Blue Steel

Standard* TheGodofNight

SCORE: 18 | 18 COMMENTS | 4085 VIEWS | IN 10 FOLDERS


FNM 08-08-14 —Aug. 10, 2014

Second FNM with the deck, and this time it performed beautifully. I took 1st place with it. Many of the early games I was either able to put out a Ornithopter or a Darksteel Citadel, slap on Ensoul Artifact and dominate the early game. On two of the late games, I was able to bring in the big guns and drop some Scuttling Doom Engine and mess up my opponent's days.

Round one I was up against a Black White Lifegain deck, but it wasn't flowing nicely. After a lengthly board stall in game one, I popped Jace's Ultimate, and laid down a pair of Scuttling Doom Engines and take victory. The second game an early Ornithopter enchanted with Ensoul Artifact was able to dominate the board.

Round 2, I was up against a RDW, but he suffered severe mana drought, which was no match for a 5/5 indestructible swinging in for lethal on both of our games.

Round 3 was against a JUND midrange deck and while he got in some hits, a big play error cost him the game when he was at 5 life and he blocked a my Scuttling Doom Engine with a deathtouch creature. 6 to the face hurts.

Over all i enjoyed playing it this week, but I think I want to take it in a different direction and splash red finally. I was impressed with a list I saw here on tapped out Y U PLAY BROKEN DECK!? by Brutal Fear. That coupled with some ideas and suggestions from infarct's Adamantium Blue deck, I will be assembling a red/blue verison and updating to that list soon.

LittleLion says... #1

Have you perchance thought of splashing white for access to Ephara, God of the Polis over Bident of Thassa ? I think it'd be a bit more effective of a draw mechanic. This would also give you access to Deicide and the almighty Detention Sphere , Sphinx's Revelation (to fix R/W burn problems), and Ajani Steadfast , who could really blow down the hatched in a deck like this with his -2. Its really niche, but you could also filter in Dauntless River Marshal for a cheap 3/2 with a relevant ability. Also, Ephemeral Shields could save your Chief Engineer s and Phyrexian Revoker s from Supreme Verdict an ever present threat for at least a couple more months.

If you feel like staying in mono-blue, I don't blame you. I think it has a mass amount of potential to be awesome. I would suggest Dissolve over Dissipate , for simple fact that not much is using reanimator type tactics right now. Jalira, Master Polymorphist could make and amazing sacrifice engine for your Scuttling Doom Engine s, but I don't think the cost is worth. It looks expensive, but Soul of Ravnica is a draw engine worth mentioning, with a pretty punishing six power attached. Its certainly -the- blue card worth considering.

August 3, 2014 3:25 p.m.

HipsterPumpkin says... #2

August 4, 2014 4:55 p.m.

TheGodofNight says... #3

@ LittleLion I hadn't really considered splashing white, and I was trying to avoid adding RTR cards so I didn't have to do a total overhaul when it rotates out. If anything, I was considering splashing red because of cards like Generator Servant . His ramp can be devastating. You make some valid arguments for Dissolve , so I may swap out the Dissipate s. Soul of Ravnica is a nice fatty, but I would consider his drawn engine poor for a mono colored deck. i appreciate the suggestions and will look more into them.

@ HipsterPumpkin - He was a thought, but the only downside is that if you remove him, all the tokens go with him. So he tends to be too fragile for my taste. Plus he is a removal magnet in MUD decks. However, if he lands and sticks to the board, he can be quite the pain in the arse for my opponent. Thanks for the suggestion.

August 5, 2014 10:53 a.m.

Nebulousone says... #4

Nice list. +1 I've been trying to run something similar, a little lighter on the artifacts and heavier on the blue, and I've tried out Illusory Angel . I think Illusory Angel can be a great card if you're running a lot of one drops and can play it ahead of the curve, but with your deck the only spell you can use to get it on T3 is Ornithopter , Springleaf Drum on T4. So a lot of the time it's just going to be a dead card in your hand. So maybe switch it for another 2x islands and more counter magic? I think 20 lands is too few for your curve, honestly, and leaves you too dependent on Chief Engineer to play your Scuttling Doom Engine . Also, unless there's a lot of graveyard shenanigans in your meta, Dissolve > Dissipate -- scry is awesome, always. Good luck with your deck, and lets hope that Khans has even more artifact love!

August 6, 2014 12:28 p.m.

Frayace says... #5

I would go up to atleast 21 land, in case you ever need more than 3 mana on the field.

To do this, you could just take a jace since he doesn't match the theme of your deck.

August 6, 2014 3 p.m.

LittleLion says... #6

TheGodofNight, I could see that. Red splash is a fantastic idea, especially on account of Generator Servant . That would give you access to Chandra, Pyromaster and Keranos, God of Storms as well, both of which have potential to be big plays early on in the game. Bolt of Keranos , even, could be really awesome. Obviously, most of these suggestions involve scrying or pseudo-scrying to the cards you need at the time, with a bit of removal attached. I think that would be the way to go, so that you have access to Chief engineer right off the bat.

August 6, 2014 4:53 p.m.

TheGodofNight says... #7

@ Nebulousone I agree that Illusory Angel is very janky, but a turn 2 or 3 Flying 4/4 usually give people a reason to pause. True, she catches removal to the face often, but usually in doing so, allows me to catch my opponent off guard with a 5/5 Ornithopter in the process. True, the heart of this deck relies heavily on the Scuttling Doom Engine , but this deck is fun to play, even if it it doesn't flow evenly. AS for the land base, I seriously though 20 would be too little land too, and I am thinking about upping the count to 22 or 23. I am going to switch the Dissipate s with the Dissolve s. Here's hoping to some artifact love in Khans!

@ Frayace I agree, most times the land isn't an issue, but i think i want to try it with the 22 lands. Removing the Jace is a good idea. Thanks for the suggestion.

@ LittleLion I've seen a bunch of Blue/Red artifact decks, and it has me exciting to try it out. I'm working on getting the appropriate land base to make it so. If I revamp the deck from the bottom up, that is most definitely the direction I intend to take. Thanks for the suggestions!

August 6, 2014 10:22 p.m.

infarct says... #8

I came up with a very similar deck list last week, after I barely lost an M15 draft at my LGS using a UR artifact deck. I drew into Ensoul Artifact + Ornithopter twice in my opening hand. I called my deck Adamantium Blue because of the indestructibility.

Like you, I am going for the Ensoul Artifact engine, but instead of my initial push into R for Scrapyard Mongrel and Shrapnel Blast , I went with Chasm Skulker as my Plan B.

The other thing that I used, that I wanted to point out, is the awesomeness that is the Soul of New Phyrexia . Same cost as the Doom Engine, not legendary, and also an artifact creature. For 5 mana, your whole crew gets indestructible.

August 7, 2014 3:13 p.m.