Blue Stax

[Lurker101]

Alright so I've been messing around with Hatching Plans/Ichor Wellspring for awhile and I've found that Read the Runes works really really well with these cards. Some guys I was talking to on Cockatrice recommended Smokestack so I added that as well as Despotic Scepter. This is my current list. The deck uses Summoner's Eggs which have great synergy with Smoketstack, Scepter, Read the Runes, Tinker, and Transmute Artifact. There are lines of play like having an Emrakul imprinted on an Egg and tinkering the egg for Blightsteel or using Transmute on Ichor Wellspring to imprint a creature in your hand. I originally had two Transmutes and I'm not sure if just 1 is the right number. I'm working on a UB version too so when I get a decent list for that I'll post it too.

Blue Staxx

Lands/Mana:19
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
3 Island
3 Swamp
4 Underground Sea
2 Polluted Delta
1 Tolarian Academy

Engine:14
2 Ichor Wellspring
4 Hatching Plans
4 Read the Runes
1 Despotic Scepter
3 Summoner's Eggs

Creatures:8
3 Solemn Simulacrum
2 Myr Welder
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Emrakul the Aeons Torn
1 Myr Battlesphere


Other Artifacts:4
2 Smokestack
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key

Other Instants or Sorceries:
3 Force of Will
3 Mana Drain
2 Mental Misstep
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Transmute Artifact

I don't have a sideboard yet but I'll post it when I have a better idea of one.

[xouman]

Nice approach, but I'm not sure the main purpose of the deck. Is it to cheat creatues into play with egg? Or it does typically win with key+vault? Well, those are my concerns:

19 mana sources? Really? It has really high costs, and getting 4 mana is not easy. I'd play more blue lands, or at least, fetches. The 3 swamps look really weird in a deck with just 2 black cards.

Despotic scepter is dead most of the time. It has nice synergy with some cards, but if you don't manage to play plans or eggs... Perilous research feels better.

Emrakul does not fit here. You only have 3 cards to get it there. Drains also are out of place. You don't want to pass the turn, and playing so few countermagic they are not so great. I'd play duress or tgz, since you are playing black. You improve first turns and make space for your combo in midgame.

If you want to go the "sacrifice route", magus of the unseen works nice. Besides, it can combo with opponent vault/tinkerbot.

And finally, have you thought about adding red? Then you can play welders and gargadons. One improves mud pairing (but even with welders it looks a bit hard) and  the other one is great against oath

[TheWhiteDragon]

yeah - I have 20 lands, 3 moxen, lotus, 2 aether vials and a deathrite in a deck where my highest casting cost is 2.  Even in burn (mostly 1cc and 2cc) I still have 19 lands.  Running 19 lands in a deck that really wants 4 mana is a bad idea.

I too am confused about the main strategy.  It's okay to have divergent gameplans, but one of the plans should be a primary focus.  With this list, I don't know what the main goal is for sure.

I like the idea of adding red, and gargadon with plans is amazing.  Gargadon also gives you a really big kill and an almost auto win vs oath.

[Lurker101]

I'm going to cut vault key for some more mana sources since that has been a problem. I plan on making a few other changes too. I'll post an updated list soon. Thanks for the input!

[kwis]

What does Emrakul do for you?

[dangerlinto]

I find it hard to believe that a deck with Ichor Wellspring as a draw engine doesn't want to run Goblin Welder.  Seems like getting one and play and one in the yard is living the dream drawing two card for every tap.

[Lurker101]

What does Emrakul do for you?

Not enough. I think I'll cut him for Inkwell and I will add Goblin Welder for sure. I was hesitant to add a third color but it actually shouldn't be much of a stretch and the synergy is great. I already cut the Drains in order to go 4/4 on Force and MM. I'll post an updated list after more testing.