[Deck] Master T Slaver

[Rock Lee]

I wanted to establish some tangible proof about Master Transmuter's competence before throwing up a decklist and discussion. Here is my tournament report, going 1st @ ELD's 21st Mox Tournament.
Here's a copy of the Theory & brief backhistory from the report.

Whenever a new set comes out, I immediately scour it for new card options to slap into my Pet Deck U/R Shops. When Vexing Shusher was printed he made a cameo appearance in a slower bomb variant. Despite Shards of Alara providing many delicious Shop-oriented Artifacts such as Mindlock Orb, Master of Etherium, Courier's Capsule, and Tezzeret, none of them hit the standard I held for a broken card in my deck.

Then came Master Transmuter.


Master T allows you to do what shops never could do, cast spells in your opponent's End of Turn step. Additionally, because she makes your spells uncounterable, she has the same "counter this or all your counters are moot" aspect that Goblin Welder has. What she lacks in affordable costing, she makes up for by being castable with Shop-Land, weldable & pitches to Force. As an extra synergy in the deck, Master T transforms hands that would normally be "clunky" by holding robots into amazing. Therefore Master T stands at a pivotal juncture between Thirst for Knowledge and Goblin Welder, being able to sub for the role of either without being redundant.

I dropped the "slower" elements of the deck and picked up the pace by adding both of the Trike-siblings, another Titan, and Inkwell Leviathan.

Master T Slaver

Mana:
4 Volcanic Island
4 Shivan Reef
4 Mishra's Workshop
2 Ancient Tomb
1 City of Traitors
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring

Robots in Disguise:
3 Triskelion
1 Triskelavus
2 Sundering Titan
1 Inkwell Leviathan
4 Master Transmuter
4 Goblin Welder
1 Mindslaver
1 Memory Jar
1 Thousand-Year Elixir

The rest of the goodies:
4 Force of Will
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Tinker
1 Trinisphere

Sideboard:
4 Red Elemental blast
3 Relic of Progenitus
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Ingot Chewer
2 Viashino Heretic
2 Jester's Cap

The Transmuter's printing couldn't come at a more convenient time, with Mystic Remora's glaring weakness being creatures & allowing you time to lay down lands. It is under this premise that Master T has strength. So how could I not look forward to diving headfirst into a Shay-Remora infested meta?

Essentially this is a Shop Aggro deck with Welder/Master T shenanigans galore to add in elements of brokenness and craziness.

More specifically the changes I'm looking to add, are thorns to the side (although i could completely see running them on the main if you're in a combo-meta). I also would like to squeeze a Duplicant onto the Main, likely in the spot of Thousand-Year Elixir, Triskelavus, or the 2nd Sundering Titan, with Triskelavus being the logical replacement.

A Closer look at Master Transmuter:
While most people will scoff at the "unplayable" casting cost of  , for shops, this is nothing. Consider that this creature is Hands-down better than the  you pay for Smokestack. The only removal that is effective against Master T, or any artifact in play, is mass-removal, all of which are covered by REB. Master T streamlines with Turn 1 Welder, Turn 2 Master T, Turn 3 Robot as Plan A, B, C finally giving Shops a "curve" that isn't "I hope I get the nuts."

Matchups:

Control:
Already has issues with explosive shops. When you're matching their sideboard removal with Rebs, you continue to play an equal game against them post-side, which is brutally against their favor. Moreso than normal, remora variants get especially pounded to the large amounts of Creatures you're packing combined with the multiple ways to cheat them into play and avoid drain-fueled acceleration. As the final nail on the coffin, the maindeck is near-immune to chalice @ 2, and can easily chalice at 0 or 1, as your Transmuter can reset your chalices.
I consider this matchup favorable.

Fish:
Will be your harder matchups. The deck deals a large amount of damage to itself through painlands, ancient tombs, and burn. Null rod slows many of your robots and when there are goyfs in the picture, the situation can become dicey. Despite all of those, often one of your robots trumps 2-3 of their dudes.
I consider this matchup slightly poor.

Combo:
The deck is currently ill-prepared for combo, only having Chalice & Force on the main. However, these in combination with Thorn, Reb, & Jester's Cap on the side is backbreaking.
I consider this matchup poor.

