Armix, Filigree Thrasher
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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
Oathbreaker Legal
Planar Constructed Legal
Planechase Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Tiny Leaders Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Armix, Filigree Thrasher

Legendary Artifact Creature — Golem

Whenever Armix, Filigree Thrasher attacks, you may discard a card. When you do, target creature defending player controls gets -X/-X until end of turn, where X is the number of artifacts you control plus the number of artifact cards in your graveyard.

Partner (You can have two commanders if both have partner.)

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Maccano1 on Urza's Artifact Buddies

2 years ago

2ND ROUND OF CHANGES:

REMOVED: Temple of Deceit, Temple of Enlightenment, Temple of Silence, Tempered Steel, Liquimetal Torque, Scholar of New Horizons, Thopter Shop, Sphinx's Revelation, Bident of Thassa, Alela, Artful Provocateur, Etched Champion, Armix, Filigree Thrasher, Myr Battlesphere, Filigree Attendant, Vedalken Humiliator, Tawnos, Solemn Survivor, Losheel, Clockwork Scholar, Marionette Master, Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle, Ethersworn Adjudicator, Indomitable Archangel

ADDED: Glimmervoid, Power Depot, Forsaken Monument, Mind Stone, Darksteel Ingot, Hedron Archive, Dance of the Mance, Thoughtcast, Thirst for Knowledge, Master Transmuter, Lodestone Golem, Research Thief, Treasure Keeper, Mycosynth Golem, Myr Retriever, Sculpting Steel, Mechtitan Core, Mystic Forge, Dispeller's Capsule, Dispatch, Burnished Hart

COMMENTS: Deck feels powerful, but one dimensional in that it's just trying to pump out big dumb creatures asap; kinda cool. I've played 3-4 times with the current iteration and I'm looking to speed the deck up a little bit; lands coming in tapped, not quite enough draw, and too many non-artifact creatures being the two major areas of focus. I've actually reduced the amount of creatures with this round of changes so I need to check that this is OK.

Lands probably need more work, still too many tapped lands by far. Scholar of New horisons is fine, just doesn't fit in the deck, same with Tawnos (who likely needs his own deck, but I have done a few cool things with him). Tempered Steel, Indomitably Archangel and Ethersworn Adjudicator were hard cuts. But I've added removal, ramp in so I want to see if that's better. Tempered Steel with the thopters was particularly good and may get added in.

multimedia on Urza upgrade

2 years ago

Hey, some nice upgrades to the precon so far. Good additions of wincon combos: Sword + Foundry + Altar and Urza, PoK + Altar + Battlesphere.

Consider cutting a few of the lesser unnecessary higher mana cost creatures for some more draw? Constructs have an easy time if they can attack at doing combat damage to an opponent thanks to menace from Urza. If you can draw a card each time a Construct does combat damage to an opponent then you're getting great value from Constructs and a good reason to want to attack. Bident of Thassa is in the precon and it's repeatable draw with Constructs. Research Thief is more repeatable draw with Constructs that's also a flying artifact creature. More repeatable draw from Constructs can help to draw combo pieces.

Skullclamp is in the precon and it's excellent with Sword + Foundry combo since it creates 1/1 Thopters that can then each be saced for 1 mana to draw two cards. Because Urza's artifact creature affinity can pay for his Commander tax then Skullclamp with Urza is another way for repeatable draw.

Grim Hireling doesn't draw with Constructs it makes ramp, treasures which can help with Revel in Riches since the only reliable source of treasures here is Tithe. Hireling's effect is like Thopter Spy Network where you can trigger it more than once if you have creatures do combat damage to more than one opponent.

When deciding to add a card, it can help deck building and the mana curve to cut a card that's more mana cost. Wire Surgeons is a lesser 6 drop here than the rest and it's effect is only artifact creature not artifact. Having to pay the mana cost of an artifact creature in your graveyard to then exile that artifact is not good. Sharuum the Hegemon another 6 drop here who reanimates an artifact which is much better than what Surgeons does. Marionette Master can be a wincon with combos: Sword + Foundry + Altar and Urza, PoK + Altar + Battlesphere, but this is adding a fourth card, 6 drop, to the combos which is a lot and is really not needed because these combos create infinite artifact tokens which gives Constructs infinite power/toughness.

