PlanA.dec - Stacker is still playable

[Gothmog]

I played this deck yesterday in a 68 person tournament in Minneapolis and went 6-1 in the swiss earning the top seed into the top 8 (where I promptly got rolled, but such is life).  

Beaters

4 Juggernaut
4 Su-Chi
3 Frogmite --> these will be Trinispheres in the future
3 Arcbound Ravager
2 Triskelion
1 Sundering Titan

Utility

1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
2 Transmute Artifact
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Memory Jar
4 Goblin Welder
3 Shrapnel Blast

Mana

3 Darksteel Citadel  --> 1 Mana Crypt & 2 Shivan Reefs will be tested here
3 Island
4 Volcanic Island
4 Polluted Delta
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Mishra's Workshop
7 SoLoMoxen

SB

3 REB
3 BEB
2 Hibernation
3 Rack and Ruin
1 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Duplicant
1 Platinum Angel

In retrospect, I made a couple of bad decisions, the primary one being having no answers for combo decks, I don't know what I was thinking building my board that morning, but I obviously wasn't thinking clearly.

The thoughts behind the cards:

The Juggernauts & Su-Chis are selfexplanatory, though Su-Chi is better in my deck than most for reasons that follow...

The Frogmites are there to provide mid-casting cost artifacts to be transmuted, they pulled their weight yesterday, but for now I'm going to test Trinisphere in their place.

Arcbound Ravager isn't completely abusive in this deck like in others, but he is so useful, he's definately worth playing.  People seriously worry when he is played.  He gives you (with Welder) 8 solid turn 1 plays even without a Workshop presuming you have any acceleration in your opening hand, that people at least seriously consider Forcing.  He allows you to sac artifacts to dodge Artifact Mutation and he has the major benefit of making a Triskelion much more dangerous.  Lastly, he allows you to ritual away a Su-Chi for 4 mana on those rare instances you absolutely need the mana burst.

Triskelion is the heart of the beaters.  He wins games you have no business winning and Ravager + Trike is good times.  Twice yesterday after I attacked my opponent was at 13+ life and I sac'd some of my artifacts to Ravager, sac'd the Ravager to the Trike, fired 8+ tokens at my opponents head and then Shrapnel Blast'd for the win.  Of course, this isn't recommended strategy against control, but I won several aggro matches this way.

The utility cards are mostly self explanatory but 2 are worth discussing.

Transmute Artifact is the best card in Type I no one plays.  Its oracle text is:

Transmute Artifact
{U}
Sorcery
As an additional cost to play Transmute Artifact, sacrifice an artifact.
Search your library for an artifact card. If that card's converted mana cost is less than or equal to the sacrificed artifact's converted mana cost, put it into play. If it's greater, you may pay the cost difference. If you do, put it into play. If you don't, put it into its owner's graveyard. Then shuffle your library.

This card's synergy with Affinity guys and Su-Chi is amazing.  If you transmute Su-Chi, you can search for an artifact that costs up to 8 (Sundering Titan) and put it directly into play.  Frogmites come out pretty cheaply in this deck and Transmuting a Frogmite + 1 mana = search for Memory Jar, put it in play.  Another benefit is, if it gets Drained, they only get 2 mana.  At one point I was playing 4 which seemed like too many, and I've settled on 2 for now but 3 may be the right number.  Having 3 Tinkers available also means one of's in the sideboard are useful.  That was my reasoning behind the singleton artifacts in the board.

The mana seems pretty straightforward also.  I was a little starved for red in the face of a heavy Wasteland draw and wouldn't mind figuring out a way to get another red source or two.  Also, I've considered Glimmervoids or other multicolor lands to give me access to Yawg Will.  The Citadels are the obvious candidates for change, but I will say they had their moments of being handy yesterday to sac to Ravagers or be Tinkered away.

For matchup analysis, I haven't tested dozens of matchups versus the various archtypes but my overall impressions are:

I tend to do pretty well against other aggro, even if it has Null Rod.  My guys are just generally bigger.  If they don't get Null Rod in play Triskelion mows down goblins and other weenies.  Against Food Chain, matches seem pretty even, though a well timed Trike or Memory Jar can ruin their day.  Oshawa can be pretty tough is they get a good draw.

Against control decks, you have the tools to beat them, of course it won't always happen.  I had great matches against control players yesterday and I lost to 1 keeper deck and won a couple of other matches.  I have no idea what the percentage is, but you have the tools to compete with control.

