This deck works like my Aetherborn Master Artifacts deck in its win-conditions, but it is beefed up by adding to my colors for an Esper take on the Artifacts theme. Some weaknesses the Orzov take had was the cost of Sram's Expertise in a deck that very lightly splashes
I took those cards out and kept away from the double manna costs on splash colors.
Adding gives me the opportunity to add Tezzeret the Schemer and Tezzeret's Touch to my lineup. I also removed 1 Metalwork Colossus as i felt that i really don't need more than 1 of them in my system, and with 4 Inventors' Fair in play i can find 1 just as fast. For creatures i took out the 1 copy of Aetherborn Marauder, and 1 copy of Vengeful Rebel for 2 copies of Weaponcraft Enthusiast, as i felt i needed to make up for the servos i lost due to taking Sram's Expertise out. I also decided to put the 1 copy of Eliminate the Competition into the main-board from the sideboard to beef up my creature killing capabilities.
**_Win conditions:_**
Marionette Master:
This card is our primary win-condition, as we seek to sacrifice artifacts to deal damage through her. You will want to play her as a 4/6 whenever you have room for it, however playing her as a 1/3 with 3 servos can improve your board state more, while giving the Syndicate Trafficker time to grow as well.
Syndicate Trafficker:
This card works very well with Marionette Master, as she can give him artifacts to chew on if you focus on getting this guy as big as he can get, and at the same time he ca sacrifice artifacts to win through her ability.
Metalwork Colossus:
When you are running an artifact deck and you have 4 Inventors' Fair in the deck, its hard to justify not putting at least 1 of these guys in there. This guy however complements the Marionette Master from the graveyard, and on the field he can chump pretty much anything. Added to this the fact that we are running a lot of non-creature artifacts, you can get him out on the field relatively fast for a deck that doesn't necessarily try to get him out ASAP.
Tezzeret the Schemer:
Its never a bad idea to add a planeswalker in a deck, and this guy does the job real well. His first ability gives us a self-sacrificing artifact that works with Marionette Master, that also gives us an extra manna we can use to bring her out faster. This second ability gives a target creature +1 damage for every artifact you have, and since we have many artifacts, putting this on the Marionette Master before you start sacrificing your artifacts make for some explosive damage dealing potential. His emblem gives us an extra 5/5 body on the field. Its like he was made for this deck.
To run these win-conditions effectively, we need quite a few more artifacts.
**_Artifacts:_**
For artifacts, we will be looking towards value artifacts to get to our win-condition faster, and servos to stall the game until we get there.
Implement of Improvement:
This one comes in at 1 manna, and for you get to self-sacrifice it to gain 2 life and draw a card. It helps you last a little longer, helps you find your win-conditions faster, and acts as a supporting attribute to your win-conditions. VALUE!
Metalspinner's Puzzleknot:
For 2 manna, you get a self-sacrificing artifact that draws you a card and loses you a life, and when sacrificed it draws you another card. The fact that it works against your life-total is sub-optimal, but it draws you more cards faster than the Implement of Improvement does, so in terms of value they seem to be equals.
Servo Schematic:
This card is the best complement card to Syndicate Trafficker, as it effectively gives you 3 turns of indestructible. Turn 2 Syndicate Trafficker, turn 3 Servo Schematic sacrificed for a 4/2 indestructible body and 2 servos really isn't a bad start.
Inspiring Statuary:
This one helps our non-artifact stuff come out faster, or in greater quantities. Turn 4 Marionette Master is especially sweet.
Cultivator's Caravan:
This vehicle helps us fix our manna, in addition, more than any other artifact we have it helps get the Metalwork Colossus out faster. Finally it can be used as a 5/5 body with crew 3, perfect for Syndicate Trafficker,Vengeful Rebel and Midnight Entourage
Universal Solvent:
This card is one of our only answers to opponent planeswalkers or problematic enchantments. It is a little expensive for what it does, but the fact that it can be found by Inventors' Fair and acts as a self-sacrificing artifact helps to secure a spot for it in our main-board.
**_Creatures-Aetherborn theme:_**
Midnight Entourage:
This guy is a 3/3 for 4 body that gives +1/+1 to other aetherborn, which is decent, but whats amazing about him is that when it or other aetherborn die, you draw a card and lose a life. Now obviously you don't want 3 of these on your board, as they can end up accidentally killing you, but having those extra card draws really help you find what you need.
Vengeful Rebel:
This 3/2 for 3 body can come in with epic killing power. If a permanent you own left the battlefield this turn, you get to -3/-3 an enemy creature.
Weaponcraft Enthusiast:
This creature can come in as a 2/3, or as a 0/1 with 2 servos. The servos help with our win-conditions, as well as give us a greater board presence, and as such you will almost always want the servos. The exception to this preference is if you need a blocker that can trade with an attacking creature, and playing him big would allow you to do this.
**_Other spells:_**
Underhanded Designs:
This card serves as a defense against key opposing creatures, but while it isn't needed for that, it can help chip away at your opponent life-points while healing you up, delaying the game for you while shortening it for your opponent once you go on the offensive.
Eliminate the Competition:
This card in combination with Marionette Master and a bunch of servos can end the game right there, but it also helps us trade our lesser creatures for our opponents greater ones, which further delays the game. A slightly delayed game is what we want, and so anything that does that plays into our hand.
Tezzeret's Touch:
This card makes use of our large number of non-creature artifacts in a high-value way. It turns something that might not have a direct board presence into a 5/5 body, and bounces it back to our hand once it dies. It targets of choice will be Metalspinner's Puzzleknot and Servo Schematic as they give us benefits upon entering the battlefield, but feel free to buff up a servo or use it one one of our 1 manna artifacts like Implement of Improvement pr Universal Solvent if needed.
Morbid Curiosity:
This card draws us more cards, while sacrificing a creature or artifact. While Midnight Entourage is in play it draws you one more card than it should, while used on artifacts it helps your win-condition through Marionette Master. Our targets of choice will be Weaponcraft Enthusiast as sacrificing a 0/1 for 3-4 cards is a really good trade. Another choice may be the 5 card Midnight Entourage, or in a pinch the Metalwork Colossus for a whopping 11 card draw. Feel free to target a Metalspinner's Puzzleknot as well if you have to keep onto every life-point, and wouldn't be able to sacrifice it anyway.
**_Sideboard:_**
Our sideboard boast some flyers in 3 Glint-Nest Crane and 2 Skyship Plunderer that synergize well with our deck, just in case we need to cover the air. It also brings 1 more copy of Universal Solvent, 2 Ovalchase Daredevil against those red or black kill-spells, 3 Essence Extraction against creature heavy decks, and 1 that goes along with 3 copies of Kambal, Consul of Allocation against control decks.