If you want to combo with Sword + Foundry then you can't control any effect that increases p/t of artifact creatures. Thankfully, Foundry can sac any nontoken artifact, before you want to combo with Sword + Foundry sac the artifact anthem effect. This makes anthem effects that increase p/t that are artifacts better than anthem nonartifact cards. Urza, Prince of Kroog is the exception since it's part of another combo. Since playing Sword + Foundry consider cutting Tempered Steel?

You want to avoid artifact exile effects as much as possible because you have no way of getting back a card in exile. Playing some more Counterspells is a mana efficent way to counter opponent exile effects. Urza's Ruinous Blast hurts you too much since it exiles all Constructs and all combo pieces here except Urza, Prince of Kroog. All the 4 drops here have effects either when ETB or repeatable except Filigree Attendant doesn't, making it a much lesser card that could be cut?

Steel Seraph is a reasonable priced upgrade for Hexavus. Seraph can be cast with prototype for 3 mana giving you a 3/3 artifact creature flier to help artifact creature affinity for Urza and it can on your turn at combat give a creature you control flying including Urza. Wonder is another better option then Hexavus for flying, Unctus, Grand Metatect or Armix, Filigree Thrasher can discard it while in combat. Discard Wonder when you have to discard down to 7 card hand size because you drew so many cards.

Good luck with your deck.

multimedia on Urza’s legion

2 years ago

Hey, good start on a budget with what you have so far. Command Tower is a budget staple land for multicolored Commander decks and Arcane Signet is a budget staple mana rock.

Ramos, Dragon Engine can only be played in a five color deck using it as Commander or another five color Commander. It's activated ability has all five mana symbols and those symbols count toward it's color identity. Urza's color identity is only three colors Esper (black, white, blue). Because Urza doesn't have red and green that's why Ramos can't be played with Urza as Commander.

If you want aggro with Urza lets look at the beginning of the mana curve first, cards spots of 0-3 CMC only then we can look at the higher end of the mana curve. The first changes to consider is to remove all the nonartifact creatures and then later determine if they are worth a spot in your deck because they have abilities that help artifacts or Urza. I think you'll find that you don't need any of these creatures because artifact creatures can take their places. If you want to be aggro with Urza then you want to utilize Urza's artifact creature affinity to cast Urza quicker. To do this consistently Urza wants 0-2 CMC artifact creatures and some 3 CMC artifact creatures more than the rest.

Some of these creatures may be added back in later, most likely not, but for now lets build the creature base with only artifact creatures. For making upgrades lets look at best cards here with Urza and build around them? Arcbound Ravager and Portal to Phyrexia are the two best cards here with Urza because they're artifacts and they're abilities are more powerful compared to most other cards here. Ravager brings the aggro, but if aggro doesn't do it and you need more reach to win the game then Portal can do that. Lets start with Ravager and what makes it better with Urza? Modular and you have some here, more one drops can help toward Urza's artifact creature affinity and Ravager.

Steel Overseer adds to the +1/+1 counter strategy, it's powerful but only for artifact creatures and if trying to be aggro it's a good reason to play very few nonartifact creatures. Silas Renn, Seeker Adept goes well with Arcbound Ravager since with Ravager you want to sac artifacts and Silas lets you cast an artifact from your graveyard. It's deathtouch combined with Urza's menace makes it a creature who opponent is not going to block and lose two or more creatures blocking it. Baleful Strix, Triarch Praetorian, Malcator's Watcher are two drop artifact creatures who fly and who draw when enter the battlefield (ETB) or dies.

Some artifacts here are worse than others.

Think about limiting the amount of nonartifact spells to just the better ones you have here?

Equipment that increases the equipped creature's power equal to the amount of artifacts you control really ups the aggro since then any little artifact creature can become huge which combined with menace can make it a great attacker. I see Silver Myr and it's good here since counts twice for Urza, artifact creature affinity and ramp. Consider adding more artifact creature mana dorks who can make colored mana?