Shops:
One of the weaknesses of this deck is its precarious manabase. if shops are able to get a leg up on you, this manabase can be wrecked. You are completely vulnerable to wastelock, and your shop-answers are minimal. As a counter to this, you have even more explosiveness and resilience than shops.
I consider this matchup even.


Questionable cards that I have been tinkering around with:
Thousand-year Elixir:
This bad boy is extremely efficient in this deck that has 8 creatures with tapping abilities that completely change the board. While this card's static ability is redundant in multiples, the ability to multi-tap doesn't lose its power. Also adding additional Activated abilities on the sideboard in the form of Viashino Heretic adds to the worth of Thousand-year Elixir. This card is always on the chopping block, but has prevailed through many cuts and revisions.

Triskelion, Triskelavus, & the invisible Duplicant:
The ratio between these siblings often fluctuates. I know that I want 4 Robots that are solid removal. There are times when Triskelavus's mana requirements are inhibitive, but also there are times when having the blockers, flying, and quasi-vigilance is huge as well. Duplicant has the benefit of being low-cost & solid removal, but being weak without an active threat.

Inkwell Leviathan:
despite its relatively poor showing in my tournament, I am completely sold that this creature merits a singleton spot in this deck. I removed it to Force of Will once, I attacked with it for the win once, and I would've won a game had I used it as an ultimate-blocker once instead of mindlessly attacking.

Relic of Progenitus:
Despite its glaring dis synergy with welder, against ichorid, who often relies on Chalice to avoid EE & Tormod's Crypt, Relic is just ridiculous. The fact that it cycles will often keep you on-par with the people you're racing. Definitely will include this in future builds.

The Twin Sundering Titans:
One of These cards could be a 2nd Mindslaver, but I feel very comfortable in doubling your chances of drawing a Titan. Its worth mentioning that there are times you cannot bring in a titan, because of your exclusive blue/red being a Volcanic. Volcanic Islands often die sad whimpering deaths in this deck, but that's something that I think cannot be fixed.


Ultimately, after my first piloting of the deck in a tournament, I felt that the deck was very solid. Even with misplays, I was able to come out on top of situations that would have been un-winnable with most decks.

Feel free to throw out ideas, comments, threats, copyright infringement (not really, DA will kill me, or sue me even worse...), or anything else.

[zeus-online]

Did you try chrome mox? That would allow you to play the blue cards faster although, as i have not playing with or against the deck, i have no idea if it's necessary.

Have you found the disruption to be good and plentifull enough to keep combo in check?

/Zeus

[Mantis]

Have you found the disruption to be good and plentifull enough to keep combo in check?

/Zeus

Combo:
The deck is currently ill-prepared for combo, only having Chalice & Force on the main. However, these in combination with Thorn, Reb, & Jester's Cap on the side is backbreaking.
I consider this matchup poor.

[nineisnoone]

Nice list.  Glad to see a U-Shop list doing well.  I'm working on a similar UR list also going for Tombs over the typical Waste/Crucible combination.  Mostly, I just went with Smokestack/Wire rather than the assorted robots.  I have to say, that looking at your own match-up rankings, I am not persuaded to match your changes.  (Except the Mindslaver and Memory Jar which I completely neglected in my own list).

You don't loose much in the control (typically Vault/Painter) match-up.  Smokestack/Wire basically prevent (or heavily deter) Vault from comboing off.  Infinite turns don't really look as good when you are sacrificing and taping permanents each turn. 

Against Fish, recurring Tangle Wire is virtually game.  This is your match-up analysis I find most surprising and disappointing.   Even with 3 Triskelion and 1 Triskevelus, you still consider the match-up slightly poor?  If those cards don't turn the match-up to good, then I think I'd just focus on improving the combo match-up.

My combo/shop match-up for me seems fairly the same as you. 

Against Combo, I prefer Pyrostatic Pillar.  Game 2 they bring in their anti-artifact cards, and suddenly have to deal with an Enchantment.  It is slower than Sphere/Thorn though.  I like it more than Cap.  I find it frequently takes 2 turns and realistically is fairly slow compared to other options.

Also, I would consider Nullstone Gargoyles.  Haven't tested it though. 
You could also play Magister Sphinx, weld/transmute in response to the last Tendrils trigger.  Also untested.

