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Weaponsmith Visits Zendikar

Standard Artifact Ramp UR (Izzet)

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Sideboard


When you set out to make a blue ramp deck for Standard, this is the kind of crazy result you get. These cards just have a really tight synergy together. I have recently made enough from trading on MTGO to get my hands on three copies of Hangarback Walker for this list, so I have removed its 'budget' tag. Unfortunately Oath of the Gatewatch did not bring much to get excited about, so the only change was one Seer's Lantern, replacing a Sword of the Animist.

Renowned Weaponsmith brings any artifacts he can find out onto the field quickly. With a turn 3 Hedron Archive, it's possible - easy, even - to have at our disposal on turn 4. Even with Weaponsmith's artifact-specific restriction, that's incredible. For example, we can cast Mage-Ring Responder that turn AND leave up Dispel, or a Hangarback Walker for four. He also goes absolutely nuts with Retreat to Coralhelm, which allows him to untap. Add Sword of the Animist to that combo and he can make in one turn. Any deck that uses Fiery Impulse as its cheap removal is going to have problems when they can't kill him early enough.

Thopter Engineer can also be cast on turn 3 with the Weaponsmith -> Archive lead, which can in turn lead to a hasty Mage-Ring Responder on turn four. Without the Weaponsmith, casting it into a Thopter Spy Network the following turn is great too.

Retreat to Coralhelm untaps Weaponsmith, Mage-Ring Responder, and Hangarback Walker (but unfortunately only one at a time!) and gives us good draws if we don't have a use for any of those things. We usually do, though.

Hangarback Walker is obviously a great early play, but in this deck it can also come onto the field already quite big. It clogs the board, takes as much mana as Renowned Weaponsmith and Hedron Archive can give it, can activate Sanctum of Ugin, can add on multiple counters in one turn with Retreat to Coralhelm, is great sac fodder for Sidisi's Faithful , and gives Chief of the Foundry the ammunition it needs to be very dangerous. Need I say more?

Thopter Spy Network is very good, and can carry the deck if Weaponsmith gets killed. A source of card advantage so reliable deserves three spots.

Sidisi's Faithful might seem like a weird pick here, but it slows down many aggressive decks (looking at you, Warden of the First Tree and Bloodsoaked Champion), can bounce something in a pinch, and adds another sneaky element to the deck if Mirror Mockery comes in out of the sideboard. Now that we've added Hangarback Walker, it also provides us a sacrifice outlet.

Sanctum of Ugin lets us chain Hangarback Walkers or Mage-Ring Responders (lol), or search for Chief of the Foundry if it's more appropriate for the situation.

As I mentioned, Sword of the Animist is fantastic with Retreat to Coralhelm, but it also helps us find our land drops. Since we're only running 21 lands (and three colorless Sanctum of Ugin), that's important, especially if we don't see a Weaponsmith or it gets killed. It's also just a good card.

Pilgrim's Eye , Seer's Lantern, and Anticipate are all "glue" cards. They smooth out our draws, especially when it comes to finding lands early on. Pilgrim's Eye can also tutor up a Retreat to Coralhelm activation in a niche situation.

Thanks for checking out this list!

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Date added 8 years
Last updated 8 years
Legality

This deck is not Standard legal.

Rarity (main - side)

17 - 8 Rares

11 - 5 Uncommons

18 - 2 Commons

Cards 60
Avg. CMC 2.67
Tokens Copy Clone, Manifest 2/2 C, Thopter 1/1 C
Folders Interesting Decks, in the processs, Artifacts, Standard, decks
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