The budget Signets can help for ramp as well as color fixing which is really needed because the manabase here is pretty much all basic lands. Arcane Signet is a staple budget mana rock for ramp in Commander. Chromatic Lantern is fine for color fixing, but you're going to want more than that.

Some nonartifact creatures at the beginning of the mana curve can really help aggro and Urza.

Losheel, Clockwork Scholar is powerful with artifact creatures when attacking is what you want to be doing especially Constructs. Your artifact creatures don't take damage in combat meaning that opponents will have a difficult time choosing to block since their blockers might die, but your creatures will be fine. Losheel is also repeatable draw, once on each players turn when an artifact creature ETB you draw this includes when a Construct is created by Urza if you didn't have an artifact creature ETB before your end step.

Sai, Master Thopterist can be a repeatable source of artifact creatures, Thopters, to be attackers or sac fodder. Emry, Lurker of the Loch is like Silas Renn, Seeker Adept more ways to cast artifacts from your graveyard is good with Arcbound Ravager and other sac outlets.

That's it for this comment, but if you're still interested I'll give advice about the high end of the mana curve here to take more advantage of aggro into mid game and Portal to Phyrexia late game as well as some budget land options for the manabase. Would you like more advice?

Good luck with your deck.

multimedia on Updated Urza Precon Upgrade

2 years ago

Hey, on a low budget well done with upgrades so far to the precon. Research, Paradise, Padeem, Glimmervoid, Ethersworn, Extinction, Wurmcoil, the mana Myrs, Fellwar, Kappa, Raffines these are all fine upgrades.

Some cards from the precon to consider adding back in.

Bident of Thassa is very good, it's another artifact repeatable mass draw effect with Constructs. Liquimetal Torque is a mana rock for ramp or it can make Urza or Padeem an artifact and doing so makes these cards much better. If Urza is an artifact he gets all bonus for being one, gains his own menace making it easier to do Commander damage to opponent with him. 4/5 Urza without menace can still do Commander damage, but he's easier to block by opponent then if he has menace. When Padeem is an artifact it gains hexproof which increases protection a lot.

Skullclamp can be nice repeatable draw for the mana cost and by adding the mana Myrs then you added fodder that can die to draw cards when not useful anymore to make mana. You have sources of 1/1 Thopters and these pair well with Skullclamp. Armix, Filigree Thrasher is a 3 drop artifact creature to help Urza affinity and with menace it can be deceptively good repeatable creature removal.

The mana curve of the precon is very high and you haven't reduced it much. Even when not counting Extinction, Monitor, Ethersworn, Kappa and Urza Commander the mana curve here is still too high. Some cards to consider cutting to reduce the mana curve.

Shimmer Dragon of these suggestions is a good card, but it's a high mana cost creature that's not an artifact and you can get better repeatable draw from less mana cost sources such as Bident of Thassa. Angel of the Ruins is another good card of these suggestions, but Meteor Golem is also a 7 drop who removes any nonland permanent. I think Meteor is better and you don't need both Angel and Meteor. You don't need Noxious Gearhulk since Necron Deathmark is a better creature removal effect for less mana. Flash is better than menace + life gain.

My favorite budget creature with blue artifact strategies is Master Transmuter. Some of best card art and has one of the most powerful repeatable effects with artifacts for it's price. Bounce any artifact you control and because Transmuter doesn't target then put that same artifact right back onto the battlefield.

This bounce interaction can give you a lot of value with artifacts that have an ETB ability for only 1 mana to bounce. Great with Monitor and Ethersworn. With Ethersworn after bouncing choose to put another artifact from your hand onto the battlefield or nothing since then you can cast Ethersworn again next turn to cascade again. Bounce Baleful or Infiltrator to put Wurmcoil onto the battlefield and then cast Baleful or Infiltrator next turn for more draw, etc.

Transmuter has many other uses too such as can save an artifact from opponent target removal or board wipe, bounce the artifact in response and then if not a board wipe put the artifact right back onto the battlefield safe. Can even bounce itself to protect itself.

