Rebuild Combo: A New Engine for Vintage?

[Troy_Costisick]

Heya,

I’ve had this deck in my back pocket for a while now.  Meadbert gave me some help with it a few months ago, so credit where credit is due. 

I came up with this deck as I was looking for alternate engines for Vintage.  My criteria for an engine in this search was the following:

1. It had to have to potential to either produce more mana than it cost to play and/or draw more cards than it cost to play.

2. It had to synergize well with the most powerful colors: Blue and Black.

3.  It had to be repeatable.

My guideposts were, obviously, cards like Dark Rit, Gush, Bazaar, and Shop but also cards like Heritage Druid, Frantic Search, and Skull Clamp since they are engines too. After a lot of searching, I hit on one that worked for me- Rebuild.

I should have thought of is sooner since Hurkyl’s had once been restricted.  But anyway, what I liked about Rebuild is that I could produce tons of mana and at the same time disrupt my opponent.  Experimenting with it also led me to Retract.  This card further helped the combo since it costs significantly less than Rebuild.   

Thanks to new printings like Preordain and Mox Opal, I suddenly had a deck I enjoyed playing.  But other events in my life have been keeping me away from doing some more secret testing with it, so I’m giving it to you-the community-to see if anyone wants to run with it.  Without further ado, here it is:

Creatures 
1   Inkwell Leviathan

Spells 
1   Ancestral Recall   
1   Brainstorm
1   Demonic Tutor
1   Empty the Warrens
4   Force of Will 
1   Merchant Scroll 
1   Mind's Desire 
1   Mystical Tutor   
1   Ponder
1   Preordain
3   Rebuild
2   Repeal
2   Retract 
2   Spell Pierce
1   Tendrils of Agony
1   Thirst for Knowledge 
1   Time Walk
1   Timetwister
1   Tinker
1   Vampiric Tutor
1   Wheel of Fortune
1   Windfall
1   Yawgmoth's Will

Artifacts 
3   Sensei's Divining Top   
1   Memory Jar
1   Black Lotus
1   Grim Monolith
1   Mana Crypt 
1   Mana Vault
1   Mox Emerald 
1   Mox Jet 
1   Mox Opal
1   Mox Pearl 
1   Mox Ruby 
1   Mox Sapphire   
1   Sol Ring

Lands 
2   Island 
4   Polluted Delta 
1   Scalding Tarn 
1   Tolarian Academy   
3   Underground Sea
2   Volcanic Island 
   
Sideboard     (15 cards) 
1   Ingot Chewer 
2   Sower of Temptation   
2   Diabolic Edict
1   Echoing Truth
1   Hurkyl's Recall
4   Leyline of the Void
4   Pithing Needle 

This deck is a storm deck, but instead of using Rituals, it uses Rebuild/Repeal/Retract.  The idea is to layout as many artifact mana sources as possible, bounce them with Rebuild to generate mana and storm, then win off Tendrils or Warrens. 

Originally, this deck was just U/B but meadbert suggested adding red for EtW and Wheel of Fortune.  It was a good suggestion and it made the deck more consistent even though it stretched the mana base a bit.

One of the interactions I really like is Tops + bounce + Mana Vault/Crypt/Monolith.  With multiple Tops out, a bounce effect can draw you a ton of cards and create extra storm.  With Mana Vault, Mana Crypt, or Grim Monolith out, it’s easy to replay the Tops and keep the deck going.

There is a ton of filtering and draw in this deck, so it’s easy to gather all the components necessary to for the kill.  Having maindeck Rebuilds and lots of extra artifact mana also helps improve the Shop matchup somewhat.  Although, I must admit, I haven’t have the time to test it against the newest builds.  Such is my schedule.

I did try some other cards as I experimented:

Seat of the Synod:  I thought that bouncing an artifact land would help me develop my mana.  Maybe if this were a 4 color deck using Fastbond that would be good, but it never worked out the way I wanted.

Thoughtcast:  With all the artifacts, I thought this would be a decent draw engine.  Too often, though, it just sat in my hand- especially when I had 4 in the deck.

