Urza, Lord High Artificer cEDH *Primer*

Commander / EDH KailDaemon

SCORE: 164 | 153 COMMENTS | 135375 VIEWS | IN 73 FOLDERS


Comments & Update V1.1 —May 27, 2019

After the 1st week of testing and many...many consults from both my LGS, other lists, and the commentors here on this list. I've made the 1st round of changes.

IN:

  • Power Artifact

  • Rings of Brighthearth

  • Aether SpellBomb

  • Winds of Rebuke

  • Mouth of Ronom (with a full swap from Islands to Snow Covered Islands)

  • Mishra's Workshop

  • Seat of the Synod

  • Darksteel Citadel

OUT:

  • Etherium Sculptor

  • Legacy's Allure

  • Future Sight

  • Preordain

  • 4 Islands

Also I'd like to remind everyone: be courteous to one another. There have been a few instances where people are being rude, whether they meant to be or not, and sparked responses that were also counter productive to a clean and healthy community. Whether a person suggest something optimal or suboptimal, it doesnt matter. Be nice. I've stated in my primer that my inclusion of the maybeboard would be for other ideas that would work within this shell for both competitive and casual play, meta dependent, alternative win cons, or just neat ideas. The main list is how my personal list will sit in paper. I appreciate all suggestions sent my way. Those I find to be reasonable will go through testing and if made prominent in my personal meta and win percentage itll make the main list and the cards I've removed will go to the maybe board. Again, think about the words you use and how you use them. I treat all forms of criticism with respect and I'd like for everyone, atleast on the comments in this list, to do the same thing. Thank you all and I hope to continue to hear feedback, good and bad. Just make sure we are nice to one another ok?

dingusdingo says... #1

Okay lets break down the justifications you gave, because I still think they merit changing.

Choosing not to run Mishra's Workshop in a deck that combos and staxs with artifacts is just silly. The problem is far more with your deck building choices of running 20 artifacts in an artifact commander oriented deck than the card itself. I shouldn't have to explain the value of 3 extra mana going towards your paradox engine or a stax piece like trinisphere, but apparently I do. Getting to winning pieces faster is better, run it. You also have the luxury of a mulligan on hands when its dead, similar to how Gaea's Cradle is a great card but dead in some hands.

Seat of the Synod combos with Mox Opal Transmute Artifact Inventors' Fair Reshape Unwinding Clock and is pullable for X=0 from Tezzeret the Seeker or Whir of Invention , meaning you can ramp in mono blue. Also recoverable from GY with Academy Ruins . Meanwhile, it nonbos with Back to Basics . Do some cost/benefit analysis and come back to me on that one.

Expedition Map is tutor density, which is your single biggest problem. If you are in a creature heavy meta, it functions as Tabernacle #2, why would you not run it? The value engine with Academy Ruins is icing on the cake. It's also part of a tutor chain using Inventors' Fair which leads to winning lines. Calling it cute without realizing it gives you more consistency with another winning line that also grinds value is just ignorant. Similar to Seat of the Synod , look at your own cards before rejecting inclusions.

Legacy's Allure is 100% a bad card. Assuming you somehow land that on turn 1, it still isn't anywhere close to live until turn 3. Unless the opposing creature is already on the board turn 1, your opponent will remove it before they play whatever creature they need that you would steal anyways, and if the creature is on the board turn 1 you should remove it before turn 3 anyways. Many stax creatures are symmetrical, so stealing one does nothing because those decks are designed to work around the effects. Also Gitrog is a 6/6 so assuming turn 1 Allure it still won't be live until turn 7, at which point Gitrog has already won. You can make the argument for proliferate, but you aren't running any. Aether Spellbomb is faster, combos with your commander, can turn itself into a cantrip if there aren't good creature targets, synergizes with that giant list of cards I talked about with Seat of the Synod, and is less color intensive. If you really need another theft effect, Vedalken Shackles is significantly better and combos all the same ways.

Howling Mine grinds values in longer games. Even if you give your opponent 1 or 2 cards, if you end up drawing 6 or 7 cards from it you are getting a better advantage. It works better in a stax build over a combo build, but then that leads to my next point. If you're really scared run Blinkmoth Well

You should build this as a stax deck. Compare this to an Arcum Dagson deck. The reason that is able to be a fast combo deck is because it has a tutor in the command zone that leads to winning lines. Meanwhile, Urza generates mana and expensive card advantage from the command zone, which benefits you when games go longer. Why would anyone build this deck with these pieces when Arcum does the same thing but better? They are the same CMC, but Dagson is less color intensive so its easier to ramp into with mono blue.

Even if you are trying to run this as fast combo, you aren't making good choices. Why are you running Fact or Fiction and not Frantic Search ? Why is your counterspell density so high when you should be tutoring or drawing to win? 13 counterspells with the meme new Narset spell for 14? Why? The card advantage your deck generates isn't high enough to sustain a package that big. If you're trying to fast combo why are you focusing on playing defensive? You don't need that many counterspells to protect your own combo.

