Help Piloting Affinity
Modern forum
Posted on Aug. 15, 2017, 5:50 p.m. by Dredge4life
After four years of longingly staring at Arcbound Ravager in the case of my LGS, I've finally realized my MTG dream of putting Modern Affinity together on paper. I've played a few matches, and I definitely love the deck. However, I have a few questions about sequencing, decision points, and what kind of hands to keep.
If I'm playing against a non-blue fair deck, and I have one, a Springleaf Drum , and two 0-drop artifact creatures in play. I have a Steel Overseer and a Master of Etherium in hand, as well as one land. Do I play the Overseer first to try to get it to stick, or do I play the Master to bait removal in turn two?
I attack a Mardu Midrange opponent on four life with a 6/6 Arcbound Ravager and a 0/1 Signal Pest. They block with a Shambling Vent and have four untapped lands with one card in hand. Do I sacrifice the Ravager to try to get the kill or do I wait another turn?
If I'm given the choice between payoffs, when is it correct to lead with which payoff? What order do I generally play Cranial Plating/Ravager/Overseer?
What do I look for in a keepable hand? What is the optimal mix of payoffs/enablers/lands?
Is it better to play more spells from hand, or get in initial damage from Nexi when I have Cranial Plating in play?
Sorry if these are lacking in details. These games were played a few days ago, so my memory is a little hazy. Thanks so much for taking time to comment.
Am currently selling an affinity deck if youre interested.
August 15, 2017 6:15 p.m.
alanwescoat says... #4
Everything is situational. Ideally, you want Steel Overseer in play A.S.A.P., preferably on turn 1. However, it is your sacrifice to your opponent's removal. Just expect it to die.
The problem with Steel Overseer is that wait of a full turn before you can gain any benefit. Playing it late removes pressure, and the archetype is all about fast pressure. You generally want to win the game as fast as you can without over-extending yourself.
Regarding mulligans, you need several things in hand, creatures, mana production, and pump. The deck relies on streamlined synergy among its various components. A diverse hand is generally good, and pairs of the same cards is generally not so good.
An optimal keep will make 3 mana or more available by turn 2. 1-2 lands, 1-2 mana rocks, 1-2 0 or 1 drops, 1-2 pumping threats.
Casting spells or activating manlands is generally situational. For the most part, I find that getting all or nearly all of my hand into play as soon as possible is the best route. However, against control decks with sweepers, you must be careful of over-extending, but manlands and Cranial Plating can allow you to continue to exert pressure even after a sweep.
In the situation with the blocking manland, I probably would not go for the kill. If your opponent had 3 mana to activate Shambling Vent and still had 4 mana available, things had already clearly gone wrong for you and for your opponent as well. In that board state, the lone card in hand is almost certainly removal.
GlistenerAgent says... #2
In the first situation, it depends on what cards you want to play around. Here, I would likely play Overseer first, as Master can attack past Goyfs and such and works well while your opponent is disrupting your plan. If the opponent has Lingering Souls, though, Overseer will be your higher priority and Master will be your bait.
Against removal decks, you shouldn't go all-in if you don't have to. Ravager is excellent against these decks because it weakens their interaction, so don't just throw it away when you can be patient and force them to have multiple answers.
The sequencing of your payoffs depends on the opponent and what ways they have to race you or throw you off. Cast Overseer into Spell Snare if you think you can put your opponent into a tough spot with Plating later on, and in general consider what answers your opponent is likely to have and how you can maximize damage or make it difficult for them to answer everything in a timely manner.
I recommend you read Frank Karsten's primers on Affinity, he explains the kinds of hands that need to be mulliganed and things like that. Ideally, you shouldn't keep a hand without a bomb, but this doesn't always hold true. You want to be doing something powerful in the first couple of turns, or setting up a resilient base against a removal-heavy opponent.
Whether attacking with Nexi or casting spells is better is dependent on the game state. You need to plan one or two turns in advance to decide how best to present your clock.
August 15, 2017 6:06 p.m.