Good luck with your deck.

multimedia on Urza, CEO of Machines

2 years ago

Hey, good upgrades to the precon, what you've done so far.

How do you want to win? Determining the main strategy you want to play can help to keep good cards for that strategy and cut unnecessary cards. If you're wanting to keep precon level budget then doing combat damage with Constructs and Commander damage with Urza are directions to consider. Research Thief and Bident of Thassa are excellent budget cards if you want to be attacking with Constructs. Making Urza an artifact makes him a reliable source of Commander damage, but this means including effects to make Urza an artifact.

You have Urza, Lord High Artificer, he's a combo wincon, but to use him as a wincon you'll want to add other cards and more ways to assemble the combo. Drawing cards from Constructs doing combat damage to opponents is a good alternative to playing expensive price tutors to get combo pieces in your hand.

You have Tezzeret, Master of the Bridge, you don't really need Mycosynth Golem especially not for it's price tag. You don't need this Tezzeret either, but if you have it might as well play it. The first cuts to consider are lands since 41 lands is a lot when the strategy here are artifacts. Consider cutting 6 lands? Lands that always ETB tapped and are worse then others that also do this. If you feel you need more mana then add mana sources (rocks, dorks) not lands.

The Bounce lands and Scry lands are worse always ETB tapped lands then Tri lands, Bridges, etc.

Some advice for more cuts is choose the top 20 creatures here, top 10 artifacts and top 10 other nonland cards. By choosing the best cards then you can cut a huge chunk away of lesser cards.

Creatures:

Artifacts:

Others:

For upgrading it's easier to get an established list that's not 99 cards then have a list that's way over 99 cards. Really any 0-3 drop artifact creature who can make some value to take advantage of Urza artifact creature affinity or any 0-2 drop mana rock for more ramp can fill unfilled deck spots.

Good luck with your deck.

kirbysan on [Primer] Helming the Host of Heaven *Update*

2 years ago

Guerric

Last game of the year! Sorry I've taken over your comment board, hope all these gameplay interactions help!

Opponents: Koma, Cosmos Serpent, Muldrotha, the Gravetide, Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools / Armix, Filigree Thrasher

Starting Hand: Marsh Flats, Plains, Sol Ring, Serra Ascendant, Serra Avenger, Court of Grace, Breathkeeper Seraph

T1 - Marsh Flats into Plains into Serra Ascendant

T2 - Plains into Sol Ring and Luminarch Ascension (drew into), swung in for 6 damage

T3 - Plains into Court of Grace, drew on endstep, swung in for another 6 damage

T4 - +1 Angel on upkeep, Plains into Giada, Font of Hope and held up mana to make 2 Angels, drew on endstep, swung in for another 6 damage

T5 - created 2 Angels (6 power & 7 power) on opponents end step, +1 Angel (8 power) on upkeep. Cast a Tome of Legends getting ready for the boardwipe. Swung in for 21 damage, drew on endstep.

T6 - nobody at the table had the boardwipe so I cleaned up next turn with Sigarda's Vanguard knocking out each other player simultaneously. I think this was the fastest this deck has ever performed in a 4-man pod and all the damage was dealt by me.

Opponents: Koma, Cosmos Serpent, Muldrotha, the Gravetide, Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools / Armix, Filigree Thrasher, O-Kagachi, Vengeful Kami

Starting Hand: Windswept Heath, Arid Mesa, Plains, Bonders' Enclave, Serra Paragon, Gisela, the Broken Blade  Meld, Archangel of Thune

Thought about not including this one either as it was a slow hand and a fast game. Muldrotha comboed out turn 4 making 2 million squirrels and nobody had any interaction so we were dead on turn 5.

Opponents: Koma, Cosmos Serpent, Muldrotha, the Gravetide, Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools / Armix, Filigree Thrasher, O-Kagachi, Vengeful Kami

Starting Hand: Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Plains, Plains, Pyre of Heroes, Gisela, the Broken Blade  Meld, Battle Angels of Tyr, Angelic Curator

I had played Battle Angels of Tyr but it was quickly removed by Tevesh before I could swing with it, which is fair given a 5-man pod.

