[RAFFINITY]

[Frankie]

AFFINITY:

This deck archetipe is an emergent type of aggro-combo artifact based deck.
Please note that this is my version of the deck that is directly a result of my testing, I don’t by any means want to elevate this as The Affinity Deck.

Part I. The Prologue to the deck:
A most of you know this deck type first emerged in T2 about 7 months ago.
This deck underwent many changes but when Darksteel came out the japenese trasformed a decent deck into a gamebreaking monstruosity.

The card that made affinity(nicked Raffinty lol)so powerful were some changes that turned the deck from aggro/aggro-control(sarnia affinty) to a combo-aggro deck.
here is a sample decklist :
T2 deck
Ravager Affinity Tobias Henke    
  2004 Grand Prix Brussels
There were 734 players at this event.  Format: Type II - Darksteel    

4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Arcbound Worker
2 Atog
4 Disciple of the Vault
4 Frogmite

4 Chrome Mox
2 Electrostatic Bolt
4 Shrapnel Blast
4 Skullclamp
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Thoughtcast
2 Welding Jar

3 Darksteel Citadel
4 Glimmervoid
4 Great Furnace
4 Seat of the Synod
3 Vault of Whispers

Part II. Building for T1

The cards that made this deck the so powerful were 3: Arcbound Ravager,Disciple of the Vault and Skullclamp.

Now when i first tried in march to transport this deck to T1 I obviously looked to the T2 deck for reference.
so at that time the deck looked something like this:
RAVAGER.dec (circa march ’04)
Mana:25
5 mox
1 black lotus
1 sol ring
1 mana crypt
1 Lotus Petal
1 mana vault
1 tolarian academy
4 Seat of the synod
2 Vault of whispers
4 Glimmervoid
4 Ancient Tomb
Creatures:18
4 Ravager
4 Worker
3 Disciple
4 Frogmite
3 Enforcer
Spells:17
1 Demonic Tuor
1 Ancestral
1 Time walk
3 Genesis chamber
4 Skullclamp
4 Thoughtcast
1 Cunning wish
1 Rushing river
1 TimeTwister

This the deck was rather good but not good enough for me at least and after a decent amount of testing I decided that something wasn't working right for me.
Too many times i'd get stuck with multiple chamber and not enough creatures to take full advantage, I also noted the fact that i was playing too mach for skullclamp and the chamber.
What I mean is that is was concentrating too much on drawing card with the combo than actually playing the deck aggressively.
-Achilles’ heel:
In my mind what I wanted from this deck was a fast aggro deck that could also win in a comboish fashion but i found out very soon that the disciple was too fragile to be relied on especially with all the fire/ices running around.
Another thing i noticed was that I needed a more solid mana base that could fight off pernicious  deed and null rod.

Part III. The Mana Base:
So it was clear that the T2 mana base wasn’t gonna cut it so I had 2 choices either go for a total workshop style mana base something along the lines of this: 4x Workshop 4x Ancient Tomb 2x City of Traitors 1 Tolarian Academy + the artifact acceleration and this kind of setting would be null rod and pernicious deed proof but would also take me to a more modular based type of deck.
The other choice I had was to try and optimise the mana base, the problem were many but in the end I decide that for now I shoud try something like this:

4x City of brass/underground sea(choice that I should discuss later)
2x Ancient tomb
3x Vault of whispers
3x Seat of the synod
1xTolarian Academy
1x Black Lotus
1x Sol Ring
1x Mana Crypt
4x Mox(Ruby,Sapphire,Jet,Emerald)
1x Lotus Petal
1x Mana Vault
4x Dark Ritual
Now the choice of using Dark Ritual may seem a little awkward to most of you at first but I noticed that by taking out a mox pearl for a lotus petal I made a huge difference to me( in my testing at least) since the black mana sources count is now up to( excluding Rituals) 10 which comforts me to an extent.
The important part here I think is the number of mana sources that are not artifact and so can fight off  Null Rod and to a lesser extent Pernicious Deed. The choices here is since I don’t own nor want to own Mishra’s workshop is Ancient Tomb, I consider 2 to be the bare minimum and 3 to be the max because is speeds you up but you don’t wanna draw it all the time and in numbers more than 2, but I consider them necessary to give you additional gas in the first 2 turns were is crucial that you drop off your hand quick. On the issue between City of brass and Underground Sea
the choice exquisitely depends if you want to play with Red in your sideboard or no.
To answer this question you first need to ask your self if your metagame is composed by decks that cannnot be handled by and exclusively black/blue sideboard. So if you think that you will need Rack and Ruin and REB then city of brass is your friend other wise then just play underground seas.

