New User/Artifact Deck

[Jdub]

Hey Everyone,

  I'm new here, and I'd like to share a list with you. It's a highlander mono-blue artifact deck that I've been adding to for about 10 months:

tinker
serum visions
brainstorm
power artifact
upheaval
hurkyl's recall
fabricate
copy artifact
reconstruction
stroke of genius
thoughtcast
mystical tutor

mana vault
mana crypt
grim monolith
voltaic key
metalworker
sol ring
lotus petal

masticore
sundering titan
darksteel colossus
triskelion
vedalken archmage
memnarch
myr incubator

nev. disk
oblivion stone
chaos orb

darksteel forge
mindslaver
staff of domination
black vise
memory jar
rocket launcher (goblin cannon)
tangle wire
urza's blueprints
planar portal
tormod's crypt
feldon's cane

ancient tomb
city of traitors
crystal vein
seat of the synod
darksteel citadel
stalking stones
tolarian academy
14 island

...the deck can do the infinity thing with power artifact/grim monolith or with metalworker/staff of domination, turn 1 or 2 tinker for colossus, and all kinds of stuff. If anyone here thinks I may have overlooked cards, feel free to let me know. Power-ish priced cards are off-limits for me. Sculpting Steel was recommended by a friend of mine, and it seems decent, another copy artifact of sorts...

It's good to be here,
Jdub

[Ephraim]

Is this deck really just one copy of each of the listed cards? Does that offer you any sort of consistency at all. Also, you've indicated a handful of the things it can do -- clearly there are more cards in the deck than the ones you mentioned. If those infinite combos are your primary goal, why aren't you focusing more on them? How much do you rely on getting a Tinker in your hand?

I'd ask more directed questions, but you've ignored one of the forum's basic rules -- offer plenty of commentary with your deck lists. You ought to devote at least as many lines of text to explanation as you did to the decklist. Without that information, it's difficult for anybody else to comment on your list, critique your theory, or understand the goals of the deck. It's well and good to say that all of those things are apparent from a careful study of the list, itself, but it isn't our job to invest that effort; it's yours.

[Silverdragon]

1. He said it's a highlander deck which means he is not allowed to play more than one copy of each card (exept basic lands).
2. I want to ask a question too: Do you really play with Chaos Orb?
3. What about Acquire from 5th Dawn? You can search your opponent's deck for artifacts and bring them into play.
4. I think you could need more draw power (perhaps thirst for knowledge, rush of knowledge or even treasure trove)
5. A little more graveyard recursion would be great (why not try to splash red or white for goblin welder or argivian archeologist? A friend of mine works with pemmin's aura on goblin welder )
6. When looking at your list I guess your group doesn't play counters but nonetheless you need to protect yourself and your combos so another suggestion would be to play something like leonin abunas or fountain watch (at least they can come into play faster than darksteel forge)

I hope that this will help you a bit.

[Jdub]

Is this deck really just one copy of each of the listed cards?
-yep.


Does that offer you any sort of consistency at all.
-As you could imagine, no, but that is part of challenge.


If those infinite combos are your primary goal, why aren't you focusing more on them?
-Because they are just a facet of the deck. They were mentioned in case other users weren't hip to them.


How much do you rely on getting a Tinker in your hand?
-I am not reliant on seeing Tinker in my opening draw. Mana acceleration or a good defensive opening hand are good starting points too.

[Jdub]

2. I want to ask a question too: Do you really play with Chaos Orb?

-Sure. I have a Collector's Edition orb. If i think my opponent is going to have a problem with it, I wont use it. Simple enough...


3. What about Acquire from 5th Dawn? You can search your opponent's deck for artifacts and bring them into play.

-That seems like it would be really decent in casual circles right now since so many people are trying out all the fun mirrodin block artifacts. I like this suggestion.


4. I think you could need more draw power (perhaps thirst for knowledge, rush of knowledge or even treasure trove)

-I used to play rush of knowledge a few months ago, and it got the axe. More card drawing could help against counterspell-oriented decks, since more threats are obv. necessary.


5. A little more graveyard recursion would be great (why not try to splash red or white for goblin welder or argivian archeologist? A friend of mine works with pemmin's aura on goblin welder )

-I purposely stayed away from other colors. Yeah, welder is pretty sick, and I could have gone to black's tutors for more consistency, but I decided to limit myself to one color for "creativity"?


6. When looking at your list I guess your group doesn't play counters but nonetheless you need to protect yourself and your combos so another suggestion would be to play something like leonin abunas or fountain watch (at least they can come into play faster than darksteel forge)

-Well, against countermagic, you have to play careful. There are quite a few spells that if they resolve, they are a headache for whoever is across the table from you. Without some kind of continuous card-advantage engine, you can find yourself out of steam. They can't counter everything, right?


I hope that this will help you a bit.
-Absolutely. Thanks for taking the time to post.