Why are you running Power Artifact but not Basalt Monolith ? Otherwise power artifact is literally a dead draw if Grim Monolith is gone or unavailable. It opens up more options to get infinite and win with Urza

Cut Future Sight . Focus on assembling infinite mana to use Urza as an outlet. Not a single cEDH list runs it for a reason, expensive and slow. If you have infinite mana to plow through your deck with Future Sight you can just do the same with Urza. Wasted slot.

Running Isochron Scepter Dramatic Reversal and Copy Artifact but you aren't running Winds of Rebuke . It has high value outside combo, and high value inside combo. Currently you only have one method of drawing deck outside Urza (Paradox + Voltaic Key + Sensei's Top), which means you are very liable to be hit with Meddling Mage or Pithing Needle or Phyrexian Revoker or Cursed Totem , all of which see play and make your Jace and Labman into dead draws. You should also consider Blue Sun's Zenith for similar reasons, gives an outlet for infinite mana if Urza is turned off or unavailable.

May 23, 2019 3:32 p.m.

fL4txxEaR7h3R says... #2

Would Mind Over Matter be a good addition? Its expensive, but could be a good combo enabler if we lost Paradox Engine .

And also i do have to agree with the dingus guy even though he came off kinda douchey

May 24, 2019 9:55 p.m.

fL4txxEaR7h3R says... #3

And sorry for double posting but what about Riddlesmith ? 2 cmc to start looting for stuff you need doesnt seem too bad since we run Academy Ruins which can just recover what we threw away. I dont own a twister, so what are your thoughts on Time Spiral ? Sorry for all the questions im just super stoked for this deck hahaha

May 24, 2019 10:09 p.m.

Lokust says... #4

First off I want to say awesome deck, I continue to check it out for inspiration on my build. I just wanted to give you an alternative for Future Sight using Precognition Field you dont have to play with the top card up, and it can remove a pesky land.

May 25, 2019 5:32 a.m.

KailDaemon says... #5

@fL4txxEaR7h3R yes he made good points and I made some changes based of it but the guy was an ass for no reason. Not like i rude to him, so I dont get why he did that. Also mind over matter's is a death sentence. Difficult to cast. Riddlesmith seems fine if you need to dig a bit more, but we have a bunch of tutors to get what we need so unless you dont have access to the whole tutor suite here I think it's a fine inclusion. And time spiral is fine if you dont have a twister. You wont be able to do twister loops but you can extend the turn to dig for a win in a pinch if you needed to. I'd run a Stroke of Genius over twister if I didnt have one personally. With all the mana this deck can generate itll either dig for your win a little easier or just outright kill a person at instant speed. The maybeboard if there for budget and alternatives if you dont have/have a different playstyle. So swap as needed til you like the deck. I try to keep it as helpful as I can.

@Lokust thanks man, appreciate the positive feedback. And while I do like the precog field, it limits what we can cast, mainly we lost our ability to cast artifacts off the top, which is great for executing some infinite draw combos in our deck in the primer above. We dont really care too much about hitting lands as we run so few, and with infinite draw or mana. We will have access to our whole library anyway so hitting a land with Urza becomes minuscule.

May 25, 2019 12:31 p.m.

DrkNinja says... #6

Yo dingusdingo I don't know what crawled up your ass and died, but... Talk to KailDaemon with just a shred of respect and I PROMISE YOU he will be more receptive to your argument, which for the record is SOLID. I agree with a lot of what you said, however I know Kail is paying attention to the Urza deck made by Shaper and the Labmen which is heavy on the counters and plays a very instant heavy version of this deck (which totally doesn't make sense to me).

May 25, 2019 1:35 p.m.

KailDaemon says... #7

I appreciate the defense but he had solid advice. Yes my primary consult is sickrobots list but only because we thought if the same type of things with doing a swap from a CVT list to Urza. The elements are the same as well as our metas. A stock build would probably look similar to what dingus is suggesting. My main thing is let me test out my alpha list and find the inconsistencies in gameplay rather than find them on paper before any testing can be done. I've played the deck once so far given my lifes personal schedule. As I continue to play the deck and test I'm sure cuts and changes will be made...but that takes time. All I ask is people to be respectful here and to each other outside of this thread. I didnt technically day no to his suggestions, just gave my reasons for why I couldnt see why they shouldnt be included now. He enlightened me to reason I didnt initially think of when I gave my response, but I wasnt trying to rude. Getting that kind of response back was uncalled for but I disregard it due to his reasons being solid. And if and when I find inconsistencies with the deck. His suggestions will probably the first I look at due to his advice.

I thank and appreciate everyone who helps with this list, and any and all help is appreciated

May 25, 2019 2:03 p.m.

skaterajfst says... #8

And what about Cephalid Coliseum ? It’s not good enough?

May 25, 2019 5:10 p.m.