Part IV. The Treats
Now the Threats are a simple choice for this type of deck and must I say that I rarely have been upset with this setup:
4x Ravager
4x Arcbound Worker
4x Frogmite
4x Myr Enforcer
and being  only 16 seem a little low at first but this deck runs a lot of search for an aggro deck,so I see a lot of creatures in most of the matches.
The Card Choices:
-Arcbound Ravager: this card is obviously the core of the deck, since with a handful of artifact this little 1/1 become pretty huge and also speeds up your kill. Monster
-Arcbound Worker: it has modular and a thougness of 1 and it cost 1. Nothing more is just there to be used with Skullclamp. Effective
-Frogmite: the standard beater, it comes down for 1 or less and it’s a 2/2, usually does his job well( to be annoying little bugger that is). Relentless
-Myr Enforcer:are you in trouble, does you opponent have a swarm of little pesky creatures and your are almost overwhelmed? No Problemo Grigo here come the enforcer to save your butt. There have been several times when especially against fish I had been put into a corner and thanks to that stupid 2cc artifact my creatures when roll ver and die to grim lavancer and similars needlees to say that when I got the enforcer down I had not way out is too big for a lot of decks and they have no way of dealing with it except chump blocking in 3-for-1’s or scoop. Crucial

Now the tools to make our treats lethal:
4x Skullclamp: mills through your library finding what you need, sometimes I gives finds you those moxes that you really need to get a hell of a start and gets on the good track. Combined with the ravager make thing ridiculous.
3x Cranial Plating: if the has been one card in the whole deck that can turn a bad day into a good one this is the one. This card is sooo good that can turn a measly 1/1 sucjh as arcbound worker into a clock!1!1?!?!(wtf)
Just being able to equip this put you on a favourable position to win.

Part V. The Other Spells
The rest of the deck is :
4x Thoughtcast:this card is included for the fact that since in this deck it’s easy to get to 4 artifact on the table on a timely matter, thoughtcast smooths your draws reaching deeper into your library too get more Bombs and/or mana(!).
1x Tinker: This card can tu tor for pretty much anything in your deck but most of the times it will get either Memory Jar to draw you a fresh hand of 7 or a Cranial Plating to win fast and easy.
1x Memory Jar: A draw 7 of which you only get the best use of it.Drawing into lotsa artifact mana is go^o^d.
1x Demonic Tutor: Gets you what you want and gets it now.
1x Yawgmoth’s Will: It’s one of those cards ...need i say anything else?
1x Ancestral Recall: Test card , i mean it only draws 3 cards at instant speed for one mana o_0
1x Time walk: Necessity, makes me win whenn i shouldn’t , an extra attack with a plated creature =gg
1x Timetwister: gets gas in your hand and gives you the boost to  overwhelm the opponent
1x Hurkil’s Recall: One main deck solution to a lot of problems, but still setting aside jokes this spot is in testing because i loath having 61 cards.

The final Deckslist
4x Underground Sea
3x Seat of the Synod
3x Vault of Whispers
2x Ancient Tomb
1x Tolarian Academy
7x Solomoxen(Lotus Petal instead of mox pearl
1x mana crypt
1x mana vault
4x Dark Ritual
4x Ravager
4x Worker
4x Frogmite
4x Enforcer
4x Thoughtcast
1x Tinker
1x Memory Jar
1x Demonic Tuor
1x Ancestral Recall
1x time Walk
1x Timetwister
1x Yawgmoth's Will
1x Hurkill's Recall


Now tomorrow I will post up the Sideboard Tech and the some little advise on playing this deck, thanks for looking... Any feedback and comments are appreciated.
/Frankie/

[johnstown713]

The decks is like a lot of affinity decks I have been seeing with a few exceptions.  First is the Ancient Tomb.  I really don't agree with it since there is already so much speed that it just doesn't seem necessary as a whole.  I just don't like the card for the deck.  I know it is all artifacts but it seems to be just too much.  There is no need to damage yourself when already having a huge tempo advantage.   I also see the Disciple being a must in the 4-of column.  People just sigh if it actually makes it to play.  The card is insanely good to only run 3 of, plus people seem to see it as a must counter card.  As you noted there are a lot of Fire/Ices running around so it makes it needed even more.  I didn't really like the Rushing River when I saw it but unfortunatley i don't know why.  It just seemed out of place.  You said you have been having trouble with the Genesis Chambers.  When I had my Affinity build, i to had a lot of problems with the chambers and decided to remove them.  Unless you are going for the weird combo with Auriok Steelshaper then they seem out of place.    The sweetest thing with my build was the one maindeck The Abyss.  When I played it people were like WTF.  Oh man playing old cards is tech, it even worked out well with the Disciples amazingly enough.  Just my views based on my Affinity deck.

Johnstown713

[Cross]

I don't see how changing your mana base made you nullrod proof. Okay, so you can get a little more mana, but your ravagers, memory jar, skullclamps, cranial plating, need I go on? still don't work. I'm testing a affinity deck with force/drain as a possible solution but having mana probems. I also run a completely different manabase, using the workshop style that you made reference too. I also agree that four ancient tombs is too much, all too often I get stuck with a bunch of them, and I just end up owning myself. Have your tried running other creatures? trikes have good synergy with the deck, and arcbound crushers as a 1-of are good.

[johnstown713]

I to tried the force/mana drain solution and failed.  I found I ended up playing like a control deck and lost the aggresiveness.  It is really a hard deck to play with all the hate and the lack or counters.  From what I have seen the workshop style decks seem to have a little bit more mana trouble than the one with non-workshop lans.  You end up with a bunch of colorless mana and not what you need for things such as draw spells..