Against combo, you have some answers for Dragon (Crypt, BEB), Charbelcher and Draw 7 are brutal though right now.  I hope Trinispheres will make a difference here and some sideboard changes will help.

The only maindeck change I'm going to make based on yesterday's experience is -3 Frogmite, +3 Trinisphere.  The sideboard needs to be reworked also, and I'm open to suggestions or if people have other maindeck ideas or questions as to why I've used certain cards.

[Razvan]

Transmute Artifact is actually not a bad idea. Problem always was, it needed double blue. It might work better in here than it could have in TnT.

How would Myr Enforcers work in this deck? I tried 1-2 in TnT, and it wasn't horrible.

[Dante]

Not having Mana Crypt seems somewhat criminal.

[Gothmog]

My opinion on Enforcers for this deck is, once you get to the point they're actually a good deal (at least 3 artifacts on the board), you're probably winning.

I think if you were willing to devote space for artifacts into the deck, either artifact lands or other artifacts, I could see them, but I didn't want that much Gorilla Shamen vulnerability (its already plenty good against me).

When I tested Enforcers, they seemed like win more cards for me.  I liked Frogmites much more in that slot because despite only being 2/2 versus 4/4 they are useful guys to have around and can be cast relatively easily even from a fairly bad board position.

One issue I ran into is trying to maintain focus on a specific plan for the deck.  There are so many good cards in these colors you could play, its tough to make decisions.  I think in some version of this Enforcer could be good, but I wasn't willing to play artifact lands other than Citadels which I think you would need to do.

[Thug]

Since you made more room for creatures than I ever could find (time's have changed though, and Long.hate isn't neccesairy anymore) do you think Sword of Fire and Ice would be worth playing? Have you tried it?.

Are the frogmites really worth running citadels, which could be changed for colored lands to help you with your mana problems.

As said, no crypt? and no vault either?. This seems like a slower build with better draw than stacker has ever seen. But doesn't it just walk into Drain just like Workshop Slaver?

Transmute artifact sounds pretty cool versus anything without counters, but playing against counters it trades 2 for 1 which is pretty bad. Ever had problems with this?

It's cool that it can act as an entomb-like card if you decide not to play the extra mana, have you ever used this in combination with Welder?

Ever tried incorperating Tangle Wire?, it gets even better when your playing with Ravagers, not to mention the Welders.

I would sure make some room for Pillar/Chalice/Trinisphere or even Null Rod in your sideboard.

Koen

[Gothmog]

Dante:  I don't own a Mana Crypt, but I agree with you it seems tough to argue against is when compared to Darksteel Citadel.  The damage from it could be a factor in this deck, as in real life, it doesn't always win really fast, but you have Shrapnel Blast & Ravager to get rid of it with.  Gorilla Shamen is the only other argument against it, but it doesn't seem to be a compelling case, Mana Crypt should at least be tried.

Thug:  I tried Sword of Fire and Ice, and its great, I love the card, but if I was going to put it in, I found I preferred Lightning Greaves.  If you get the Sword going, its ridiculous, and in fairness, when I tried it I was using only 1 Workshop, not 4 (I own 1, it was a 3 proxy tournament) so maybe with the full set of workshops its better than Greaves, but untargetability and haste is damn good also.  

I addressed the Crypt above, I kind of figure Vault is unneccessary with 4 Workshops and my environment is Gorilla Shamen and especially Wasteland heavy, so I like permanent mana sources.  As for Mana Drain, its a threat, but I try to get stuff that costs 1-2 drained if possible.  Welders, Ravagers, Transmutes, of course you don't want this stuff to get Drained, but you do have a lot of cheap threats.  Many times I've had a Welder Drained and followed with a Juggernaut or Su-Chi.  Of course, in those situations many times I would have rather had the Welder, but you have to be willing to take what your opponent gives you also, especially if you suspect they are sitting on a good Drain outlet.

Re: The Citadels, they were useful, expecially when I needed an artifact to sac in the face of a Gorilla Shamen, but they are definately questionable.  2 Shivan Reefs and a Mana Crypt in place of the 3 Citadels is certainly worth trying.

Re: trading 2 for 1 with Transmute, that has rarely happened to me.  It does occasionally happen to trade 2 for 2 for Force of Will, but generally I have enough cheap threats to use up a lot of countermagic in an effort to force through a transmute if it will be really gamebreaking.  It certainly will happen that you get 2 for 1'd sometimes.  On the other hand, it is a massive effect if you can get it to resolve, and its so inexpensive, its easy to lead with Welder or Ravager for example and that same turn Transmute something.

