[Deck Discussion] Artifact Creatures, WBU

[serracollector]

So for the last couple weeks I been working on making a "control" based non MUD artifact creature deck.  The deck works slightly like MUD in that in can either drop a bunch of fatty artifact creatures at once, and start swinging fast, or it can sit back with a few control elements til it can get those fatty artifact creatures on board.  Without further ado here is the decklist, and Sideboard with some comments on card choices/idea's:


Draw: 1
1 x Ancestral Recall

Tutors: 4
1 x Demonic Tutor
1 x Vampiric Tutor
1 x Mystical Tutor
1 x Tinker

Toys: 9
4 x Chalice of the Void
1 x Time Walk
1 x Yawgmoth's Will
2 x Hannah's Custody

Creatures: 18
4 x Dark Confidant
4 x Master of the Etherium
4 x Tidehollow Sculler
4 x Esperoza
2 x Triskelion

Mana: 29
10 x SoloMoxen/Petal/Crypt/Vault
4  x Underground sea
4 x Tundra
4 x Mishra's Workshop
2 x Polluted Delta
2 x Flooded Strand
1 x Island
1 x Plains
1 x Swamp

Sideboard: (15)
4 x Null Rod
2 x Swords to Plowshares
4 x Leyline of the Void
3 x Helm of Obedience (alternate kill with Leyline Obv)
2 x Massacre


Choices:

Hannah's Custody - I was playing someone on MWS, and to be honest didn't even know about this card til they dropped it.  Why did I include it?  

1.  Stops Vault Key/Tezz Vault
2.  Stops Metal worker/Staff of Domination
3.  Stops duplicant, trike, and the 1 million and one ways to kill an artifact from killing my artifact creatures.
4. Stops fire/ice being equipped on MUD creatures.

Triskelion - I think this is obv, even at the 6 CC, which can hurt with confidant, this guy is simply too good in the current meta to not be used, not to mention he works as an alternate kill with Esperzoa, if they have some way to stop you from attacking like Ensnaring Bridge or the like.  Bounce, ping, repeat.

Esperzoa - Its fat, it fly's, and it WORKS GREAT with cards like Chalice (bounce and replay for w/e you need), mana vault (free dark ritual every turn), bouncing a deadly mana crypt, or bounce Trike to repeat the pinging.  Also in the side, it can bounce null rod if you need your mana for a turn.

Master of Etherium - Duh?  It can be bigger than a Lodestone on turn 1, not to mention it makes all your esper's out of bolt range.  I know that sounds funny to some, but I have seen a steady increase in bolts in decks since this guy Lodestone golem came out.

Tidehollow Sculler - to be honest I am still 50/50 on this guy.  I prefer him over the Thought seize/Duress route because he Removes the card from the game, this is a huge difference.  Not to mention he get's pumped by Master, and you can bounce and replay him with esper to constantly know whats in your opponents hand, and to always have the most "imminent" threat removed.  But, at the same time he does require 1 white and 1 black, making it sometimes a bit hard to cast.  
 
Tinker - where's the fatty?  Well tinker is here for utility not ftw, even tho it can be.  I mainly use it to get either a trike to clear the board, or a TidehollowSculler to grab something like yawg win after a tutor.  But there have been quite a few times where I grab a master of etherium with one on the board already, and just swing, for ALOT.  It can also grab Chalice, which can then be bounced with Esper to reset next turn etc.  Or to simply grab an esper so you can bounce that mana vault.  Why sac it when you can just use it every turn?

SB:
Null Rod - not main deck because it doesn't really hurt Oath, Fish, and non metalworker MUD, which are my hardest match ups.
Leyline/Helm - Alternate win against Oath and any grave based decks. Or maybe just a surprise tactic for g2.
Massacre for those dang quasali, heriarchs, gaddocks, and selkie's.
Swords - trygon, goyf, trygon, oath targets, trygon, tinker (non inkwell) targets, oh and did I mention trygon predator?


Right now the deck is tough to play with not because it isn't good, but because so many people are packing anti-artifact hate.  But so far the only thing that really hurts is if they do the EOT hurkyl's. There have been many games where they counter that first turn Lodestone/Esper/master, with which I follow up with a Hannah's Custody, and they are sitting with like 3 Ancient Grudge in hand.  Hannah's Custody has been amazing.  Amazing.

Things I would like to fit but don't know how:

In the MAIN:
4 x Lodestone (I've tested with and without, and sometimes just getting that First turn Lodestone + Chalice for 0 is so amazing, also he doesn't affect your other creatures since all except confidant is an artifact creature, but he hurts ancestral, time walk, y will etc etc, just not sure yet)
1 x Brainstorm
1 x Duplicant
2 x Sculpting Steel

In the Side:
3 x Hurkyl's Recall (for MUD)


So anyways, suggestions, comments, random "your a n00b" hate, whatever, thanks.  

[Sobolev]

A large part of how Workshop works is that it has several draws that end the game early even if the game takes many turns.  Multiple Spheres, Trinispheres, Stax, etc.  I'm concerned you don't have enough disruption.

[pierce]

i had something like this built, but once null rod took over abandoned it. I also ran mostly artifact lands.

2 hannahs custody is too much, just one seems fine. in those two slots, I would just play time vault and voltaic key, but I'm greedy.

workshop is bad in your list. you have very few things that it accels into, and most of your spells don't benefit from it. your mana in general is pretty bad though. no tolarian despite this being an artifact deck, too many duals in a time dominated by wastelands, and so on.

4 esperzoa seems like too many at a first glance. intuitively I would run 2 or 3 of them, not four. you never really want two in play at once, right?

don't like trike, and the absence of a legit tinker target.

sensei's diving top seems good in this list, it goes well with bob, master, and esperzoa

I would never play a deck with W in it and not at least one copy of swords to plowshares main.

3 helm post board is too many, one is fine (you run tinker and tutors to find it)


good concept, but needs tuning

[TheBrassMan]

besides Chalice and Triskelion, none of your artifacts can cost 3 colorless or more, making workshop unexciting... have you consider Ancient Tomb or City of Traitors? those will be able to cast your Hannah's Custody's and restricted spells as well

[serracollector]

So with suggestions:

-2 esper
-1 trike
-1 hannah's custody
-4 Workshop

+2 diving top
+1 duplicant?
+1 Inkwell (tinker target)
+4 Ancient Tomb (will test how much the life matters)
 or

+1 diving top
+1 null rod, since I run all the tutors, adding a little more disruption maindeck if needed?

And might be a bad idea, might not, but thinking of maybe running 2-3 of the 2/1 deathtouch flyers for UB.  Not necesarrily as good as duplicant, but they do stop Sphinx, and Oath Creatures (Ionoa, Terstadon, etc).  Just an idea I am tinkering with.

[patat]

Have you thought about running Enlightened Tutor?  I feel like it would hit a ton of cards in your deck, and might be worth testing out. However, I find that even though unrestricted, more than one can be a waste. Possibly Ethersworn Canonist as well? Might be straying away from your deck idea, but it will kill any sort of combo deck.  Either way, it has a pretty nice debuff for your foes without much restriction to you.

But nice find with the custody... I think I may need to start using that.. =P