Johnstown713

[Frankie]

So in any case i was expecting to be criticized for dark ritual and now i am here trying to explain why you should play ancient tombs:
Well i you test a lot with the deck or even i you grab the deck and continously draw 7 cards just to see how usually your starting hands would look you immdiately notice that unless you draw the academy some hands are just TOO SLOW.
To fill this gap anciemnt tombs were chosen because i own no Mishra's workshop--> to turn Slow starts into good starts thus avoiding the -1 card disadvantage of mulliganing. On the fact that is colorless mana i have to say that colored mana is very important but it's more important to play a creature   turn 1 take this for example:
Vault,Tomb,Frog,Clamp,Ravager,Sol ring, Enforcer : Ancient tmob give you the chance to power out more cards...
On the issue of the mana base i would like to hear some suggestions, but sterile criticism like: i don't see how you tuned your mana base against Null Rod and Pernicious Deed is a waste of time, since if you bothered to read the whole introduction you would see how i tried to change the mana base.The first deck had 8 artifact lands + 4 Glimmervoid and so much more succeptible to null rod and pernicious deed that 6 artifact lands + 2 ancient tomb + 4 underground sea.

[Ender]

I think you should take out the workers. They were originally put in as skullclamp fodder but now, the best they do is to give ravager 2 more counters. Dark rituals also seem a bit overboard on the mana and I think is repetative since it doesn't really accelerate your first turn THAT much anyway. I might want to suggest 1 windfall because of the deck's ability to drop its hand and 3 or 4 duress to rip the control player's hand a little bit.

[Cross]

On the issue of the mana base i would like to hear some suggestions, but sterile criticism like: i don't see how you tuned your mana base against Null Rod and Pernicious Deed is a waste of time, since if you bothered to read the whole introduction you would see how i tried to change the mana base.

i wasn't trying to make this point, i agree thjat you helped your mana base against nullrod, but i was wondering what the plan for protecting the rest of your deck from null rod is. I was thinking something like chalice in your sideboard, but chalice screws over your own ravagers. a transformational sideboard, like one with arcbound crushers to replace ravagers when playing fish/anything with null rod was something I thought of.

I to tried the force/mana drain solution and failed.

I think ive happened on the same problem, and the problem with workshop mana being mostly useless. The deck just doesn't want to work with control cards, and I think this is mainly because of its agressiveness. I think I am going to try and use the "sui" angle on the deck and see how duress+mind twist does against FOW and null rods, though I'm still worried that if a rod hits the board ive got nothing. My other thought is to go red and see how welders do me for scooping out null rods or reusing memory jars.

[Trofast]

Keep in mind that many decks in T1 has either Null Rod in maindeck or sideboard.

In my eyes this will completly shut doen your mana base, and rest of the deck. The only non-artifact land I see is Underground Sea, Tolarian and Ancient Tomb. None of those produce Red mana.

So I suggest you use 4 Chain of Vapor. This might help you get rid of the Null Rod for 1 turn.
Another solution may be the use of Rack and Ruin. But then you will need to change your mana base. It might seem like a though call to remove artifact lands in this deck.

Another dangerous threat is Gorilla Shaman 2.

[Frankie]

Well on the issue of the mana base: it's true null rod is a hoser but guess what when i played against fish,the only mainstream deck that has Null
Rod maindeck, i always won because my creatures were bigger.
The only time when i didn't win was when a flying creature was enchanted with sigil of sleep.
To answer Ender questions: dark rituals are fine for me and guess what first tun vault +ritualk is 3 mana on the first turn which allows me to drop clamp +ravager or plating+worker etc. i think it's pretty good at filling the spot of mishra's workshop.
On the Duress issue i think it's a good idea but defenetely not maindeck they should go into the Sideboard.

[Nomad]

I think Ancient tomb makes no sense whatsoever.  Most key spells requiring considerable mana have affinity, and so a seat or vault contributes exactly the same as an ancient tomb, while also adding coloured mana.

I won a twister with this deck last weekend in Neutral Ground, Disciples have a decent lifespan, people let them resolve because they figure you'll only drop a ravager on them next turn.

Tinker I found not good enough, a jar too expensive to play any other way.  Post board it has enough answers to deal with most decks, gorilla shaman isn't a threat on his own, any deck that sits and spends its mana on him is just asking for an ass whooping.

[Cross]

nomad how does your decklist differ? seeinga successful list would be nice. did you see/sideboard against nullrod?

I also agree that the tombs are a bit much. regular old basic land seems to have my version running better. Even without workshops, which I might drop altogether.

[hispls]

I use gate to pyrexis (sp?) it coes out turn 1 on a dark ritual or lotus, or mox diamond, and lets you sac your creatures to pop artifacts.  I also would prefer thopters over workers, since if you're only saccing them to draw cards, thopter comes out cheaper and you can double skullclamp it, or put the ravager counters on it and attack with a flier for a win.  The only other thing I'm working with is Lions eye diamond.  It's worth testing, cause when you have a board full of creatures and no hand, you can grab mana out of it to activate skullclamps, worst case scenario it's a free drop artifact for affinity and a counter on a ravager.