I'm pretty sure Kurkesh doesn't work with Gilded Lotus like you mentioned in the update, but nevertheless, both deserve to be in the deck. Sliversmith in the sideboard really could have mainboard potential since with something like Goblin Welder out he becomes ":Put Target artifact in your hand or graveyard into play".

I would not add Karn unless you also planned to add in the "Karn Package" cards like Voltaic Construct who turns all 3 mana producing artifacts into infinite mana, which means you'd also want Grim Monolith, and maybe Dreamstone Hedron. The Hedron could find a place in here anyway as it is ramp that also can get you card draw to be reused later with recurrence.

Helm of Possession is a wonderful idea since while playtesting I found I was often flooded with tiny tokens. Myr Battlesphere was a huge offender of this as people generally removed it quickly, leaving me with a bunch of Myr tokens and not much to do with them besides sac.

Temporal Aperture is just a fun card I like with no major downsides. Free stuff is free stuff, it adds some variety to games and can put lands into play unlike many things that let you cheat casting costs because it says "Play" not "Cast" so it is only ever a dead card when you hit instants or sorceries. Plus, even if you can't activate its ability, it is still a two drop artifact to be sacrificed for something else.

Love the deck though, Daretti and Feldon will be the cards that finally get me into red.

The combo needs Voltaic Key as well, so it's:

• Tap Gilded Lotus for 3 red (3 red in pool)
• Untap lotus with key
• Copy untap ability with Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient targeting key (1 red in pool)
• Repeat

Silversmith is definitely going in, I just haven't received it yet. I do plan to put Karn, Silver Golem in, because he's another combo with Mycosynth Lattice (I love that card) to kill lands, and having other interactions like Voltaic Construct might be good. I've been thinking about putting Dreamstone Hedron back in because drawing 3 for 3 is awesome. Grim Monolith would be nice, but there are other cards I would prioritize over it for now, so I'll maybeboard it. Helm of Possession seems interesting, especially with Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient and Rings of Brighthearth. Temporal Aperture seems fun, but I think I lost room for fun in this deck a few revisions ago :)

Thanks for the suggstions Necrotize!

I was just wondering if Thran Dynamo has a place in this deck?

Me again! Umm have an Interesting Idea since I know the deck is pretty Combo-Rific. Since you're running Contagion Engine you could combo that with Magistrate's Scepter and Voltaic Key. With that if you had 9 colorless mana you could take Infinite turns... Just a thought.

These are some Control Ideas if ya need more of that. Magus of the Moon, Blood Moon, Winter Orb, Ensnaring Bridge, Silent Arbiter and if ya Really want to spend that cash Forcefield.

These are some more Ramp Ideas if ya need more of that. Thran Dynamo, Grim Monolith, Ancient Tomb.

Since you are running Crucible of Worlds you could even run Landy but that isn't for everyone. Some stuff would be Devastation, Boom/Bust, and Myojin of Infinite Rage. You wouldn't want to run the ones that harm your artifacts.

Some adds tho that I would put in are Staff of Domination, Shimmer Myr and Karn, Silver Golem.

Some cuts that I might take out are Volcanic Offering, Past in Flames, Scarecrone, and Slobad, Goblin Tinkerer.

I have personally Never got any of those cards to help me in the long run and I find myslef winning more and more off Lattice some way shape or form so Fueling the deck to make it more consistent to win off that more might be better. You can never go wrong with more ramp, tutor, control.

One more thing I personally like to do is Use Koth of the Hammer and either use it with Contagion Engine to Ult him right away or have a Magus of the Moon or Blood Moon and Rings of Brighthearth to use his -2 Ability twice :)

Just throwing out more and more ideas since I have a very similar deck. Hope some of this helps :)

Just wanted to say, this deck is amazing with the interactions. Everything seems to fit nicely into play when actually using it. Memory Jar specifically is wonderful. Can't tell you how great it is to get a new hand full of lands while I have Crucible out, discard some to Daretti and get even more ramp. But if you do put in Karn+Voltaic construct, you would probably want more 3 mana producing artifacts like Thran Dynamo or Grim Monolith. Unlike Dreamstone Hedron, they have no extra effects so it makes them awesome targets for Welder/Daretti effects. The Grim Monolith is also nice because you can tap it for mana, then sac it, bring it back next turn and essentially give yourself 3 extra colorless mana every other turn without having to worry about untapping it.

@JoeDan1: I think Thran Dynamo has a place, I just haven't found a permanent place for it. It's been in and out, and usually gets cut for something like Crucible of Worlds. Similar to Expedition Map, I really want to find a spot for it.

@Necrotize: Thanks for the positive feedback on the deck. I've been working pretty hard lately to playtest and make sure it runs pretty smooth. And I absolutely love Memory Jar, especially with Rings of Brighthearth or Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient out. I'm probably going to put a bit more ramp in soon, I just don't know when I'll get a Grim Monolith :)

Kuekuatsu, you get your own reply :)

Magistrate's Scepter is interesting, and it works with the Dross Scorpion + Pentavus + Throne of Geth combo I have too, but on its own it wouldn't make the deck because of the mana investment to use it normally.

