlands and some faeries.

I realize now that he's playing ravager-affinity. It's the best thing in block right now but I don't know how good it is in vintage. I know it can be very fast so I side.

-3 stifle
-2 Grim Lavamancer
+3 rack and ruin
+2 energy flux

Game 2 - His deck does what it does best, dropping an artifact land, a skullclamp, and 2 welding jars on the first turn. My first turn is land-go. He drops another skullclamp, and an artifact land, then thoughtcasts. I have no answers. My next turn I draw nothing helpful and play a land. He goes, drops a bunch of artifacts. This is pretty much the end of the game. I draw land after land and hold no answers for his artifact army, except chump blockers. He rolls over me in the upcoming turns.

Game 3 - I draw my opening hand: 2 null rods and a rack and ruin... and not a land in sight. I frown and mulligan. Draw my next 6 and find to my surprise: rack and ruin, goblin vandal, standstill, standstill, volcanic island, faerie conclave. I play goblin vandal. He plays a glimmervoid and a welding jar. I draw a force of will and play the faerie conclave, then swing and take out the jar with the vandal. He plays an artifact land, an ornithopter and an arcbound worker. In the following 3 or 4 turns I draw into null rod and strip or waste away alot of his lands. He ends up scooping with a comment about hating my "stupid deck." I laugh.

Games: 8-3
Matches: 4-1

--

Semifinals. I meet everyone else in the semis and we shake hands and wish each other good luck. I see that Alan has made it and we start talking for a while. One of the other guys in the quarterfinals is playing fish. We joke about a fish-mirror in the finals until we finally get the pairings. Alan ends up playing another other guy with a fish deck. Maybe fish in the finals at all is asking too much. Alan's deck is quite good against fish, and I end up against the only guy who is undefeated so far.

I don't remember much about this match except that he was playing suicide black, with a focus on land destruction. He had rain of tears in addition to the requisite sinkholes. As well as 2 demonic hordes, which I thought were just funny. Some of his other additions were panoptic mirror and isochron scepter. I never saw either of those because of early null rods/goblin vandals/standstills in both games.

Games: 10-3
Matches: 5-1

--

The final game is against Alan. I'm glad to be facing someone friendly in the final match, as it makes it alot less stressful, but the fact that we've already played and he won, is a little unnerving. Still, I've seen enough of his deck to know what it's capable of, and now I won't make the same sideboarding mistake.

Game 1 - This is easily the best game either of us played all day. It swings back and forth. Each of us had the upper hand at least 3 times. And we were both holding answers constantly. The tide turned, however, when he tried to activate the mishra's factory pump ability under a null rod and standstill (he had already paid to use the factory as a creature and was trying to block then tap to pump). He forgot to take that into account, thus losing his only blocker. I was able to maximize on his mistake and get out another man-land then roll over him. The first game took over 30 minutes and my final life total was 5.

I take a look at my sideboard and finally go with
-3 stifle
-4 goblin vandal
+3 fire/Ice
+2 misdirection
+2 rack and ruin

Game 2 - His first turn is Dark Ritual, Duress, Hymn To Tourach. I drop a land and cast goblin vandal. His second turn he drops another land and two racks. I drop a man-land. His next turn he gets hypnotic specter on the board. I draw, cycle cloud of faeries, get out some early blockers. His next turn he hymns and swings with the specter. I cry. He beats me down for a few turns and apologizes before bolting me to death for a victory one turn earlier than he could have had it. Hand discruption wins again.

Game 3 - Sadly Alan has a poor draw and mulligans, I keep a dream hand. I get out a first turn faerie conclave. Alan plays land-go. I play cloud of faeries and null rod. Alan attempts to bolt my faeries and I misdirect it to his head. He comes up with no answers. I put the hurt on him and we end up playing out the match, even though he knows he's done when I double curiosity a grim lavamancer.

Games: 12-4
Matches: 6-1

--

This was my first vintage tournament, and even though it wasn't very big, it was still fun. The prizes were a cut of the entrance ($3) fee so I went home with $25. They are planning another one in the fall. Hopefully I'll be able to post it in the tournament forum by then. I'd like to see a good turnout next time because the guy who organized the event was really great.

And, as always, every good report thread needs a Props/Slops section at the end...

Props -
Null Rod, You were always there for me when I needed you most, except for that one game, but I forgive you for that.

Shivan Reef, You're not Volcanic Island, but you try to do it's job. And you did not disappoint me. Thanks for being there when I needed you.

Alan, playing against his deck brought back fond memories of ice age block and my friend Mike's old red/black speed deck. He's a great guy.

Slops-
Damien, for being ranked 17th in the state. I don't know what he's ranked 17th in the state for, but it's obviously not vintage. I don't even know if it's magic he was referring to at all now.

$3, for being such a low entrance fee. Higher entrance fee and I would have walked away with more money.