I haven't used Transmute as an Entomb yet, but it is a cool effect.  My Welders tend to die horrible, horrible deaths as soon as they hit the board it seems, so I don't usually have the luxury of using them that often, but they pave the way for the 4/4s and 5/3s.  

Tangle Wire is great, I did try it and its very possible the best version of this deck has them in.  My theory right now is to pull the Frogmites for Trinispheres in the maindeck and try that.  Tangle Wire would be another option for that slot.  Which do you think would be more useful?  Turn 1 Trinisphere can be game over, but Tangle Wire certainly is great disruption in a beatdown deck like this one.

Some combination of Pillar/Chalice/Null Rod is definately going in the board, and some type of disruption, Trinisphere for now, is going in the maindeck also.

Thanks for the input everyone, its been very useful.

[Bastian]

Transmute artifact and affinity. Very interesting discovery indeed! Perhaps he's on to something?

Try to post with a little more content than this.[/color]

[Bobduh]

Transmute Artifact and Su-Chi shows even more brokenness- 2-mana Triskelions direct from the library, 4-mana Sundering Titans. And I agree with the Tanglewire idea- being able to cheat out of generally unfavourable situations with Workshop/Welder is always a good idea. I made a budget version of Stacker that managed to fit all the Stax goodies as well (quiet, oxymorons are cool). But I also like your approval of piling on Trisks and Titans. Trisks and Titans... T 'n T. Coolie.

Trinisphere and Tanglewire will both really help in this deck- your curve starts at 4, and you only need to untap one piece of fat a turn to hit them anyway. You NEED the disruption- draining a Titan is bad times, and any counter but Force would totally wreck your hand and board when used on Transmute Artifact. So keep them off the UU with Tanglewire 'n such.

I'd remove the Shrapnel Blast's for Tanglewires, and plan on a first-turn Su-Chi, Juggernaut, Trinisphere, or Welder.

[Milton]

So could you describe in detail the brutal and humiliating loss that you suffered to the superior control player in round  4 (or was it 5?).  

That was a great game, man.  Transmute for Titan, only to have me topdeck the Lotus so I could Rack and Ruin the Titan and Sui Chi!  

Anyway, your deck looks good and it played pretty well.  Clearly you are very vulnerable to Rack and Ruin and Swords.  I think Sword of Fire and Ice would be a great card.  The control deck can hit your big threats with Swords to Plowshares or Rack and Ruin, leaving you with smaller dudes.  The Sword of Fire and Ice would be a great addition.

I mostly won with Gorilla Shaman.  In fact, I think you used a Shrapnel Blast on my Shaman.  A Sword of Fire and Ice can help kill the Shaman, provide extra card drawing and help swing the game.

Also, it might not be a bad idea for you to run a couple of Shaman yourself, either manideck or in the side.  This gives you another creature that can't be killed with Rack and Ruin and it makes your Welders even better as you can kill an opponents Mox and use your Welder to switch their powerful artafact with their Mox that's in the yard.

Just some food for thought.  I'm sure you have already considered both.

Great job at the tournament.  See you next month.

[MadManiac21]

The concept of adding shamen and SoFaI sounds like something straight from Fourty 40s. These decks do have a large number of cards in common, and it may be possible to port some from one into the other, or simply combine the two ideas and see what works.

The major difference is your inclusion of more lands that can be nuked by a titan, but they are obviously there to accomodate the UU of transmute artifact, I would consider running less islands and more shivan reefs, personally. Darksteel citadel seems suspect as well; something like ancient tomb would fit better.

Great to hear of your success with this new idea.

[snachos]

As i look at your deck I can see many places where it seems a bit rough around the edges.  Some of the cards that I believe should be replaced are Arcbound Ravager, Frogmite, and Shrapnel Blast.  As you have stated the ravager does not pack quite the same punch in this deck as it does in other decks.  In my eyes, its lack of sheer power and utility make it the first to cut.  Secondly, your reasoning for using frogmites cannot fully justify their presence in the deck.  Their small stature immensely hurts their chances of staying in the deck.  Lastly, it seems as though shrapnal blast is sub-par compared with the uility that Fire/Ice brings.  Granted it deals far more damage but it also costs you two cards.  

In their stead I have added two Masticores, 3 Trinispheres, and three Fire/Ice.  It is not easy to decide what needs to be played and I am not claiming that I am necesarily right but from what you have described I think this can be a change for the better.