Against Shop (or more specifically Wasteland) I would just add Crucibles. 

Have you tested out Glimmervoids? They would give you protection against Sundering Titan (which I would otherwise play).  It's not like your deck is realistically going to do well if you don't have artifacts on the board anyways.  Sadly it would deny turn 1 Welder/Recall though when you don't have artifacts (Or I guess you could play it if you really wanted too). 

[Rock Lee]

Did you try chrome mox? That would allow you to play the blue cards faster although, as i have not playing with or against the deck, i have no idea if it's necessary.
/Zeus

The dual irony behind Chrome mox in this deck, is that you can't imprint Master T or Leviathan, which are your least castable blue cards and also due to this you must imprint the remaining scarce blue cards, which makes casting blue cards even less viable. I have rarely been a proponent of Chrome Mox, mostly because of its multiple weaknesses.

Mostly, I just went with Smokestack/Wire rather than the assorted robots.

Against Fish, recurring Tangle Wire is virtually game.  This is your match-up analysis I find most surprising and disappointing.   Even with 3 Triskelion and 1 Triskevelus, you still consider the match-up slightly poor?  If those cards don't turn the match-up to good, then I think I'd just focus on improving the combo match-up.

Against Combo, I prefer Pyrostatic Pillar.  Game 2 they bring in their anti-artifact cards, and suddenly have to deal with an Enchantment.  It is slower than Sphere/Thorn though.  I like it more than Cap.  I find it frequently takes 2 turns and realistically is fairly slow compared to other options.

Also, I would consider Nullstone Gargoyles.  Haven't tested it though. 
You could also play Magister Sphinx, weld/transmute in response to the last Tendrils trigger.  Also untested.

Have you tested out Glimmervoids? They would give you protection against Sundering Titan (which I would otherwise play).  It's not like your deck is realistically going to do well if you don't have artifacts on the board anyways.  Sadly it would deny turn 1 Welder/Recall though when you don't have artifacts (Or I guess you could play it if you really wanted too). 

Lots to respond to there! I encourage the ideas flowing.

The reason I prefer robots to Lock pieces, is that robots do the same thing, while pressuring. Lock pieces have one speed, slow. I often feel while playing lock pieces, that I'm running the "Fish Paradox", which is that even when I'm winning, its hard to keep winning. Whereas if I simply dump a giant monster into play, often there is an immediate shift in power.

The reason I don't put Fish as a more favorable matchup, is that I realize that Robots will often simply stop Fish in its tracks, but those robots have to see play. Considering Fish runs every efficient form of removal under the sun, and your ways of cheating artifacts into play are all susceptible to removal, I don't want to overstate what I feel is an even matchup at best. With proper play I feel the matchup is very winnable, but in no sense a shoe-in. If you noticed, in my fish match in the Finals, neither my Master T or Welders went active for long enough to do their jobs.

I've never been impressed with Pyrostatic Pillar if you can run other options. Mini-Tendrils'ing your opponent to the point where they can't cast spells is often even easier than a lethal Tendrils.

Nullstone Gargoyle I feel is far too slow and inefficient. Because he needs to be in play before they announce their spell, there is a very low skill threshold you can take advantage of with him. Magister Sphinx would be intriguing if the colors weren't so off.

Glimmervoid always holds a spot in my mind along with Tendo Ice Bridge and City of Brass. Because it requires you to have and play down your moxen, the card is just weak. You mention that Glimmervoid prevents turn 1 welder plays, but it also stifles the following turn 2 Master T. Additionally it gets wiped out by Flux/Kataki, which already irritates the deck enough.

[nineisnoone]

You're right about Pillar.  In a slow (though faster than my deck) deck like this, Pillar can be too much of a double edged sword.  Same with Nullstone, though that being said, I've considered him as a singleton as it seems like the most useful of Bots, even if only marginally so.

I see your point on Bots versus Locks.  I feel a little bit different though.  Perhaps it's just a point of preference, but I feel better when I can see the plan working on the board.  And relying on damage in a non-highly aggressive aggro deck gives me the sense that they'll just turn the corner and the damage will become moot because they just combo out or wipe my board. 

What is your evaluation of Tendo and Brass? 