Instead I went for the slower play with Giada, Font of Hope, Angelic Curator and Angelic Sleuth on the field. I held Pyre of Heroes in hand thinking I would go for the Inspiring Overseer / Serra Paragon line to draw into some cards and get some clues.

However, Muldrotha again was a huge problem turn 5. They had Scute Swarm and cracked some fetches and played green ramp spells bringing up their total to the low 100s but they only had 32 they could attack with. They decided to swing all of them at me as I was the only one with any sort of board presence. O-Kagachi let the table know they had a fog effect but we elected to use it on the next turn.

At this point I had Giada, Font of Hope, Angelic Sleuth, Righteous Valkyrie and Pyre of Heroes on the battlefield. Once Muldrotha had started producing massive amounts of Scutes I knew they were coming at me. Also I had drawn into Archangel of Thune which I played and swung in bringing me back up to the low 20's.

On turn 6 O-Kagachi used the fog and Muldrotha just set themselves up better for the next round. They cast a Sandwurm Convergence to stop me from knocking them out.

Tevesh decided this was the best time to go off so they tapped out for a Peer into the Abyss. A lot of artifact shenanigans happened and they ended up at 4 life due to Bolas's Citadel, nearly wiped the board with Ugin, the Spirit Dragon and killed Muldrotha with an artifact creature with Cranial Plating and Lightning Greaves. Unfortunately they didn't see that O-Kagachi was out and only -5 for Ugin so they were dead to the dragon on their turn.

I was able to build back relatively quickly as I drew into a Thorough Investigation and cracked some clues. O-Kagachi became the new archenemy as they had their commander out and a Fist of Suns so they were casting high-costed cards with the limited mana they had. Koma used Kiora, the Crashing Wave to negate the damage of O-Kagachi's commander. They also countered a Conflux which could've ended the game.

I tried to swing in once but was stopped by a fog. I also made another misplay with Oblation targeting their Myojin of Seeing Winds as I misheard thinking it was a 10/10 flying indestructible when it was a 3/3 that didn't even fly. They removed the divinity counter drawing 12 and drew another 2 off Oblation. Next turn they cast a Morophon, the Boundless and dropped all the spirits they drew off those 14 cards. If I had held up my Oblation for their fist of the suns instead they would have had no mana for anything else and I could've swung in for the win.

Luminarch Ascension finally popped off! When unanswered it just ends games. Even with a boardwipe it can refill the board with mana. With Giada out it adds lethal threats quickly. I understand that it may not have the surprise factor but I think the resiliency is more important here. As you've mentioned before, not a lot of people run enchantment removal as creature removal is preferable which means this has staying power.

Court of Grace was also amazing here. While 1 card a turn is not the best for 4 mana, 1 card and 1 angel for 4 is amazing. Obviously the Sol Ring did work in getting it out early but against slower decks they had no way to attack me regardless.

Pyre of Heroes was actually useful this time! Pitching the 2/2 body of Angelic Curator into a Righteous Valkyrie is a strong move. I was only able to use it once before the Ugin exile but it helped keep me in the game. Without it, I would've been dead right after Tevesh finished off Muldrotha, perhaps even in the same turn.

Sigarda's Vanguard was also great again. However if I'm not planning out dropping my angels out in the correct turn order then I'm not always getting the full benefit from her. Akroma's Will would save us the headache of counting and planning while also providing the evasion to get through flying creatures. I think I'll still stick the Vanguard as the light recursion package allows us to bring her back on another turn for additional value whereas Will would just languish in the graveyard.

We had a turn 0 discussion before games 2 and 3 and agreed on playing more mid-tier decks as I only brought Giada. The Muldrotha player typically durdles with nothing to do and decided to add in some spicy cards not knowing how they'd perform. Tevesh doesn't always go off like this but Peer into the Abyss is usually a card that gets countered. The table let it resolve due to needing to knock out Muldrotha first.

kirbysan on [Primer] Helming the Host of Heaven *Update*

2 years ago

Guerric

Got another couple games in today:

I made some swaps prior to today's match incluuding:

Crashing Drawbridge for Lightning Greaves

Smuggler's Share for Esper Sentinel

Search for Glory for Steelshaper's Gift

I think our decks are still functionally the same but I have a lot of the tech you were heavily considering already swapped in and will be focusing on their performance in multiplayer format.

