Arcbound Worker

Artifact Creature — Construct

Modular 1 (This enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. When it's put into a graveyard, you may put its +1/+1 counters on target artifact creature.)

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Pauper Duel Commander	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (46)

wallisface on Thopters!

2 years ago

Also just something else i’ve noticed, Sword of the Meek won’t work with Tempered Steel or Chief of the Foundry, as the buffs will mean the creature is no longer a 1/1.

Keeping that in mind, here’s an example list incorporating my suggestions:

• 4x Arcbound Javelineer

• 4x Arcbound Worker

• 3x Cephalopod Sentry

• 4x Emry, Lurker of the Loch

• 4x Hangarback Walker

• 4x Steel Overseer

• 4x Glimmervoid

• 6x Island

• 7x Plains

• 4x Spire of Industry

• 4x Mishra's Bauble

• 3x Sword of the Meek

• 4x Thopter Foundry

• 2x Throne of Geth

• 3x Welding Jar

wallisface on Thopters!

2 years ago

Some thoughts:

• i think you might want another playset of 1-mana cards. At the moment you have very little to do turn 1, and effectively starting a full turn behind your opponent is a really dangerous place to be.

• instead of Sparring Construct i’d suggest Arcbound Worker and/or Arcbound Javelineer.

• Chief of the Foundry and Etherium Sculptor are both kindof “meh” because neither particularly helps your board state in any meaningful way. Better options could include Welding Jar (protects the stuff that matters), Throne of Geth (lets you sac the Walker to make thopters, importantly lets you sacrifice to avoid your creature being exiled), and Emry, Lurker of the Loch (helps you assemble your combo a lot more reliably).

• i think your list can get away with only 22 lands.

• personally i’d only run 3 copies of Sword of the Meek, particularly if you end up playing Emry. Drawing one is great but the second one is almost never helpful.

DeinoStinkus on TBW Transformers deck help

2 years ago

Unfortunately, in a 60-card deck I can't offer too much advice, other than go with modular. I've had success in multi-color pile-ups using Arcbound Worker, Arcbound Shikari, and the like. Since all the Transformers are artifact creatures, they can utilize these +1/+1 counters. Additionally, you can use Blasting Station for a bit of added damage, so that your Blitzwing and Megatron get very large very quickly.

If you wanted to scope out a Commander deck, I'd recommend Ramos, Dragon Engine at the helm, as it's WUBRG and has +1/+1 synergy.

Happy trails!

Max_Hammer on Mardu Treasures

2 years ago

Hello friend! I have some suggestions! I had way too much time today, so here you go.

Absolute must adds

Relatively cheap, potent, and just perfect upgrades.

• Anointed Procession double the treasures, double the constructs, double the fun.

• Inspiring Statuary is going to make all of your spells cheaper without making you sacrifice artifacts.

• Oni-Cult Anvil is going to go hand-in-hand with your commander by making all of these tokens.

• Grim Hireling does make a lot more treasures, it’s going to be more useful as super annoying removal.

• Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast isn’t budget, but one murder a turn is a good deal.

• Ghirapur AEther Grid is super good. When you have untapped tokens, why not use them?

Making more goodies

This bit is, of course, focused on making as many treasures as your board can bear.

• Dockside Extortionist makes so many treasures, aaaaah! But, y’know, also stupid expensive.

• Seize the Spotlight is a way to hold your opponent’s creatures hostage! And since there are plenty of sacrifice outlets, you can just throw it away after you’re done with it.

• Life Insurance, Scion of Opulence, Gadrak, the Crown-Scourge and Pitiless Plunderer both net you tokens for sacrificing creatures (your Commander’s whole thing!!)

• The Reaver Cleaver is gold. Yes to all of this. Trample and +1/+1 is alright, but the loads of tokens will be really sweet.

• Blood Money is a board wipe, but you get even more treasures afterwards.

• Monologue Tax makes three more treasures a round, more or less.

• Bolas's Citadel can be a wincon on its own.

• Descent into Avernus is some snazzy treasure creation, but also pretty dangerous. Use with care!

• Skullport Merchant and Dockside Chef both give plenty of card draw, in exchange for a little mana.

• Black Market Connections gives you pretty much whatever you need at the moment.

• Ancient Copper Dragon makes a million treasures, plus he's a dragon.

• Hoard Hauler can protect a weaker creature that you can’t attack with and still get you more tokens.

• Prosperous Partnership is extremely useful when on the defensive. If you must have all of your big bad creatures untapped on your opponent’s combat, then you’re wasting potential! Just marry some of your creatures, they won’t mind.

• Trove of Temptation forces your opponents into a potentially uncomfortable position while giving you treasures in the meanwhile.

• Storm-Kiln Artist is a good ground defender, since it’ll kill most whatever is thrown at it, but it’ll also make plenty of tokens!