My Current Rough List for reference
http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=37313.0

[Rock Lee]

What is your evaluation of Tendo and Brass? 
...
I just added the Remora package, which should help against Combo. 
...
This list is a little bit raw and relatively untested, but just to give you an indication of my direction.

You often tap your Shivan Reefs & Volcanic Islands multiple times for colors, which makes Tendo straight out, and your take enough pain from Reef to merit another damage-dealing land, which puts out City of Brass and most 5 color lands.

I think Remora as a combo answer, when the majority of your combo answers are permanents doesn't merit a spot in the deck.

About your list being raw, we have a great and helpful Vintage Development Forum, which breeds all sorts of ideas that lead to solid playtesting. As a general rule though, I try not to post a list on the Open forums unless I've revised a list many times over and put in an equally large amount of playtesting.

That's not to squelch any suggestions or comments on the deck. I just encourage people to pick up the current version, two-fisted test or compete with it and get a feel.

[nineisnoone]

About your list being raw, we have a great and helpful Vintage Development Forum, which breeds all sorts of ideas that lead to solid playtesting. As a general rule though, I try not to post a list on the Open forums unless I've revised a list many times over and put in an equally large amount of playtesting.

Usually, I just post list where they seem topical.  But that actually does sound like a very good rule.  I am actually posting there as well.  I'll keep it there, and not clutter this thread.

As far as Remora goes, I was already running Smokestack + Meditate.  Remora is a solid card even if it just draws you cards and not as a combo win.

You do bring up a good point, but I would remind you about Welder and Transmuter.  Two cards that can get permanents into play at instant speed.  This is where the "relatively untested" part comes in, as I  don't have any anti-combo cards to Transmute/Welder in aside from Trinisphere.

I'll definitely give your deck a run through though.

[Random Noob]

I guess Chalice and Transmuter seems to be the tech. You can reset your Chalice, bounce it, if it was dropped 1st Turn on zero to get your own Moxen out. Thousand Year Elexir looks more than broken too. I felt always a bit uncomfortable that my Transmuter had no haste. And the ability to untap your Workers can be really sich with Trikes. I would like to run it a bit different, with City of Brass over V. Island and -1 Trike -1 Leviathan -1 Memory Jar - FoF + 2 Sharuum + 2 Intuition.

Congratulations for the 1st place, it makes me happy to see a Transmuter list doing its Job well !

[BruiZar]

<quote>Inkwell Leviathan:
despite its relatively poor showing in my tournament, I am completely sold that this creature merits a singleton spot in this deck. I removed it to Force of Will once, I attacked with it for the win once, and I would've won a game had I used it as an ultimate-blocker once instead of mindlessly attacking.</unquote>

I like how you can sneak in 7 damage with Islandwalk, then untap the beast with Thousand-Year Elixer.


Why aren't you playing with Crucibles and Mox Diamonds? It would make your mana base so much less shaky, renders you immune to strip(lock) and gives you striplock too. Would also work well if you're considering Mindslaver.

[waywreth]

Inkwell Leviathan
I like how you can sneak in 7 damage with Islandwalk, then untap the beast with Thousand-Year Elixer.

Actually since it has shroud, you can't target it with the Elixir.  However, the fact that it has 11 toughness (if only it was 12!) means it can block almost anything and survive.

[Rock Lee]

I like how you can sneak in 7 damage with Islandwalk, then untap the beast with Thousand-Year Elixer.


Why aren't you playing with Crucibles and Mox Diamonds? It would make your mana base so much less shaky, renders you immune to strip(lock) and gives you striplock too. Would also work well if you're considering Mindslaver.

Sadly Shroud prevents me from giving the Leviathan Vigilance.

I prefer Mox Diamond over Chrome Mox, but I still dislike the card disadvantage.

I used to run Crucible in the side, but found I preferred destruction to playing their game.

::EDIT::
Gah! Waywreth beat me to it! *shakes fist*

[wiley]

Inkwell Leviathan:
despite its relatively poor showing in my tournament, I am completely sold that this creature merits a singleton spot in this deck. I removed it to Force of Will once, I attacked with it for the win once, and I would've won a game had I used it as an ultimate-blocker once instead of mindlessly attacking.

I like how you can sneak in 7 damage with Islandwalk, then untap the beast with Thousand-Year Elixer.