Of the control suggestions, I like the Blood Moon effects and Winter Orb, possible Silent Arbiter because it buys me time. I'll work to build out the stax portion, but it will take some time to acquire the cards. About the mass LD, I've thought of tossing in my Boom/Bust, Decree of Annihilation and Ruination.

Staff of Domination is awesome with infinite mana, and Shimmer Myr is getting a shot in a few days (not sure on that one). Interesting about Koth of the Hammer, I'll will think about adding him.

Of the cuts you suggest, all have been amazing for me except Slobad, Goblin Tinkerer. He's probably getting the boot. Volcanic Offering may be a little slow, but it's crazy good when you use it. Even in 1v1, taking out 2 permanents for 5 mana is a sweet deal. Past in Flames is there in case I discard a win condition, or even just to abuse Scrap Mastery. I keep tossing back and forth between it and Recoup, because Recoup is cheaper and gets most of the nasty spells back.

As always, thanks for the suggestions!

Palladium Myr could probably be something you could cut, especially since you're adding Karn. Not to mention you can use noncreature ramp cards the turn they come in. I'd replace him with Thran or maybe Expedition Map but ultimately I think a Grim Monolith should take its place when you get a hold of one. It is amazing for tempo and makes something like turn 2 Daretti possible fairly easily.

Iron Myr is another thing I'd consider cutting for more ramp. I generally don't like creature ramp, especially when there are suitable noncreature alternatives like Fire Diamond. It is less vulnerable and unless you plan on blocking with it, summoning sickness is essentially the same as enters tap in this scenario.

Hoarding Dragon oddly enough it is one of the most powerful tutors that you can get in red

I like Hoarding Dragon, but I have a feeling in my group it will be exiled before I get the artifact I tutored. Since I don't have any ways to sac creatures at will, I feel like the best-case interaction with him is Feldon of the Third Path or Mycosynth Lattice and an artifact sac outlet, but I can't rely on having them together. I could be swayed if there's a more compelling argument for the card, since after all it is a tutor.

Thank you for the post FeralKitten

Yeah Shimmer Myr I have a LOT of fun with since i can kinda play like a blue mage. As for the Staff of Domination it's still good by itself allowing you to use ur mana rocks for something if you don't have anything and then well if you have infinite mana you just win the game with it.

Today I just played and ended up Dualcaster Mage a Gamble and totally took the game home. Was just testing out Gamble and OMG it's worth is amazing. Even if it gets thrown into the discard you can just recur it with Daretti so its really just a win win.

Another Good add maybe!

Batterskull would also be a great idea. Powerful enough on its own(since the germ comes with it even if you cheat it into play) and dodges almost all removal.

Gamble is great and if I had one it would probably be in, like a lot of things, to the maybeboard!

Batterskull is good and really good if recurred, but when I think of 5 mana spells for the deck, I want them to be game-changing like Scrap Mastery, Memory Jar or Kuldotha Forgemaster. I guess Batterskull would be a way to stay ahead if I have to keep wiping the board with Oblivion Stone or something like that. I guess I just haven't played with Batterskull enough to know if it has a place in an optimized Daretti build.

Its really just another bomb to discard and reanimate. It has the benefit of dodging all removal except split second so if the germ actually does die, it makes a perfect sacrifice target for Daretti or Welder. It will probably almost never be worth equipping unless you're already winning anyway, but lifegain is important, especially when stalling for time. Heck, even if you're forced to bounce it in response to removal like exile(Return to Dust is a common offender), it fuels Daretti's +2 ability as well. After all, mana cost means very little when you cheat everything into play. Playing Daretti on like turn 2, discarding a bomb then reanimating it on turn 3 is hilarious and happens quite frequently. As a commander, he does the next best thing to tutoring. He filters out high cost cards to be used later, then even goes the extra mile and uses them too.

The more I playtest, the better Grim Monolith gets so that should definitely be the next card you hope to fit in. I've gotten crazy plays thanks to that thing. Once I even managed a turn 3 hexproof and hasted Myr Battlesphere with still some mana left over. The interactions this deck can manage are insane, even when it doesn't go off on combos, it is still strong enough to hold ground.

As for the flash cards like Shimmer Myr/Vedalken Orrery, while they are fun and sometimes useful, I find that flashing things in rarely has a huge impact on events. I still end up playing the same things, just on another person's turn. While it can help you dodge removal, I've just found the effects to be somewhat niche in practice.

Gamble and just tutors in general are good at increasing consistency, but I wouldn't say entirely necessary. Ring of Three Wishes fills the role nicely and can be cheated into play. Gamble will most likely only be used to tutor up bombs as there is a good chance your hand is almost empty and you'll end up discarding them anyway for reanimation.