• Unexpected Windfall, Inspired Tinkering, Pirate's Pillage, Deadly Dispute, Big Score, and Seize the Spoils are all just draw but with extra token creation.

• Fake Your Own Death revives a creature and gives you a treasure.

• Contract Killing and Grim Bounty are both murders but with extra tokens, which is very nice.

• Sudden Breakthrough is a buff with first strike that makes an extra treasure.

• Sticky Fingers gets you tokens when you attack.

• Treasure Vault is here for obvious reasons. Pump it with enough mana and you’re set for life.

• Ancient Den, Great Furnace, and Vault of Whispers aren’t treasure tokens, but they are artifacts, which is just going to give you a little boost to some of your mechanics and means that you can tutor them with cards that weren’t intended for such.

• Mimic, Glittering Stockpile, and Goldhound are all just treasures. Nothing special, but still something to note.

• Smoke Spirits' Aid seems useless… Unless you board wipe after. Could be lots of damage and lots of extra treasure.

• Undercity Scrounger is okay filler, if you need it.

What to do with your treasures

Great, now you have all of these treasures, now what are you going to do with them?

Frogmite, Lens Flare, Scale of Chiss-Goria, Tooth of Chiss-Goria, Mycosynth Golem, Slag Strider, Furnace Dragon, and Myr Enforcer are all notable cards you could add, since they pretty much become free after a while, though mostly pretty useless.

Forsworn Paladin is pretty good token generation early game, but really shines with the second ability where it can instantly punish anyone blocking or attacking you recklessly.

Marionette Master is going to pack a punch.

Dargo, the Shipwrecker is super cheap for a 7/5 with trample.

Enraged Giant, Freejam Regent, Battle at the Bridge, Saheeli's Directive, Herald of Anguish, and Organic Extinction are all pretty solid additions, since they don’t make you sacrifice anything in exchange for it.

Ruthless Technomancer has a million combos with (like Dockside Extortionist+sac outlet) and is just pretty good on its own.

Leonin Elder is just one life, but when you’re playing a treasure deck, that one life will definitely add up.

Underhanded Designs is a murder or a poke engine, which is very snazzy.

Glaze Fiend is pretty scary, considering that it has trample.

Dragonspark Reactor could be a bit of removal in your back pocket or your wincon.

Arcbound Crusher’s design team didn’t anticipate just how many artifacts I was planning on throwing onto the field.

Professional Face-Breaker is just like Grim Hireling, in that it makes treasure tokens, but more importantly, it gives you something else. You get a load of impulse draw, which is really nice when you have loads of mana.

Magda, Brazen Outlaw is just an artifact tutor, really. Though, there are plenty of treasure loving dragons you could also fish for. (:

Kalain, Reclusive Painter loves treasures, giving everyone big buffs.

Swashbuckler Extraordinaire can give anything that might be sensitive to dying double strike for a big final push. That, or just give one big boy double strike.

Their Number is Legion gets you lots of life and lots of tokens.

Necron Overlord is just a worse Ghirapur, but it’s still gonna hurt.

Street Urchin is the same idea as the above.

Armix, Filigree Thrasher could be some annoying removal, especially early game.

Hellkite Igniter is a big boy that, if left unblocked, could be a one hit kill.

Feedback Bolt is a big, powerful spell. To put it simply: ouch.

Fain, the Broker can make treasures, can make +1/+1’s, and can make little spooky boys. The best type of boys. Great utility and variety overall.

Rain of Riches is big. One cascading spell a turn, whichever one you want? Imagine dropping Feedback Bolt and cascading into Hellkite Igniter.

Captain Lannery Storm is innocent… Until you leave her unblocked like a dummy.

Concussive Bolt can be an easy kill, letting you get as much damage as you want through.

Dispense Justice is just like saying “Fuck your voltron.”

Construct tribal specifically

It seems you also like having and sacrificing constructs, so here’s a bit to let you do more of that, if you’d prefer to have a construct deck over a treasure token deck.

• Solarion and Suncrusher both utilize your ability to make any color of mana and are stronger for it.

• Digsite Engineer is going to make a lot of big creatures for you.

• Flamewright and Sokenzan Smelter are going to make plenty of tiny constructs for you.

• Scrapyard Recombiner is a good tutor for you.

• Hangarback Walker, Gemini Engine, Traxos, Scourge of Kroog, Scuttling Doom Engine, Crackdown Construct are all just big boys.

• Scrap Trawler might be kind of annoying? Idunno how well it would work, I’ll let you judge that.

• Adaptive Automaton, Steel Overseer, Alibou, Ancient Witness, Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer, and Chief of the Foundry make all of your boys bigger and scarier.

• Epochrasite is great, since you can sacrifice it again and again.

• Arcbound Worker and Sparring Construct are both little boys to sacrifice,

• Ancient Stone Idol isn’t a construct, it’s a golem, but it makes a construct.

• Skittering Surveyor, Manakin, Hedron Crawler, and Millikin are all very good for mana.