Davinoth says... #9

I'd suggest Darksteel Citadel , otherwise I think you've about nailed it. :)

May 26, 2019 12:39 p.m.

dingusdingo says... #10

I found your response of calling card selections "cute" to be incredibly patronizing. You'll have to forgive my terse tone if you truly weren't trying to patronize me, but regardless, you have as much time as you need between postings to look at your deck and the suggestions. If you are truly a competitive player and this is truly a competitive deck, people should not have to spoon feed you the reasoning as to why a card works with 8% of the cards you run (I didn't even include the mediocre synergy Seat has with Sai, Master Thopterist or Fabricate ). You have to consciously put every card into the list, so they were all intentional choices you made. You should have familiarity with the cards you run, especially if you claim this to be a competitive deck. You should also have familiarity with competitive concepts, like removal that requires 2 turns and 2 mana to work is far worse than removal that requires 1 mana to work at instant speed (why run Legacy's Allure before Pongify or Rapid Hybridization ? They are both less conditional and cheaper).

A close reading of my earlier comment will also show I only had a strong tone towards the card choices and deck building ideas, not at a person. Also quick shout out to all the people swearing at me and calling me a douche, the bad card suggestions, lack of card suggestions, and ad hominems have been pivotal to the development of this list. I'm not gaining anything from writing paragraphs explaining easy includes for YOUR list, so if you want to keep flinging mud I'll simply leave you to it. If you want to talk cards, put on your big boy pants, realize that you can make an ignorant or bad card choice without being an ignorant or bad person, and lets talk winning.

Mind Over Matter is expensive to cast, and combos out with tap to draw permanents, which this list doesn't run. It's been ignored by cEDH due to the massive color cost requirement + CMC and how weak the combo pieces are outside of combo.

Riddlesmith could have value, but this list doesn't have the artifact density required. It also does absolutely nothing by itself, meaning it has no value without other pieces to make it go. Relatively weak card and any loot effect for 1 or 2 cmc will outperform in a fast format like cEDH.

Time Spiral is also mostly ignored because it doesn't generate the value you want. It isn't reusable like Timetwister , so it doesn't generate value with looping as a wincon. It requires 6 mana to cast, and you're only getting 6 untaps with 6 lands in play, meaning turn 6 as the earliest (read: 3 turns after someone else has won). Even with 3 mana and getting 3 mana back (so it effectively costs 3), it has a high initial cost which means it will sit in hand without being used, while Timetwister could be used earlier. Hits for a lot off Ad Naus and Dark Confidant , which are format staples. Mediocre replacement for twister, but you'd be better off running another 1 2 or 3 cmc draw piece that isn't already used, Sleight of Hand comes to mind for this list.

Precognition Field does the same thing as Urza but allows you to peek top of library. Just like Future Sight , the slot is literally wasted with this commander, because you don't need another infinite mana outlet. If you need help getting to your infinite mana combo pieces, you should run more tutor and draw, not a slow and expensive top of deck value engine.

Cephalid Coliseum is usually ignored because of how unreliable threshold is. Timetwister resets it, and GY hate is very common. Its a painful non-island island in the vast majority of games, and generates land disadvantage when you can use it. Coliseum has its place though; it's very useful in Doomsday decks as a low opportunity cost pile cracker and sifter, but is still sometimes passed over in those lists because of the cost of Doomsday. It can also be used in decks that run Laboratory Maniac as a way to draw on an empty library, but most ignore Coliseum because they achieve no cards in library by drawing the deck, which means they will almost definitely have a draw card they can play that isn't dependent on a land drop. Also Coliseum gets caught by all the non-basic land hate that sees play.

Darksteel Citadel is a worthwhile include if blue mana density is high enough. Dodges Armageddon and opens up same lines that Seat of the Synod does.

I also have one more suggestion. Baral, Chief of Compliance has more value in this list than Etherium Sculptor . You run a total of 32 instants and sorceries, 15 of them which can be cost reduced (the 32 matters in case opponents play a tax effect). Meanwhile, of the 21 artifacts you play, only 15 of them can be cost reduced due to the amount of 0 cost rocks. Baral also generates value on the ridiculously large amount of counterspells you run though, which makes it a more worthwhile include. If you do decide to up artifact density (and include Mishra's Workshop , which you should due to playing under Trinisphere and orb effects anyways), then sculptor may end up being the better slot.

You also really don't need future sight in your infinite lines. Voltaic Key can replace it in the Paradox Engine line, and the other line is weak anyways because its creature based (easiest permanent type to remove). Voltaic Key untaps Sensei's Divining Top while top trigger is on stack, and use Top again. Sensei's draws a card, then goes to top of library on first trigger, then draws itself on second. Assuming you have 2+ mana in rocks you break parity, on 3+ you generate positive mana. You can do a similar thing with Rings of Brighthearth and Sensei's Top, plus Brighthearth combos with both the monoliths, so it serves as a second B for the A + B of Power Artifact and Monoliths.

May 26, 2019 10:41 p.m.