Opponents: Arvinox, the Mind Flail, Firkraag, Cunning Instigator, Ryu, World Warrior

Starting Hand?: Prismatic Vista, Windswept Heath, Myriad Landscape, Soul's Attendant, Generous Gift, Lightning Greaves, Folk Hero

Forgot to snap a picture of my starting hand but I think it was something like that. Important play of the game was Firkraag playing an early Agitator Ant. By turn 3 I had Giada equipped with a Lightning Greaves and slowly played out my hand, focusing on dropping lands and playing removal. I constantly dumped the +1/+1 counters onto Giada and since she had the greaves equipped she was basically untouchable.

After bringing Arvinox and Ryu down to the low 20's with just Giada I began dumping the counters onto a Bishop of Wings that I drew into so I could start swinging at Firkraag. Ryu also got in 2 Hadokens against Firkraag's board to draw cards. I only got 1 swing into Firkraag before they boardwiped.

I was able to recast Giada and cast an Angelic Page drawing me a card off Folk Hero. I also cast a Pyre of Heroes excited to chain it off for some spicy tech. Unfortunately Ryu was at low life and killed shortly after the boardwipe. As the other 2 players had no board they scooped to end the game so we could start the next, giving me the win.

Opponents: Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools/Armix, Filigree Thrasher, Firkraag, Cunning Instigator, Isshin, Two Heavens as One, Muldrotha, the Gravetide

Starting Hand: Plains, Mutavault, Pearl Medallion, Righteous Valkyrie, Sigarda's Vanguard, Well of Lost Dreams, Steelshaper's Gift

T1 - Plains into Steelshaper's Gift tutoring Lightning Greaves

T2 - Plains (drew) into Pearl Medallion

T3 - Mutavault into Lightning Greaves & Giada (Sworded by Isshin)

This game had some intense interactions. Isshin had a turn 1 Authority of the Consuls. Tevesh nearly played a turn 2 Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools with a Jeweled Lotus but was countered by Muldrotha. Firkraag played a Pursued Whale giving us all Pirate tokens and forcing us to attack. Isshin played into that with a Combat Calligrapher. The entire table started swinging into each other with increasingly multiplying Inkling tokens. After Isshin's Combat Calligrapher was blown up and they took a bunch of damage from their own Inklings they decided to super wipe the board with a Ruinous Ultimatum but luckily their board was pretty sparse.

I lost Pearl Medallion, Well of Lost Dreams, Sword of the Animist, Lightning Greaves and Righteous Valkyrie. This set me back really far but luckily I had been ramping every turn with Sword of the Animist and kept some strong angels in hand.

I recast Giada, and played Archangel of Tithes, Angelic Field Marshal and Lyra Dawnbringer with Mutavault giving me the extra +1/+1 counter. At this point Isshin started going off and nearly killed me with a combination of Tectonic Giant, Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin, Isshin, Two Heavens as One, Aurelia, the Warleader but they tapped out for Dihada, Binder of Wills to give Krenko vigilance, lifelink and indestructible. When they tried to swing at me, they forgot about the tax for Tithes and instead knocked out Tevesh and Muldrotha. Muldrotha took out Aurelia, the Warleader as retribution.

On the final turn I was left with only Oblation and Breathkeeper Seraph in hand. I had the choice to use it on one of Isshin's creatures but they were in such a dominating position that giving them 2 cards was probably a bad idea. Instead I used it on a tapped Emergence Zone and drew into Thraben Watcher and Sigarda's Vanguard. With the combination of all the angels I brought Isshin down to 3 and Firkraag cleaned up but had nothing against my board so scooped.