Leviathan has shroud, so no untapping with the elixir.  It can, however, inf. block colossus with the help of master transmuter, though you would need two masters if you wanted to attack.
EDIT: well, at least the second part is still unique

I do have a question on this statement:

The only removal that is effective against Master T, or any artifact in play, is mass-removal, all of which are covered by REB.

You already acknowledge that fish is a bad match up largely because they can answer both master and welder fairly efficiently, obviously many of their options aren't blue, so is there anything besides reb that you could/would use to protect these two (as they can get back or break the rest of your deck)?

Also, do you feel that 4 of each is correct?  Would there be anything else you would cut one of for?

[Rock Lee]

You already acknowledge that fish is a bad match up largely because they can answer both master and welder fairly efficiently, obviously many of their options aren't blue, so is there anything besides reb that you could/would use to protect these two (as they can get back or break the rest of your deck)?

Also, do you feel that 4 of each is correct?  Would there be anything else you would cut one of for?

Often against Fish I'll let them wreck havoc on my welder/transmuters and just hardcast the robots.

What I often bring in against Null Rod Fish (non-Trinket mage fish), is my 4 artifact-removal red creatures. Against Trinket Mage fish I bring in Rebs, as they rely hugely on their Trinkets. If they have goyfs, the relics come in.

I am extremely satisfied with the 4welder/4Transmuter mix. If I could run 3 welder 5 transmuter, I would. She's just that much of a game-breaker.


As an aside, I've been testing with Duplicant taking Triskelavus's place, and I haven't looked back. Dupe still effectively blocks 2 creatures and works around null rod.

[BruiZar]

Sadly Shroud prevents me from giving the Leviathan Vigilance.

I prefer Mox Diamond over Chrome Mox, but I still dislike the card disadvantage.

I used to run Crucible in the side, but found I preferred destruction to playing their game.

Ah, you're absolutely right, the leviathan has shroud, what a shame..

You're saying you have troubles in the fish matchup. Why don't you try playing Grim Poppet over Trike, and add Unstable Mutation in your sideboard? If you've got that down, you can wipe the board and keep controlling the board for turns to come, plus you've got a permanent giant growth. They have to wait 7 turns before they can play anything and by that time you can simply bounce it with Master or weld it with the Goblin.

Unstable mutation on another creature means 6 damage for , and most of the creatures that eventually die can be recurred anyway. Goblin Welder is the only guy you can't recurr, but with unstable mutation its still 10 damage in 4 turns, should the circumstance force you to beat with Welder. Unstable Mutation also pitches to FoW.

Grim Poppet and Unstable Mutation should also make the Workshop Aggro matchup better, because your beatsticks are going to be bigger and Grim Poppet grows where opposing Trike becomes smaller.

[Qube]

do you've testet it? do you have both when you need it?

from the effect, it's nice

[LordHomerCat]

Somehow I doubt you lose many games against Fish where you resolve a Trike and he doesn't get plowed immediately.  Unstable Mutation is crazy win-more and is only good if you can get some gigantic artifact into play and keep it in play (and somehow need to make it even bigger?).  If you resolve Grim Poppet and don't get it plowed or disenchanted, it will eat all of their guys and just straight up kill them.  There's no need for ridiculous cards like Unstable Mutation.

[BruiZar]

I've tested it in another build, not that extensive though. It's important to note that Grim Poppet also helps you alot against Oath and even DSC. Trike can't answer these creatures or reduce their clocks. Ofcourse, Duplicant is much more effective in its ability to answer big creatures, but I'd rather draw a poppet than a trike if Akroma or Overlord are staring down on me.

Chump blocking DSC:

With Trike, absorbs 4 damage. Beat 1: -7 damage, Beat: 2 -11 damage (Ancient Tomb activation means you're dead)
With Grim Poppet absorbs 4 damage &-3/-3. Beat 1: -4 Beat 2: -8 Beat 3: -8

If you can PoppetMaster in and out, you can effectively survive DSC going -4, life -1 life, -0 life. This means that the deck will have even more outs against Tinker DSC, namely:

1: Weld out DSC
2: Poppet-Master the DSC till he's a tiny, 1/1 indestructible and trample piece of scrap metal
3: Leviathan blocks after Poppet
4: Duplicant


@LordHomerCat:
Although I agree that the bigger issue is counters and removal, I don't agree that Unstable Mutation is win more in this particular case. Unstable Mutation is a control card and serves to speed up the clock (You don't need to Mutate Poppet per se, it's good on other creatures as well and often speed up your clock atleast a turn even in the case of Titan. Also, you'd only play it in the sideboard against certain match ups.