Brainfreeze:  I originally tried to make this deck all Blue.  That may be a decent idea to try to return to someday, but Tendrils and EtW as just better kill cards.

Lion’s Eye Diamond:  I was looking for the broken interaction with tutors, but it didn’t happen often enough to justify the risk with this card.

Hurkyl’s Recall:  I liked the flexibility of this card, but in actual play it seemed like it was always worse than Retract or Rebuild.  So I moved one to the SB.  Your mileage may vary.

Necropotence:  Too hard to cast with this mana base.

Yawgmoth’s Bargain:  See above.

Emrakul the Aeon’s Torn:  I thought about trying to pack in enough artifact mana to hard cast Emrakul.  Even with 4 Monoliths it just didn’t work out.  Tinker-Leviathan is better.

Imperial Seal:  Tough to pull off with this mana base and creates card disadvantage.  I'm not even 100% sure Merchant Scroll belongs in this deck, so it's really really hard to justify ImpSeal.

Anyway, I hop it sparks some creativity.  I really wish I had more time to put into developing this deck.  It’s a lot of fun to play.

Peace,

-Troy

[policehq]

Did you ever try Vedalken Archmage? Would you want to try Riddlesmith?

[Troy_Costisick]

Did you ever try Vedalken Archmage? Would you want to try Riddlesmith?

Archmage is too mana intensive, but Riddlesmith is a thought, though.  Perhaps cutting a TFK and Merchant Scroll.  Maybe Pre-ordain as well.  Interesting idea.  Hard to say without some testing.

[Delha]

Chalice on 0 or 1 seems pretty rough, as does an opposing Rod. Have you found it difficult to hit Rebuild mana when cut off from artifact sources?

[ArtOvWar]

Chalice on 0 or 1 seems pretty rough, as does an opposing Rod. Have you found it difficult to hit Rebuild mana when cut off from artifact sources?

Was wondering the same.

Another thing. You will never hit enough mana vs shops for rebuild. Id run atleast one H.Recall. Maybe 2 if you can find spots for it.

[nineisnoone]

No way is Retract better than Hurkyl's.   

I'm also 90% sure that Opal/Grim should be replaced with Key/Vault.  Yeah, it's boring.  But just do it.  Key is pretty good with that many Tops (which might be excessive).

Do you really need Tendrils?  Especially with the splash of red (which I like), getting double black seems counter-productive for the deck.  Also I think Fact or Fiction, Gifts Ungiven, and Jace, TMS are better than Vamp, Scroll, Ponder, and Preordain.  The deck doesn't seem like it accelerates well so tutoring and early digging is just watering the deck down. 

I could even see Trinket Mage being a possibility (but that would be an entirely different deck).  But yeah, Jace and stuff.

[serracollector]

If playing 3 tops, grim monolith, mana vault, mana crypt, and sol ring Voltaic Key should be an auto-include, and if you have Voltaic Key and Tinker, then time vault should be an auto include.

I personally would drop the tinker bot to the SB, and make it a time vault, and I also agree that Retract is nowhere near as good as hurkyll's in this MUD heavy meta. 

Meandeck MUD with its 13 spheres and 4 null rods and 4 chalices seems it would be a very difficult game against you.

Nice idea tho.

[Troy_Costisick]

Heya,

These are all very interesting suggestions.  Thanks!

Chalice on 0 or 1 seems pretty rough, as does an opposing Rod. Have you found it difficult to hit Rebuild mana when cut off from artifact sources?

This is true of any storm deck.  The fact that this deck has built in mass artifact bounce effects at different casting costs gives it a leg up IMO.  In addition, having Sol Ring, Mana Vault, and Grim Monolith gives this deck some protection vs. Chalice at 0.  All the zero cost artifacts give this deck protection from Chalice at 1.

No way is Retract better than Hurkyl's.   

You need to try it before you knock it.  Retract w/Tops is awesome.

I'm also 90% sure that Opal/Grim should be replaced with Key/Vault.  Yeah, it's boring.  But just do it.  Key is pretty good with that many Tops (which might be excessive).

