Artist Format

[Kowal]

(Mods might want to sticky this)

I've been hyping up this format for a while now, but I've been anxiously awaiting the return of the casual forums to hype it a little more.

The basic premise is you pick an artist you like (you'll note after studying the format for a while most popular artists are quite well balanced) and build a deck using nothing but their cards, excepting basic lands.  If they did basic lands, I recommend you use them for visual purposes, but it's not required.

As of now, we're utilizing the type one banned and restricted lists.  It just seems to make more sense that way.  In addition however, the 'shadow' mechanic is completely banned.  Don't bother arguing pro-shadow, it is in fact inherently broken in this format.

Build a deck and play at Waterbury, we're probably going to have enough people for a side event there.

To kick it off, I decided it might be nice to get a discussion going on the types of decks you can assemble. For example, here's my list for Rebecca Guay.


4 Angelic Page
3 Serra Angel
3 Auramancer
3 Commander Eesha
2 Silent Attendant
2 Atalya, Samite Master
2 Devout Harpist
2 Vigilant Martyr
2 Hammer Mage

4 Squee's Embrace
3 Crackdown
2 Aura Fracture

3 Volcanic Wind
1 Tectonic Break

15 Plains
9 Mountains

It's an aggro control deck. There's a lot of underlying synergies, such as Squee's Embrace becoming removal with Crackdown in play, Auramancer returning Squee's Embrace, etc. Also, Crackdown + Life Gain is a combo, f00!

I decided to go R/W because I noticed Rebecca Guay did some spicy awesome APAC basic lands, a plains and a mountain. This way, I can make it as visually pleasing as possible.

Posts merged - Kaerv.

[Bram]

(Mods might want to sticky this)

No, we don't. Seriously, there's no reason to make this sticky. It is however a cool subject for a thread in this very forum, which is just what it is right now Also, please don't double post. Editing is tech.

That said, I'm a big fan of Drew Tucker (/me runs for cover). I challange you to make a deck out of the complete PILE that guy illustrated. Seriously, Plateau might well be the only good card he ever did. And yeah, maybe I'll SB City in a Bottle just incase someone decides to play with an all-Arabian-Nights-mountain sligh build...

Matter of fact, I think Ill take up thát challenge myself. Should be fun. I wonder who the most broken artist in Magic is. I assume standard T1 restrictions / bannings apply?

[Kowal]

Yeap.

The double post was intentional, actually, since I kind of wanted the rules separate from the list.

So far I've found the Foglios to be the most solid choice, with Tedin as another good solid candidate (omfg nekr0 and lord of the pit?!!!?!  borken!) but most of them are quite capable of holding their own.

[Matt]

Finally, a format free from Stasis!

[Samite Healer]

I played this format when I went to Ray's house, and I must admit that it is quite fun.  I chose Edward P. Beard Jr. because I am fairly friendly with him.  This is what I built:

4 Aven Fogbringer
4 Avalanche Riders
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Multani's Acolyte
2 Raven Familiar
2 Viashino Cutthroat
3 Plow Under
4 Volcanic Hammer
4 Shock
3 Lava Axe
2 Mind's Eye
4 Henge of Ramos
9 Forest
7 Mountain
4 Island

It's really fun and crushes the hell out of decks where the curve begins at 4-5 mana.  There really are so many possibilites.

[Jacob Orlove]

So far I've found the Foglios to be the most solid choice

Wait, they count as one artist?

Dan Frazier has Powder Keg and Moxen. I haven't checked what else he's got, though.

[st00mie]

is there any place you can filter by artist name?

[Kowal]

He also gets Juggernaut and some other fairly massive beats.

And yeah, the Foglios count as one artist, mainly because Phil and Kaja work together in 95% of their stuff.

I'm still torn as to whether or not Greg and Tim Hildebrandt should be treated the same.

EDIT:  st00mie, the search engine on Essential Magic will allow you to do just that.

[MuzzonoAmi]

I've had this Foglios list together for awhile. It's pretty cool, especially if you have all 4 arts for Factory.

        4 Rainbow Vale
        4 Mishra's Workshop
        4 Mishra's Factory
        2 Forest
        12 Plains
        4 Bottle Gnomes
        4 Primal Clay
        2 Humility
        4 Spirit Link
        4 Swords to Plowshares
        4 Kismet
        2 Frog Tongue
        4 Rabid Wombat
        2 Orim, Samite Healer
        4 Mirror Universe

No sideboard

EDIT: Damn you Ron Spears....

[Kowal]

I'm afraid Phage was Ron Spears, not Spencer.

[Abhorsen105]

I've only played the deck once, but it was soooooooooooo fun.
Matt Cavotta.dec
4 shared fate
4 future sight
4 inspiration
4 trade routes
4 phyrexian lens
20 island
4 mountain
4 forest
4 plains
4 swamp

[Kowal]

omg, you're playing Matt Cavotta and you AREN'T running Noble Panther?

Crazy talk.