Opponents: Alela, Artful Provacateur, Jared Carthalion, Gishath, Sun's Avatar

Starting Hand: Cavern of Souls, Flooded Strand, Windswept Heath, Esper Sentinel, Path to Exile, The Ozolith, Teferi's Protection

I debated even listing this game as it was over so fast. Alela burst out on turn 1 with an Island into Sol Ring into Arcane Signet. Turn 2 they played a Smothering Tithe. Turn 3 they played a Bolas's Citadel. In one of their turns they cast a Vendilion Clique bottoming my Teferi's Protection. Despite whiffing for 2 turns off the top of their library they were so ahead with ramp that they quickly overtook the game. I died by turn 5 to 35+ damage from a faerie army beefed up with Coat of Arms. The other 2 players scooped as they had no interaction with the Coat.

T1 Esper Sentinel did some amazing work here. I drew off every player at least 2-3 times so it netted me like 7-8 cards for just 1 mana.

I also attempted to attack with Battle Angels of Tyr but it was bounced to my hand by next turn.

The Ozolith ended up doing nothing this game but that's more due to having no boardstate. Together Forever wouldn't have done anything in this game either so its impact still hasn't been seen. Other players did comment that it could be a problem with a bigger board.

I did have a misplay here as I should have held up mana for removal spells which I had in my hand. My final hand was Vanquisher's Banner, Archangel of Thune, Angelic Accord, Serra Paragon, Valkyrie Harbinger, Path of Exile and Swords to Plowshares. I just didn't expect Alela to quintuple their damage in one turn.

Opponents: Phenax, God of Deception, Jared Carthalion, Gishath, Sun's Avatar

Starting Hand: Secluded Steppe, Emergence Zone, Plains, Pearl Medallion, Thorough Investigation, Angelic Field Marshal, Angel of Vitality

T1 - Secluded Steppe tapped

T2 - Plains into Pearl Medallion

T3 - Emergence Zone into Thorough Investigation and Giada, Font of Hope

I had several misplays this game as it had been a long day. The first was using my Clues too early instead of playing out my hand and refilling it later with the Clues.

Phenax became a huge threat towards mid-game as they had a Haunt of high tower on board along with their commander Phenax, God of Deception. They forced Ghisath to mill 40+ cards with 4 creatures. I had Kabira Takedown  Flip in hand but it wouldn't put a dent in the Haunt. Instead I opted for player removal and swung with everything knocking them out.

My second misplay here was not tapping Giada to cast Angelic Field Marshal which would've given all my creatures vigilance. I was so used to swinging with Giada first and then tapping her that I failed to see her as a mana dork. Since I had Archangel of Tithes out it would've prevented huge swings against me as well.

Since I was wide open Gishath took the advantage and swung at me dropping a good number of dinos on their board. However on their next turn when they tried to use Silverclad Ferocidons with Pyrohemia Jared saved the day by sacrificing Primeval Spawn into a Time Warp.

When I tried to rebuild I realized I had no clues left and no attackers to draw into answers. I also made my third misplay by wasting a Path to Exile on a random dinosaur thinking it would sacrifice Pyrohemia but then stupidly played Bishop of Wings so I could trigger my The Book of Exalted Deeds by replaying Giada.

I died on the next turn to due to lethal Gishath commander damage. If I had saved my Path I could've used it on Gishath and played out more angels for the lifegain.

Ended up winning 2/4 games and was the second biggest threat in the 2 games I lost. I think I would've had a chance in game 4 if I hadn't had so many misplays.

Lightning Greaves was amazing in the 2 games it was played. It was so great that Isshin focused Giada when it came back out. In fact I like it so much that I'm going to try and find a spot for Swiftfoot Boots so I can keep equipping without removing the protection.

Esper Sentinel was also great the 1 game I got it out. Drawing that many cards for 1 mana is just too good to pass up. If you haven't purchased Smuggler's Share yet I'd say go for Esper first.

Archangel of Tithes was SO GOOD. It saved me from lethal once and would've again a second time if I didn't misplay again. With vigilance it does double duty.

