Spire of Industry VS Mana Confluence in Affinity
Modern Deck Help forum
Posted on Feb. 13, 2017, 9:38 a.m. by Dankey
In addition of running 3-4 glimmervoids, the remaining 1-2 lands (of 17) could be either basic lands, Spire of Industry or Mana Confluence.
I personally run 1 mountain and a MC but have been debating using SoI instead.
How can I determine how badly I need that one colored mana vs settling for colorless if/when my artifacts are wiped? How bad is taking 1 damage every time I use MC after side boarding? If I really need the colored mana but an artifact wipe loses the game anyways, should I simply run a fourth void? 4 Darksteel Citadels and 3 GMs seems like the sweet spot where I won't likely be caught with a naked GM.
I found it nearly impossible to answer these questions with a definitive answer. Is there a way to rank how good each card is compared to another depending on the meta?
I posted this thread in the modern help forum. This is modern Affinity.
Without artifacts in play, Glimmervoid leaves play, Mana Confluence hurts me but provides mana of any color, and Spire of Industry provides colorless mana.
The issue is whether I'd rather take 1 damage or tap for colorless when there are no artifacts in play. I feel as if Spire of Industry is a better option, but I'm honestly not sure. How often would colored mana be needed after my board is wiped or hasn't yet been developed. In my experience it happens so rarely it's difficult to judge.
February 13, 2017 10:10 a.m.
JerichoDarkstar says... #4
Ah, sorry. I didn't even see the tag, lol. My bad.
But I feel that Spire of Industry is definitely better for you. It is really hard to judge for post-board wipe, but I think that Spire of Industry is still the better pick, especially if you have Darksteel Citadel.
But, that's not to say that choosing Mana Confluence over Spire of Industry would hurt you. They're both honestly good cards and I think that it will take the community some time to come to a definite decision on which is better in certain situations.
February 13, 2017 10:31 a.m.
Honestly, this seems like the sort of thing you could spin theory about all day long but you're not going to really be able to figure out without doing some actual testing. Play with one or the other and every time you draw it make a note of whether the alternative option would be better or worse in the situation you're in.
February 13, 2017 10:41 a.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #6
I definitely would not play Mana Confluence, nor would I go for zero Spire of Industry. I think Spire being better on mulligans makes it worthwhile. Maybe split it 2-2 with Glimmervoid and see what you like from there.
I've also heard good things about Inventors' Fair, that could be a worthwhile inclusion as well if you are relatively low on colored spells.
February 13, 2017 1:02 p.m.
My vote is with Spire of Industry as you don't have to pay life to grab a colorless and how often really are you going to be without an artifact on the field?
February 13, 2017 1:57 p.m.
Spire of Industry is, without a doubt in my mind, better in Modern Affinity than Mana confluence. Spire can tap for colorless and will only cost you life a very small amount of the time, where Mana Confluence will always cost you life. Also, Spire of Industry will almost always tap for colored mana when you need it to, because affinity also has an Artifact land.
February 13, 2017 4:09 p.m.
i'm running 2 spire 1 void (migh switch them but don't have money for voids currently). Spire is infinitely better than confluence, you don't want to take damage. DO NOT PLAY CONFLUENCE PLZ!!!
February 13, 2017 8:17 p.m.
Thanks for all the input! I can only think of one situation where confluence might be better.
confluence/Industry is untapped and my opponent plays Hurkyl's Recall into Stony Silence. I have a Spell Pierce in hand.
If I counter Recall I could still lose to Silence depending on the artifacts I have in play. If I save my counter for Silence, then my Darksteel Citadel's would return to hand. I'd need confluence over Industry for the blue mana.
If I had Wear/Tear in hand instead they would resolve; my follow up play would be the same regardless of the land I chose.
February 13, 2017 10:46 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #11
You really like fancy-linking cards, don't you?
I don't think the corner cases are worth playing Confluence. Save yourself a bit of life.
February 14, 2017 12:30 a.m.
Do you even have room for the extra gold lands? Your mana base should be:
4x Blinkmoth Nexus
4x Inkmoth Nexus
4x Darksteel Citadel
1+ basic land
3-4x Glimmervoid
After that, you really don't have room because that's at least 16 lands, plus Mox Opals.
February 14, 2017 7:04 p.m.
And I don't want to play dark confidant in my deck because it might hit me down to exactly 10 life when my opponent has a hidetsugu's second rite in hand.
February 14, 2017 7:25 p.m.
sylvannos A lot of people are going 2 Glimmervoid 2 Spire of Industry because Spire doesn't get shafted by boardwipes like Glimmervoid does.
JerichoDarkstar says... #2
As far as ranking goes, I am certainly not the man to help judge. You might want to specify which format, though (Vintage, Legacy, Modern) because that makes a significant difference.
I can speak about comparing Mana Confluence to Spire of Industry, however. I'm a heavy Commander player who is building a 5-color deck, and Mana Confluence has been the go-to card for me for a while. However, the minute Spire of Industry was spoiled, my interest was piqued.
In Commander where you have 40 life, losing 1 to Mana Confluence isn't so bad. You have a lot of room to give. But even so, Spire of Industry can produce colorless mana for you when you need it without it hurting you. I can imagine in a situation where your starting life is 20, it makes the Spire that much better.
Like you said, if you don't have Artifacts, you lose the game anyway (pretty much). So, in my opinion, Mana Confluence and Spire of Industry are literally the same card to you except one always hurts you for 1 whereas the other one has an alternative ability that doesn't hurt you.
February 13, 2017 9:54 a.m.