[daboo]

Weber.dec is quite fun,

//NAME: Weber.dec
      22 Island
      4 Mystic Compass
      4 Seasinger
      4 Time Elemental
      3 Drafna's Restoration
      4 Copy Artifact
      2 Time Bomb
      1 Time Walk
      4 Icy Manipulator
      4 High Tide
      4 Ankh of Mishra
      4 Copper Tablet

Now, if we can get our crap together at the next TMD open, we may actually have the artist tourney.

[Pinky]

// Name : Burning Bridges (Ron Spencer)
4 Magma Mine
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Firebolt
4 Flame Burst
4 Guerilla Tactics
4 Hammer of Bogarden
4 Pyrokinesis
4 Fault Line
4 Fanning The Flames
24 Mountain

[Jacob Orlove]

Spencer is the man, but I don't think mono-red is the way to go. Here's my list, approximately:

Burn:
4 Firebolt
4 Flame Burst
4 Hammer of Bogardan
3 Fanning the Flames

Removal:
3 Pyrokinesis
3 Fault Line
4 Diabolic Edict

Permanents:
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Ravenous Skirge

Win the game:
1 Yawgmoth's Will

And then a couple of cards that I'm forgetting (they should probably get replaced with processors anyway), and some swamps and mountains. 7 swamps is probably enough.

The skirges are surprisingly strong, as are edicts. I don't think I need to explain why Will is good here. Another option would be to go heavier black for terror and skittering skirge, but then the mana gets much worse.

[Robert the Swordsman]

There are some awesome cantidates; Tedin for Drain, Disk, Swords, and other such nonsense, Frazier for Juggernaut, Moxen, Ice Storm, and the invicible Sedge Troll himself, and rk post would probably be pretty awesome as well.

However, my personal favorite artists is Harold McNeill (who illustrated such awesome powerhouses as Lightning Blow and Darkness), so I decided to throw together a deck of his stuff. He did do two very good cards, Nether Void and Sylvan Library, but only one would make it.

HaroldMcNeill.dec

Blue:
4 Flash Counter
4 Ray of Command
4 Knight of the Mists
2 Soul Barrier

White:
4 Wall of Resistance
4 Death Ward
2 Alabaster Potion
2 Enduring Renewal

Green:
4 Fog
4 Forgotten Lore
3 Sylvan Library

Mana:
8 Island
8 Plains
7 Forest

Yes, the deck is pretty lacking, but I did what I could with what I had to work with, and...

...it looks so damned good.

[Dream_Merchant]

I always liked the Nielsens especially spirit of the night pieces and arc mage
Nielsen.dec
4 Urborg Panther
4 Breathstealer
4 Feral Shadow
2 Spirit of the Night
4 Ophidian
4 Grotesque Hybrid
2 Arc Mage
1 Fact or Fiction
4 Jilt
4 Sinister Strength
2 Infernal Tribute
4 Bad River
6 Mountain
6 Island
9 Swamp


couldnt find any graveyard animation from them..would be good

[Bram]

Let's not beat around the bush...Drew Tuckers art is controversial (though I love it myself) but even his fans need to stop kidding themselves: the cards he did are ass. There's 2 cards that are above-par, namely Plateau and Winds of Rath (and poissibly Ydwen, Dark Banishing and Charcoal Diamond). The amount of hosers this guy did is insane, so I included a sideboard. Here's the best I can do with the beautiful pile that Tucker made:

4x Winds of Rath
4x Agility
4x Total War
4x Flare

4x Icatian Priest
4x Icatian Infantry
4x Repentant Blacksmith
4x Ydwen Efreet
4x Clockwork Beast

4x Plateau
10x Plains
10x Mountain

SB:
4x Angry Mob
3x Vertigo
4x Light of Day
2x Holy Light
2x Dust to Dust


It functions somewhat like a bad version of WW. Obvious tricks are Agility on Clockwork or Ydwen when playing a Winds. Total War should be dropped only when you have a Clockwork out. Flare is cantrip spot removal; combine this with the damage your Agility-enchanted weenies do to to kill a larger critter off (a 1/1 Icatian Infantry wtih Agility can take down a 4 toughness beast and live if you play Flare).

Mana Curve:
1cc ||||||||
2cc ||||||||
3cc ||||||||
4cc ||||
5cc ||||
6cc ||||

It's bad, I know, but you could conceivably win SOME games with it.

[Un4givenKnight]

If I could have stayed/ had all the cards for it/ this had actually happened, i would have played this at Waterbury. Deck name coes from restaurant scene in Ferris Bueller.

"I suggest you leave before i get Snoddy".dec

Land:
20 Mountain

Creatures:
4 Balduvian Horde
4 Mogg Maniac
4 Raging Goblin
2 Craven Giant

Burn:
4 Incinerate
4 Spitting Earth
4 Lava Axe
2 Land's Edge
4 Sonic Burst

Other Stuff
2 Helm of Obedience
2 Imposing Visage
4 Chromatic Sphere

MMMMMM...Mono Red Burn and Beat. Enjoyable and (quite possibly) viable in a artist tourney.