[Mantis]

Grim Poppet is a 7 mana 1/1 in a ton of games where the opponent doesn't have any creatures. That's kind of bad, also Poppet can't shoot itself like Triskelion can, which comes up more than one might expect (against Ichorid for example or with Goblin Welder out). Although Poppet has the advantage of being Transmuted in and out and thereby virtually being able to kill just everything. I still think Triskelion is the better pick here as it's better when you don't have Transmuter out.

[Rock Lee]

Grim Poppet was briefly considered as one of my bots. Unfortunately he does everything Trikes does, for more mana, and less efficiently. You did name some examples of where the -1/-1 counters are more purpose than +1/+/ counters, and the interaction between unstable mutation is positively hilarious, but Trisk's ability to accelerate the game is far more important than his board controlling aspect. With no creatures in play, and you're racing against Drains or Combo, Master T & Trisk is a free Lightning Bolt a turn, as opposed to 1 damage from attacking (and therefore losing your Master T tricks). Especially against combo, your Master T tricks are of paramount importance. Instant Speed Relic of Progenitus is brutal.

Additionally about Grim Poppet, he's a ridiculously overcosted 1/1 with Null Rod in play, while Trisk is a 4/4 meat shield for 1 less mana.

Unstable Mutation, again while a great concept with usage of -1/-1 counters, feels very win-more, or even worse necessary to win at all, ala 2-card-combo that is dead alone.

[Harlequin]

The only time Trike or Trisk is bad is when whatever you want to kill is bigger than the amount of damage you can deal (Titan, and to some extent Goyf).  Or when said creature is indistructable (DSC).  In these cases, you can use Popet to permenantly lower the P/T of the threat to a managable level.  In the hopes of eventually reducing them to nothing and ending with a fatty 4/4 in play.

If this is the creature you are looking for, I think Dupe is your best comparision (not trike).  I don't see any situations that Grim-Trike can handle more efficently than a Dupe-Trike team.  For general machinegunning Trike is clearly the winner.  For handling larger monsters Dupe is going to be your go-to guy, and this is a tall bar for Grim to answer.  Taking the case of DSC or Titan, you can either widdle them down over the course of many turns and end with a 4/4 Grim in play.  Or answer them in one turn (for 1 less) and end up with an 11/11 or 7/10 Shapeshifter in play. 

There's also the consideration of Null rod, where Dupe is a clear winner over Grim.

[Rock Lee]

Or answer them in one turn (for 1 less) and end up with an 11/11 or 7/10 Shapeshifter in play. 

Shapeshifter GOLEM sir!

[Random Noob]

Duplicant should be the Aggro answer in the SB, but perhaps Main. I had some succes with him and Transmuter while cleaning the beaters on Opponents field.

I'm just testing Lightning Greaves over Thousand-Year Elixir, it's more Aggro while you can Swing direktly with your Threat. The shroud ability is also good on most of the Robots.  I also play around while testing with City over Volcanic Island with a Mix of Magister Sphinx, Sharuum (good with Slaver) and Platinum Angel. The City and Reefs low my life down while i'm blocking with the *blinky* Transmuters or such things, that was the point for me to run Plati and Magister Sphinx, so i can be sure I don't kill myself. A hasty shroud Robot for U isn't to bad, and Greaves let look  Magister Sphinx (swing down to 5) and Platinum Angel (Plati with Greaves is comfortable) a bit better, but i'm quite unsure if this would be better to run this over Elixir and more Trikes.

[Rock Lee]

I'm just testing Lightning Greaves over Thousand-Year Elixir, it's more Aggro while you can Swing direktly with your Threat.

I used to run Lightning Greaves in a Metalworker deck similar to this one. It is definitely a viable option over Thousand-Year Elixir, but it doesn't allow for the incredible cheats with Master T that Thousand-Year does.

I've also been testing Ponder in the place of Thousand-Year Elixir. Which serves a similar purpose.

[nineisnoone]

Often against Fish I'll let them wreck havoc on my welder/transmuters and just hardcast the robots.

