The forgemaster toolbox

[the42up]

Lately, I have been tinkering with the forgemaster in various MUD shells. Aside from the sheer annoyance of null rod, I have been pleasantly surprised with the outcomes.

Here are a few of my thoughts-
First of all, the sideboard can become fairly dynamic with the inclusion of such shenanigans as darksteel forge, ratchet bombs, duplicants, jester's cap, etc.


The combination of 3-4 forgemasters and associated toolbox can be run in most any workshop shell. In testing, its done well in both an aggro set up as well as a more prison set up.


Its still a 3/5 body which is no slouch when it comes out on turn 2-3. That being said, i have had the most success with the forgemaster in metalworker shells though i have yet to do extensive (aside from a casual game night with friends) of testing it within the welder shell, but obviously, things can get pretty crazy with a forgemaster, welder and something like a myr battlesphere.


My current generic toolbox has been something of-
memory jar
darksteel colossus/sundering titan
triskelion/karn
platinum emperium/angel
staff of domination

naturally things can be switched around a bit.


One important aspect, though, seems to be the mana base. It seems almost imperative in testing to have 4 factories and I personally have been toying with putting in 2 darksteel citadels as well. In quite a few games, i was able to sac a mox, factory and spent tangle wire for an answer.



And on a personal note, I like that its a bit more enjoyable to play shops with increased decision making due to a having a toolbox.

[madmanmike25]

First off, it would help if you had a list so we can see what we have to work with.  Not all Forgemaster decks should run the same set of bombs.  For example in my list (in the MUD thread) I don't run Staff as I had no Metalworkers to combo out with.  My list was more standard and works well even if you don't see Kuldotha Forgemaster, which is a bonus in my eyes. 

For reference my toolbox was:
1 Karn
1 Duplicant
1 Platinum Angel
1 Sundering Titan

I don't count any of the other obvious inclusions (such as Trini) since it's already maindeck.  I really liked the combo-oriented lists that try to win asap.  My only problem was that it seems too delicate on the draw.

It seems almost imperative in testing to have 4 factories and I personally have been toying with putting in 2 darksteel citadels as well. In quite a few games, i was able to sac a mox, factory and spent tangle wire for an answer.

Really?  I never found myself needing more artifacts.  Technically all you need is TWO other artifacts.  One Forgemaster activation should really swing the game in your favor in most situations.  So far the best card to Tinker out for me has been Sundering Titan.  One copy of Darksteel Forge in the sb seems nice too.

Another interesting point I'm finding out is that it is very tricky in Metalworker builds to find a good balance between going for the win and necessary lock pieces.  Many games I have had Metalworker in play and gotten Staff out, but have been forced to constantly lay lock pieces to prevent the opponent from winning.  It wasn't always easy to have 3 artifacts in hand.

I'm curious if anyone has a list with Precursor Golem and Forgemaster that they would like to share.  If you don't have Lodestone out I really don't see a problem.  The potential to do 18 damage in two swings seems like a really solid backup plan, or even a good Plan A.  If an opponent wants to Claim what essentially is one permanent and give me 12 life, I'm ok with that trade.  I'll be testing my own list shortly.

[the42up]

Im playing a fairly aggro mud build with the forgemaster toolbox as a set of answers, something on the line of-

4 lodestone golem
3 hellkites
4 metal workers
4 forgemasters

1 staff of domination
1 memory jar
1 sundering titan
1 karn

4 sphere of resistance
4 thorns
4 tangles
4 chalice

5 moxen
1 mana crypt
1 sol ring
1 mana vault

4 workshops
3 factories
4 wasteland
1 city of traitors
1 stripmine
4 ancient tomb
1 tolarian academy


Thats off the top of my head. Could be a bit different.


As for precursor, I have a playset of foil golems that i preordered but have been too bummed out to play them since reading the FAQ. I might have to play with them a bit more.


I mean, i could always ditch the whole forgemaster approach, toss in the golems and swords of fire/ice and go to town with aggro mud full on.

[L_O_L]

It seems like the42up's list could really benefit from 1 or 2 copies of Thousand-Year Elixir :

Thousand-Year Elixir
[Artifact]
You may play the activated abilities of creatures you control as though those creatures had haste.
1, : Untap target creature.

This is obviously nuts with Metalworker but also allows you to activate Forgemaster the turn it comes into play. Just a thought.

[Kotch]

It seems like the42up's list could really benefit from 1 or 2 copies of Thousand-Year Elixir :

Thousand-Year Elixir
[Artifact]
You may play the activated abilities of creatures you control as though those creatures had haste.
1, : Untap target creature.

This is obviously nuts with Metalworker but also allows you to activate Forgemaster the turn it comes into play. Just a thought.

I would prefer Lightning Greaves over this card, which is a lot better with your other creatures (Golem and Hellkite especially).

[the42up]

and i am back from my weekend of getting stomped in legacy with my merfolk deck (I LOST TO A VAMPIRE DECK!!!!!). Roughest tourney in some time for me...and draft didnt go much better.

I did get to do quite a bit of testing this weekend with friends.

Some observations-
darksteel forge is such a hosing card. It comes out of left field and then my opponents deck all of a sudden has a ton of dead weight.

My forgemaster activations usually depend on one thing- do i have metal worker out or do i not?  If i do, I go for the nuts with either a staff of domination or memory jar (memory jar has yet to fail me...it usually means win if it lands). Without a welder, i pull out a huge robot fatty and go to town.

In one case, a friend pulled out his new berserk-infect-jank.dec. A slow hand and i was at 9 poison, the forgemaster came through to save me from humiliation with a timely tanglewire.  Thank goodness, i had been humiliated enough for one saturday .

Does not feel as consistent as my smokestack MUD deck i normally play, but it is FAR more interactive.


Ill give some more thoughts post pizza.