Well of Lost Dreams felt a little clunky in game 2. I want to like it, it has a high ceiling but it needs some prep work to start drawing. Either I drop it instead of a threat or I play it much later. I also need lifegain and the mana to draw from it. With the amount of work that goes into it to activate it, a board wipe usually turns it off. We have no other lifegain outside of creature based lifegain. So we would only draw with an established board presence and we're using mana to draw into threats rather than play them. It feels either like a win-more card or a hail mary to get something good. I'm actually debating its place in this deck and what may be a better card draw. Court of Grace at least replaces itself on our end step and provides either an Angel or Spirit on our upkeep. It also requires no additional maintenance to get it going.

Others at the table commented that Authority of the Consuls is a better option to the soul sisters. While I do like the tap mechanic of Authority, it doesn't trigger off my creatures. Also having it be an enchantment means that most people won't bother with it all game. Soul sisters typically get wiped with the rest of the board whereas opponents have to target Authority. I find that I don't usually hit the payoffs on opponents turn but on my own turn. However, I only hit the magic 4/5 life when Bishop of Wings or Righteous Valkyrie is out, not off a soul sister. I know that you really like the soul sisters but practically every game I've had a board wipe and the payoffs haven't been worth it.

Kabira Takedown  Flip has its uses but in terms of removal is pretty poor for the slot. After a boardwipe it's practically worthless.

Even though I STILL haven't pulled off Pyre of Heroes properly I'm once again debating Recruiter of the Guard and Weathered Wayfarer. Since they're both humans they can chain into our human sub-theme. Weathered Wayfarer can be sacrificed into Bishop of Wings to get our lifegain payoffs going. It also helps grab lands for Emeria Shepherd if we want to recur stuff from the graveyard. Recruiter of the Guard can tutor for Starnheim Aspirant, Esper Sentinel, Inspiring Overseer, Thraben Watcher and can be sacrificed into Mangara, the Diplomat.

multimedia on The Best Urza

2 years ago

Hey, well done work in progress for your first Commander deck on a budget. Good card sense upgrading the precon.

For the manabase consider upgrades of the Pain lands?

The Pain lands have been reprinted in the last two Standard sets, making them the least expensive right now. Now is the best time to get them since they will only increase in price as time goes on. Tyrite Sanctum is a nice budget utility land especially with The Flesh is Weak.

I'm playing Urza on a low budget and these are some cards, most less than $2, that I've found to be helpful.

  • Ornithopter of Paradise: artifact creature for ramp.
  • The Flesh is Weak: make Urza and all other creatures you control at the time an artifact. -1/-1 can wreck opponent's nonThopter token strategies who can be blockers against Constructs. Tyrite Sanctum makes it so you don't have to control nonartifact legendary creatures including Urza when you play Weak since it can put a +1/+1 counter on any legendary creature you control turns after to make it an artifact.
  • Liquimetal Torque: mana rock for ramp or make Urza or any other nonland permanent an artifact. Pair with Master Transmuter to bounce any nonland permanent.
  • Soundwave, Sonic Spy  Flip: new Transformers card that's good in multiplayer Commander, no mana cost to cast your choice of opponent's instant or sorcery. Constructs make it consistent to trigger with a high mana value and Soundwave, Superior Captain can be a repeatable source of artifacts.
  • Sculpting Steel: good in multiplayer Commander because it can be any artifact on the battlefield and it can change with Master Transmuter bounce.
  • Armix, Filigree Thrasher: because of menace it can be repeatable opponent creature removal, Losheel, Clockwork Scholar helps a lot too.

Being able to make Urza an artifact can make Urza a threat with menace to do Commander damage especially with Cranial Plating. Urza surviving nonartifact creature board wipes can give you a huge advantage. Making other nonartifact creatures an artifact is good too especially Padeem, Consul of Innovation for much more protection.

Some cards to consider cutting:

Filigree Attendant, Darksteel Juggernaut, Etched Champion are just beaters, they don't do anything else. You don't really need them since you'll have plenty of better beaters, Constructs, who don't cost mana. Burnished Hart is slow for ramp. Chief of the Foundry is subpar for an anthem effect, it's a lesser Master of Etherium.

Good luck with your deck.

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