What I often bring in against Null Rod Fish (non-Trinket mage fish), is my 4 artifact-removal red creatures. Against Trinket Mage fish I bring in Rebs, as they rely hugely on their Trinkets. If they have goyfs, the relics come in.

How do you SB?  I've considering cutting Transmuter and just adding beaters.

As an aside, I've been testing with Duplicant taking Triskelavus's place, and I haven't looked back. Dupe still effectively blocks 2 creatures and works around null rod.

Is it just -4 Trisk +4 Duplicant?

[Rock Lee]

Often against Fish I'll let them wreck havoc on my welder/transmuters and just hardcast the robots.

What I often bring in against Null Rod Fish (non-Trinket mage fish), is my 4 artifact-removal red creatures. Against Trinket Mage fish I bring in Rebs, as they rely hugely on their Trinkets. If they have goyfs, the relics come in.

How do you SB?  I've considering cutting Transmuter and just adding beaters.

I don't understand what you mean. The text you just quoted from me describes how I sideboard against Fish.

As an aside, I've been testing with Duplicant taking Triskelavus's place, and I haven't looked back. Dupe still effectively blocks 2 creatures and works around null rod.

Is it just -4 Trisk +4 Duplicant?

The list above only has 1 Triskelavus. So the sub was 1 Triskelavus for 1 Duplicant.

[Random Noob]

I've also been testing Ponder in the place of Thousand-Year Elixir. Which serves a similar purpose.

I would prefer Sensei's Diving Top over Ponder, while he can make Tricks with Transmuter and Welder. With Transmuter you can draw 2 Cards for U or you play U1 and draw 2 Cards + bring a Fattie into Play. End of Game is Sensei on Top of your Libary.

[Rock Lee]

I've also been testing Ponder in the place of Thousand-Year Elixir. Which serves a similar purpose.

I would prefer Sensei's Diving Top over Ponder, while he can make Tricks with Transmuter and Welder. With Transmuter you can draw 2 Cards for U or you play U1 and draw 2 Cards + bring a Fattie into Play. End of Game is Sensei on Top of your Libary.

The ponder is there for the free shuffle. Top does have synergy with both welder and transmuter, but if you're abusing these cards, you're already winning. Its a bit backwards in my opinion.

[nineisnoone]

Often against Fish I'll let them wreck havoc on my welder/transmuters and just hardcast the robots.

What I often bring in against Null Rod Fish (non-Trinket mage fish), is my 4 artifact-removal red creatures. Against Trinket Mage fish I bring in Rebs, as they rely hugely on their Trinkets. If they have goyfs, the relics come in.

How do you SB?  I've considering cutting Transmuter and just adding beaters.

I don't understand what you mean. The text you just quoted from me describes how I sideboard against Fish.

I meant what do you SB out.  Do you side out the for cards to make their Null Rods less effective, or do you just add the Ingots/Heretics?  I ask because I've fiddled with the approach in some match-ups of cutting the Transmuter and just adding some creatures instead, mostly Gathan Raiders or Magus of the Moon.  Would challenge the blue count, but that's a separate issue.  

However, in the back of my head I feel I'm just being too paranoid on the impact of Null Rod in the match-up.

As an aside, I've been testing with Duplicant taking Triskelavus's place, and I haven't looked back. Dupe still effectively blocks 2 creatures and works around null rod.

Is it just -4 Trisk +4 Duplicant?

The list above only has 1 Triskelavus. So the sub was 1 Triskelavus for 1 Duplicant.

Ahh, misread.  I thought you cut the Triskelions for the Duplicants.  

That said, Duplicants for Triskelions?  They are much slower in themselves (tested your list out some more, and attack, remove counters to deal damage to opponent, then replay with Transmuter is a nice place and insanely fast) but they just handle so much more than Trike.  With  8 Welder/Transmuter + Elixir, a Duplicant on the board basically wins in any match-up on the ground.  

[Random Noob]

I tested some Matches, and won against Null Rod. Once it was SUI the other one MUC. Against MUC i was a bit fisted when Energy Flux showed up in g2, but i won g1. I boarded in 4 Red Blast, and tried to play Chalice on 2 and 3 but both were coutered. I felt that this was my poorest Match Up.