Trinispheres add a great disruption element to the deck ofen times holding conrol decks down just far enough for you to slip under their radar.  They are also capable of crippling a combo deck giving you a fighting chance.  I chose three because when I was playing a similar deck with 4 there were just far too many and it ended up clogging my hand since you only need 1 in play at any given time.  

IMO Masticore isn't used enough among artifact aggro decks.  It is an additional beatstick as well as a good regenerator.  Against other aggro decks it can swing control of the board in your favor.  Plus its "drawback" can often be used as an addition discard outlet to fuel welder.

The last card that I added was Fire/Ice.  This card has proven to be a great resource against opposing 1/1 utility creatures, killing welders like nobody's business.  Against control it just cycles itself EOT hopefully bringing your opponent out of mana drain territory.

[Vegeta2711]

So... isn't this just bad 7-10 split?

[Triple_S]

Stacker<Funker<7/10

[Gothmog]

Bastian:  I'm fairly sure I'm onto something pretty decent.  Whether the way I'm going about it is the best way I have no idea.  I built this because it suits my playstyle and is reasonably good.  A more Affinity oriented build would certainly be more broken and possibly better.  Transmuting Myr Enforcers would be lots of fun, but the vulnerabilities of that strategy to very common hate (Gorilla Shamen, Null Rod) made me shy away into something more resilient.  Other people working on this concept will I'm sure come up with other good ideas.

Bobduh:  In the probably 100 games I've played with this deck, I remember hardcasting Titan once.  Its a one of and requires so much mana, the game is likely decided one way or another before Draining it would be a factor.  I would dispute that my curve starts at 4.  Welder and Ravager both very likely come down on turn 1 and Workshop breaks mana curve rules if you draw them.  Trinisphere is definately in, I played some games this afternoon and it was great.  Tangle Wire I'd like to make room for, but that means something has to go.

Milton:  The loss in round 4 was a great match.  That was one of the 2 major play mistakes I made yesterday:  Game 3 of our match, turn 1 Milton had Forced something, Turn 2 he doesn't have 2 blue yet, so I go for the kill and Tinker a Darksteel Citadel or a Mox, it resolves and I search for Sundering Titan, putting him in play and nuking both of our lands.  I have a Su-Chi in hand and not much else, Milton has no land.  His turn he goes land, go.  My turn 3 I peel a Workshop off the top, swing with the Titan, and make my mistake which was casting the Su-Chi.  There wasn't much reason to play it, I should have made him deal with the 7/10 and held everything else in reserve.  Of course I knew he was playing Rack & Ruin and it was possible he was holding one.  Milton's next turn, he peels Black Lotus, plays it and Racks both my threats.  I proceed to never really recover from it.  If I'd have held the Su-Chi, its possible he would have finished the game while Milton was getting setup.  It was a great match though, lots of fun.  I'll try to figure out SoFI.  And I'd love to run Gorilla Shamen, but maindeck is tough to find room; SB is a serious possibility.

Snachos:  Here's my logic on my choices...the Ravagers draw FoW lots of times, and they let me get to absurd burn kills with Triskelion that people don't see coming.  Twice yesterday I burned someone dead that was at 13+ life with a combination of Ravager, Triskelion & 1 Shrapnel Blast.  I don't like Masticore for 1 basic reason, he doesn't kill players.  My Triskelions handle weenie suppression and they can go at the dome.  I could see having 1 Masticore to Transmute into, but I don't think 2 is the right call.  As for Fire/Ice vs Shrapnel Blast, we're looking for different things from that slot.  Many decks get Welders as fast as mine, but I get Triskelion faster than anyone else, all things being equal, because of Transmute Artifact.  So they may get the first Welder, but often mine last the longest.  I want Shrapnel Blast as a finisher not as removal (except for vs Exalted Angel).  It was very valuable yesterday, for what I wanted, but I can see your argument.

Part of the problem I had making this deck was there are lots and lots of cards that would be good.  If you want to play the Affinity guys, obviously you have to play a lot of artifacts, but Transmute requires UU meaning you have to play a lot of blue.  Blue, Red & Black all have plenty of candidates for inclusion in the deck.  Narrowing the focus was very difficult for me and I'm not at all sure what I narrowed to is the best solution, there's lots of room for exploration within the concept.

[jpmeyer]

Stacker<Funker<7/10

And Ravager is probably in there somewhere, too.