[theorigamist]

People have been mentioning Mark Tedin, but nobody has made a list.  Here goes:

Some Creatures:
4 Juzam Djinn
4 Chimeric Idol

Some Artifact Control:
4 Ring of Gix
4 Winter Orb
4 Defense Grid
4 Disk

Some Brokenness:
1 Necropotence

Some Obvious Show That I Was Short On Ideas, While Not Really Hurting The Deck, And Even Being Good, In Its Own, Janky Way:
4 Phyrexian Rager

Some Mana:
28 Swamp
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring

Necropotence being one of my favorite cards ever, for power and art, I had to choose Mark Tedin.

[Matt]

Quinton Hoover:

//Control-y Spells
2 Wrath of God
2 Elkin Bottle
4 Elvish Fury
4 Meekstone

//Main Strike Force
4 Tundra Wolves
4 Amrou Kithkin
4 Balduvian Bears
2 Land Leeches

//Shock Troops
3 Yavimaya Ancients
2 Ivory Gargoyle
2 Archangel

//Mana
4 Fellwar Stone
13 Plains
10 Forest

It's all about the Meekstone. I also considered W/R with Pyromancy + Archangel/Elder Land Wurm/Ivory Gargoyle but red didn't have much in the way of depth.

[Sytupal]

Wasteland's Artist takes it to the house in this format more than an average amount of games.


Una Fricker.dec
4 Lone Wolf(Legacy)
4 Monstrous Growth(Portal 2nd)
4 Feral Instinct(Visions)
4 Hidden Gibbons(Legacy)

4 Freewind Falcon(Visions)
4 Cloudchaser Eagle(Tempest)
4 Armored Pegasus(Tempest)

4 Thieving Magpie(Destiny)
4 Man-o-war(Portal)
2 Bay Falcon(Mirage)

8 Island
7 Plains
7 Forest

:Rock:

[samael]

I'm totally holding one of these at my shop.

[Attmore]

Mark Tedin

Mana Drain x4
Force Void x4
Memory Lapse x4
Braingeyser x1
Timetwister x1

Dismantling Blow x4
Wall of Swords x4

Fireball x1

Ring of Gix x4
Serpent Generator x3
Jayemdae Tome x2
*Chaos Orb x1*

Sol Ring x1
Mana Vault x1
City of Brass x4
Island x17
Plains x4

Side Board yet to be determined, surely some C.O.P. Reds and Glacier looks kinda cool...who knows!

BTW, if this could be pulled together for the next Waterbury Tourny I'll drop out of type one to play!  Okay just kidding, but it sounds like so much fun!

[ill_Dawg]

I've been neglecting to post Brom.dec.  Here goes:

combo
4 Call of the wild
4 Mirri's Guile

beats
2 Platinum Angel
3 Carnassid
3 Reaver Demon

control
2 Greel, Mind Raker
4 Keeper of the Dead

utility
4 Oath of Ghouls
3 Hatred
2 Glissa Sunseeker

Mana
4 Blood Pet
4 Gemstone Mine
10 forest
11 swamp

This deck looks sweet as hell, and it actually has some synergey.  ph43r t3h Br0m

-=ADAM=-

[Stijn]

DiTerlizzi.dec

    20  Forest


    2  Verdant Force
    4  Vine Trellis
    4  Argothian Elder
    4  Hunting Moa
    4 Skyshroud Troopers
    4  Winding Wurm

    3  Venomous Breath
    3  Lure
    4  Giant Growth
    4  Song of Serenity
    4  Null Brooch

Very slow, but when you reach 4 mana, you will be able to pop out a creaure every turn. Note the interaction between Lure+Venomous Breath. Null Brooch gives you a late game control card, so you will be able to stop cards like WoG and other mass removal.

[Fëanor]

Two previous decks have already been written up on this artist, but instead of going control burn, I went aggro. It's actually somewhat synergetic.

Spencer's Will:

RED:
4 Flame Burst
4 Guerilla Tactics

BLAK:
4 Boneshard Slasher
4 Armor Thrull
4 Necrite
2 Mad Dog
4 Skittering Skirge

1 Yawgmoth's Will
4 Diabolic Edict
2 Cabal Therapy
4 Reaping the Graves

LAND:
17 Swamp
6 Mountain

SB:
4 Parch
4 Order of the Ebon Hand
3 terror
4 carrion beetles

I really wanted to play with Aether Flash  
Also considered Mob Justice, and Skirge Familliar would have worked nicley, just too expensive.

Orizio Daniele, Dany Orizio and Stephen Daniele are they all related somehow (or the same people)? wtf?
I put all people with same last names together, don't know how legal that will be based on how serious this format becomes (ie: ruth, matt, ben thompson).

[RoadTrippin]

Feanor- I'm almost 100% sure that Orizio Daniele and Dany Orizio are the same, but Stephen is someone else.

[Smash]

Why would shadow be banned? That is pretty lame. There is plenty of removal if you want it.

[Jacob Orlove]

Why would shadow be banned? That is pretty lame. There is plenty of removal if you want it.

I know that the spencer builds honestly don't care about shadow, but some of the other decks might. I would like to see the "broken" shadow deck, though.