That would lead this deck more towards being a Tez deck.  Why bother with all the Rebuilds when Tez/Jace already have such efficient builds?

Do you really need Tendrils?  Especially with the splash of red (which I like), getting double black seems counter-productive for the deck.  Also I think Fact or Fiction, Gifts Ungiven, and Jace, TMS are better than Vamp, Scroll, Ponder, and Preordain.  The deck doesn't seem like it accelerates well so tutoring and early digging is just watering the deck down. 

That’s a very interesting insight.  Maybe a U/R Deck with more focus on draw effects would be a good build to test.  You lost out on Yawg’s Will though.  That’s a bummer.

If playing 3 tops, grim monolith, mana vault, mana crypt, and sol ring Voltaic Key should be an auto-include, and if you have Voltaic Key and Tinker, then time vault should be an auto include.

I see what you’re saying about Key ant Tops.  Interesting thought.  To me, that takes the deck in a new direction- which is just fine.  It gets tempting to add Riddlesmith and Etherium Sculptor to the list at that point.

I personally would drop the tinker bot to the SB, and make it a time vault, and I also agree that Retract is nowhere near as good as hurkyll's in this MUD heavy meta. 

Putting Tinker-Bot in the SB is hard for me to do b/c it is such a win-from-out-of-nowhere thing.  But I do know that other Storm decks are starting to do that, so it is a legit suggestion.  Retract is really good, but replacing them with Hurkyl’s is something that could be considered.  The problem then becomes finding a way to bounce your own stuff after playing Hurkyl’s on your opponent.

[nineisnoone]

I wouldn't drop black altogether, I'd run a lone underground sea just for Yawgmoth.

As far as Key/Vault goes, if you don't want to run it, that's your prerogative, but I wouldn't say it "takes the deck in a different direction."  You can just simply think of it as being the best 59th and 60th cards for your deck.

Retract is really good, but replacing them with Hurkyl’s is something that could be considered.  The problem then becomes finding a way to bounce your own stuff after playing Hurkyl’s on your opponent.

If you had to Hurkyl's your opponent, then having a Retract wouldn't do any good.  If you can bounce your own stuff and win, Hurkyl's can still do the job.  

Rebuild is the only card that can do both of those tings at the same time.  Retract only works in one of those two cases, while Hurkyl's works in both of those cases but not at the same time.

[Troy_Costisick]

I wouldn't drop black altogether, I'd run a lone underground sea just for Yawgmoth.

As far as Key/Vault goes, if you don't want to run it, that's your prerogative, but I wouldn't say it "takes the deck in a different direction."  You can just simply think of it as being the best 59th and 60th cards for your deck.

Retract is really good, but replacing them with Hurkyl’s is something that could be considered.  The problem then becomes finding a way to bounce your own stuff after playing Hurkyl’s on your opponent.

If you had to Hurkyl's your opponent, then having a Retract wouldn't do any good.  If you can bounce your own stuff and win, Hurkyl's can still do the job.  

Rebuild is the only card that can do both of those tings at the same time.  Retract only works in one of those two cases, while Hurkyl's works in both of those cases but not at the same time.

Thank you for your interest.  What I'm going to do is propose some theoretical decks.  The first deck listsed in this thread is the only one I've tested, but based on the feedback here, I think there may be other avenues to explore.  Keep in mind the following lists are untested.

Rebuild Combo 1A:
Spells  
1   Ancestral Recall  
1   Brainstorm
1   Demonic Tutor
1   Empty the Warrens
4   Force of Will  
1   Merchant Scroll  
1   Mind's Desire  
1   Mystical Tutor  
1   Ponder
1   Preordain
3   Rebuild
2   Repeal
3   Hurkyl's Recall  
2   Spell Pierce
1   Fact or Fiction
1   Gifts Ungiven
1   Thirst for Knowledge  
1   Time Walk
1   Timetwister
1   Vampiric Tutor
1   Wheel of Fortune
1   Windfall
1   Yawgmoth's Will