• Shambling Suit and Slag Fiend are big boys that are really just a massive menace.

• Noxious Gearhulk and Chaos Defiler are removals with a big, mean body.

• Phyrexian Soulgorger is a big boy. Granted, if you let him live for too long he’ll eat your entire army, but for a little while, especially while you’re pumping out constructs, this is a good deal.

• Indulge / Excess makes creature tokens, sure, sure, but mostly makes a lot of treasures.

What to take out

• Shared Animosity will give constructs a boost, but there really isn’t a specific theme across creature types aside from that, and your constructs are better used for chump blocking or just turning them into scrap. Ignore this if you’re going for more of a construct tribal sort of thing.

• Fable of the Mirror-Breaker  ^Flip is a good card, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think it’s really necessary.

• Rakdos Charm could be replaced with something better as far as artifact removal or graveyard hate. Nihil Spellbomb would be good graveyard hate and Generous Gift is just a good white staple.

• Comet Storm is fun, but Crackle with Power is more fun.

Lokotor on Marchesa, The Black Rose - Primer

2 years ago

Crow-Umbra

If you take a look at the Notable Exclusions section I address a few of these.

For Herald of Secret Streams, I don't think granting our creatures evasion is all that important in a Marchesa list as you can clear the board out pretty effectively usually. If they have no blockers then all our creatures are unblockable.

I haven't made too many changes to the creatures section in general for some time now, but usually it's also not based on a card underperforming or otherwise lackluster. Usually a card is just replaced because something new comes out that fills that role more effectively. eg Arcbound Worker > Iron Apprentice. arcbound worker was quite good, but iron apprentice is just a bit better. Similarly, Solemn Simulacrum > Atsushi, the Blazing Sky solemn was a perfectly fine card and was good to recur each turn as it provided card advantage and ramp, synergized well with things like arcbound worker, and was easy to cast, but Atsushi gives more ramp and more card draw per use. so even though I don't have them right now, I would still generally recommend either of those cards.

I'm generally happy with the distribution of things like draw, ramp, control, aggro, etc, so I try not to change those numbers around too much. For example, I wouldn't cut Arcane Denial for Dire Fleet Daredevil as they don't have the same purpose. So for some cards, like Watcher for Tomorrow I just cut them because they were occupying the same card slot as some other new card I wanted to try, and naturally, something has to go to try the new card. But it wasn't necessarily because they were worse than the replacement, so much as it was just a convenient substitute.

Surgesyndicate on Marchesa, The Black Rose - Primer

3 years ago

The new Iron Apprentice from NEO would be a fantastic replacement for Arcbound Worker. Gets around the artifact creature restrictions.

ET_lord_of_squirrels on Competitive GW scales

3 years ago

Thanks for the feedback zapyourtumor! Some reasonings:

-Steel Overseer is definitely slow. I have only just started playing with these recently, and they seem fantastic as a way to put counters on Esper Sentinel without The Ozolith. The protection from Blacksmith's Skill, they are a resilient, must answer threat usually, but their slot may go to more Ancient Stirrings or some Arcbound Worker in the future.

-Welding Jar, Snakeskin Veil, and Blacksmith's Skill all fall under the protection category for me. I started with jars (and I know some lists are runing 4-of recently, because they're great), then I moved to veil, and now I'm on skill. The reason being that I'm a paper player, and as such, I've adapted to the local meta. Unlike veil or jar, Blacksmith's Skill can protect Urza's Saga and Inkmoth Nexus which is huge in a meta full of exile effects and Spreading Seas

-I did try Ingenious Smith for a while, but felt that it was slow, and required more 1-drop artifacts to be effective. While it is certainly a great card, my deck just isn't great for it right now. Usually it felt bad that I couldn't target it with modular, or that it couldn't hit lands with the ability

-Arcbound Mouser is also a great card, but in a deck where 1 drops usually get sacrificed to Arcbound Ravager or Zabaz, the Glimmerwasp, I felt that the lifelink wasn't super relevant. I've also liked having Arcbound Worker over it when I want a 1 drop, as it doesn't require any painful white mana, so I can leave my coloured sources open to play things such as Hardened Scales.

A lot of the information I get for this deck comes from the hardened scales discord server. Feel free to join us there if you haven't already!

Gidgetimer on Hamweir, the writhing township cmc

3 years ago

Fervent Champion and Phyrexian Dreadnought have the same CMC (now called mana value), not the same mana cost. You will not be able to use Killer Cosplay to turn Fervent Champion into Phyrexian Dreadnought, though you could turn Arcbound Worker into Phyrexian Dreadnought. To that end Hanweir, the Writhing Township  ^{Meld  Meld} has a mana value of 3, but no mana cost. Also of note is that no mana cost is not the same as mana cost , so no turning ornithopter into Hanweir, the Writhing Township  ^{Meld  Meld}