Terrain Generator and Phyrexia's Core seem a little lackluster to me. Mountains replacing them would give you a better chance at triggering Valakut. Ramp is hardly an issue(plus I find my hand is empty a majority of the time between refills) and you already have plenty of things to sacrifice artifacts to that get you added bonuses and don't cost essentially 2 mana for 1 life.

Sorry for the super long post, I just really love this deck and can't wait to make it in real life, which is surprising since I've never actually liked Red, much less monored for EDH decks before. I've been tinkering with a copy myself with some changes just for keeping track, but I'd love to hear how your deck performs in practice before making any big changes.

Grim Monolith is definitely on the to get list, maybe within the next week or so.

I like the flash cards in a casual environment, but in competitive I'm not sure of their place. I think what I'm going to do is build out an actual sideboard at some point with cards to swap for a more casual game. Taking out the stax I'm going to put in, for things like Vedalken Orrery, Dreamstone Hedron, etc. Stuff that's good but not oppressive.

Phyrexia's Core is nice as an additional sac outlet that taps for mana. It's not the best, but since my red spell count is pretty low tapping for colorless is great along with the utility. Terrain Generator may not be the best, but it does help trigger Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle by cheating Mountains in, and also tapping for colorless. If I swap a land, I was thinking more like Mishra's Factory since I have the Blinkmoth interaction now (which is 2 artifacts to possibly sac), and that would get me to an even 20 Mountains.

I'm glad other people are as excited about this deck as I am! So far my real life testing has been mostly 1v1 duels against other decks in my profile, mainly Avacyn, Angel of Hope, Marchesa, the Black Rose and Obzedat, Ghost Council. It has performed amazingly well, and I find it's tough to beat when I pull off a turn 2 Daretti, Scrap Savant or a turn 3 Wheel of Fortune. The deck fairly consistently has a decent board presence by turn 4, and can get really degenerate around turns 4-6. Any later than that and the whole table is in danger of me pulling off a combo, seemingly out of nowhere.

No need to apologize for post length Necrotize, I can talk about and debate changes for this deck all day. Like you, I wasn't that big into red until Daretti came out, but even then most of this deck is brown so...yeah :)

Is Lotus Bloom something you could see this deck using? seems strong with Daretti on the field. (loot away lotus, cheat it in, sac it, cheat it in again next turn)

I could see Lotus Bloom being useful, and I've thought about running it, but I don't think it's useful enough to knock anything out of the current list or from the maybeboard. Anyone else have an opinion?

Seeing as Lotus Bloom only really gets strong when you can cheat it into play and the only way you'll be doing that is from the graveyard, it really just ends up being a worse version of Gilded Lotus. Once this deck gets running, you rarely need to waste swaps getting ramp back into play, in fact I've found it is usually the other way around, using ramp to secure an early start then saccing it for a win con or a threat. The only time you'd conceivably suspend it would be if it's in your opening hand in order to pretty much guarantee a turn 3 Daretti, but any other piece of ramp will also allow for turn 3 or even turn 2 Daretti. With so many mana rocks and so much reanimation instead of hardcasting, I don't think Bloom is a good fit.

Semblance Anvil seems okay here; cheaper artifacts, cheaper creatures, and most importantly, cheaper artifact creatures. Personally, Bosh, Iron Golem won me quite a few games in the precon deck. He seems pretty good here too.

FeralKitten I see that you finally found a spot for All Is Dust . Tell me how that works out, it seems to be awesome I just haven't been able to get a hold of one yet.

Semblance Anvil is neat, but I'm worried about the card disadvantage it causes and most of the time I'm not hurting to cast what I want in a turn. Having said that, I will consider it because it's powerful and can lead to some crazy mid and late game plays. Bosh, Iron Golem was in the deck for a while, but I found him too "clunky" to use. He's a good beater, but his ability is slow and only really shined with Daretti's emblem, which doesn't happen every game. In fact, I think he deserves a place in the "I'm going to play nice this game" sideboard I'm building out. Thanks for hoping into the discussion alexyoung!

Hey BigHead066, yeah I finally got one in a trade and it should be here in the next week. I'm starting to update the TO list as soon as I have the cards on the way. Next up, Grim Monolith then Gamble!

+1000000000 for the amazing name

I've been mulling around the Masticores, namely Molten-Tail Masticore and Masticore. They seem like they could be good creatures to have both for enabling discard, and then sacrificing to Daretti once what we want is in the graveyard and we no longer feel like filling it. Something I've noticed that is really important to tempo is to setup a way to discard that isn't Daretti, otherwise you're using Daretti for both with slows everything down. Thoughts?

Plus I'm fanboy for the masticores since I just love their design and art.

The masticores are neat, but I feel like they're a bit slow. I've been thinking about trying Deal Broker and finding room for Tormenting Voice and/or Wild Guess again for some early discard. Also Sliversmith will be filling that role nicely soon.