Artifacts  
3   Sensei's Divining Top  
1   Memory Jar
1   Black Lotus
1   Grim Monolith
1   Mana Crypt  
1   Mana Vault
1   Mox Emerald  
1   Mox Jet  
1   Mox Opal
1   Mox Pearl  
1   Mox Ruby  
1   Mox Sapphire  
1   Sol Ring

Lands  
2   Island  
4   Polluted Delta  
1   Scalding Tarn  
1   Tolarian Academy    
2   Underground Sea
3   Volcanic Island  
    
Sideboard     (15 cards)  
1   Ingot Chewer  
2   Sower of Temptation  
2   Diabolic Edict
1   Tinker
1   Inkwell Leviathan
4   Leyline of the Void
4   Pithing Needle

This is the simplest change.  Basically, I changed the Retracts to Hurkyl's and move another from the SB to the MD.  Added in FoF and Gifts and dropped Tendrils.

Riddlestorm
Creatures:

2 Trinket Mage
2 Etherium Sculptor
4 Riddlesmith

Spells:

1   Ancestral Recall  
1   Brainstorm
1   Demonic Tutor
1   Empty the Warrens
4   Force of Will  
1   Mystical Tutor  
1   Ponder
3   Rebuild
2   Hurkyl’s Recall
2   Spell Pierce
1   Time Walk
1   Timetwister
1   Tinker
1   Wheel of Fortune
1   Yawgmoth's Will

Artifacts:

3   Sensei's Divining Top  
1   Memory Jar
1   Time Vault
1   Voltaic Key
1   Black Lotus
1   Mana Crypt  
1   Mana Vault
1   Mox Emerald  
1   Mox Jet  
1   Mox Opal
1   Mox Pearl  
1   Mox Ruby  
1   Mox Sapphire  
1   Sol Ring

Lands:

2   Island  
4   Polluted Delta  
1   Scalding Tarn  
1   Tolarian Academy    
3   Underground Sea
2   Volcanic Island  
    
Sideboard     (15 cards)  
1   Ingot Chewer  
2   Sower of Temptation  
2   Diabolic Edict
1   Inkwell Leviathan
1   Hurkyl's Recall
4   Leyline of the Void
4   Pithing Needle

This one is a bit more creature-centric.  It uses Trinker Mage to help hunt up artifacts and Riddlesmith to help draw into combo parts.  Etherium Sculptor is there to help go inifite w/ Tops and make replayig Sol Ring and Mana Vault easier.

Find the Vault
Creatures
4 Trinket Mage
4 Riddlesmith

Spells
1   Ancestral Recall  
1   Brainstorm
1   Merchant Scroll
1   Mind’s Desire
4   Force of Will  
1   Mystical Tutor  
1   Ponder
3   Rebuild
2   Hurkyl’s Recall
2   Mana Drain
1   Time Walk
1   Timetwister
1   Windfall
1   Tinker
1   Brain Freeze

Artifacts
3   Sensei's Divining Top  
1   Memory Jar
1   Time Vault
1   Voltaic Key
1   Black Lotus
1   Mana Crypt  
1   Mana Vault
1   Mox Emerald  
1   Mox Jet  
1   Mox Opal
1   Mox Pearl  
1   Mox Ruby  
1   Mox Sapphire  
1   Sol Ring

Lands
6   Island  
4   Polluted Delta  
3   Scalding Tarn  
1   Tolarian Academy    

Sideboard     (15 cards)  
1   Echoing Truth  
2   Sower of Temptation  
2   Repeal
1   Inkwell Leviathan
1   Hurkyl's Recall
4   Leyline of the Void
4   Pithing Needle

This is a mono-blue combo version.  The idea is just to burn through your deck as fast as possible, locate either Brain Freeze or Key/Vault and then win.  This deck is loaded to the hilt with drawing power and tutoring to help you filter out the cards you need as fast as possible.  I have no idea if this deck is any good, but I love the idea of it.

Anyway, that's what I have on this topic for now.  Happy hunting!

Peace,

-Troy