Metal Gear Rising [2024 Edition]
Standard* Affinity Artifact Casual Jank Theme/Gimmick Tokens Tokens WU (Azorius)
Artifact (23)
Land (25)
Sideboard
Creature (8)
Artifact (6)
Land (1)
Maybeboard
Artifact (16)
- 1x Braided Net Flip
- 1x Cryptic Coat
- 1x Dollhouse of Horrors
- 1x Esoteric Duplicator
- 1x Goldwarden's Helm
- 1x Lotus Ring
- 1x Master's Guide-Mural Flip
- 1x Nexus of Becoming
- 1x Quick-Draw Dagger
- 1x Sword of Forge and Frontier
- 1x Sword of Wealth and Power
- 1x The Enigma Jewel Flip
- 1x The Key to the Vault
- 1x The One Ring
- 1x Thunder Lasso
- 1x Unstable Glyphbridge Flip
Creature (7)
Instant (2)
Sorcery (1)
Land (1)
If you got suggestions please leave a comment and include which cards I should replace, and if you like the deck's flavor and thematics feel free to +1 Upvote
Illustration by Svetlin Velinov & Anton Solovianchyk. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC
Preface
Metal = Artifacts
Gear = Equipment
Rising = Come to life
That's what this deck is based around. Artifacts coming to life in the form of tokens. Construct tokens to be more precise.
After all it's ranked as the single best construct card in Magic®.
The conceptual idea here is for a predominantly Artifact-based deck in Standard (April 2024)* featuring many artifact synergies. This deck has got a lot of synergy around that one type of card — Artifacts.
*All within Standard legal card sets. When you open it up to other far-reaching formats it is too slow and it's power level would need to go WAY up but you'd have way more options of better artifacts to include too so it just would be an entirely different decklist. I've brewed many older artifact-based decks before but this is sort've just a jank deckbuild and non-competitive but more thematic. I don't expect this to make a huge splash on Standard or even be that playable in competitive but I like going off the beaten path and making something not many others will be playing.
Simulacrum Synthesizer
The main engine to this deck.
The basis of the deck is fairly self-explanatory really. Getting out artifacts every turn and thus pumping out some massive beater Construct(s).
If you have Simulcrum Synthesizer out pretty much everything else you can cast — because the deck is almost entirely made up of artifacts — is creating you a fullmetal army of massive constructs. Each time you play a new artifact they all get bigger. Even other artifact tokens.
There are currently 232 cards where the types include "artifact" and the mana value ">=3" to trigger the Simulacrum Synthesizer and that are still standard legal of course. If you open it up to other formats there's obviously tons more. Meaning there is plenty of ways you can build this deck. There are plenty of other artifacts that are good in this deck but this list represents the synergy with the token theme at it's core.
We've already gone over our major contributor Simulacrum Synthesizer but here's the other main players.
Liberator, Urza's Battlethopter is your early'ish creature. It let's use cast most our cards as though they had flash. Which opens up some bait tactics when leaving open mana on their turn. Also it will only get bigger the more cards we play.
Cloudsteel Kirin is an early'ish creature to chump block with. It can be equipped later for to any other creature including those massive Constructs and it gives them some evasion with Flying but also makes it so you cannot lose the game unless they remove it from play first. This is pretty huge because at the point you get this attached to something you might've taken some hits to your life and need this to come online.
It also doesn't matter whether you go under 0 or less life, you're forced to draw a card while your library is empty, you have ten or more poison counters, you're at the end of your Nine Lives, your opponent is a Triskaidekaphile, or so on you just keep playing. Also whilst attached as an Equipment it ceases to be a creature so it also loses any creature subtypes it has — Kirin. This isn't that important other than it also means they cannot target it as a creature, so if the creature it was attached to had hexproof lets say for example they would need a destroy or exile target artifact/equipment and not simply a destroy/exile target creature card. This is just hypothetical situation but still worth pointing out.
Brass Knuckles is a really nice Artifact because it puts out not one but two artifacts that have a cost of . Each enterring the battlefield would trigger the Simulacrum Synthesizer to make not one but two Construct(s). Then you can equip them both for just to either the same creature in order to give it doublestrike OR better yet if you have two creatures and say Cloudsteel Kirin, Blade of Shared Souls, or Assimilation Aegis equipped to them then you would equip each of the Brass Knuckles to separate creatures in order to give them BOTH doublestrike. Ideally you're going to want to equip your Construct(s).
Assimilation Aegis is removal. It's an artifact but it's main usecase for us is a much needed answer to their threats. The deck should have a decently strong board presence with Constructs to deter any would-be attackers but removal in artifact form could be useful for those pesky threats who need answering. If this card underperforms though you can easily swap it out for something else. Generally the threat you need to remove is worth having the removal though and if that threat is that worth it you might even equip it to something else to morph it into their threat and steal it for yourself! A simulacrum if you will. Pretty thematic.
Encroaching Mycosynth is a really cool card for artifact synergies. While we only have a few non-artifact non-land cards in this deck it does make Mondrak, Glory Dominus and Ojer Taq, Deepest Foundation artifacts which then makes them targetable by the next few cards as well as triggering the Synthesizer.
Transmutation Font as the top end of your curve is a nice payoff because you can tutor out any artifact you're missing and put it onto the battlefield which of course triggers Simulacrum Synthesizer to make a Construct(s) too. If you don't wish to sacrifice a Construct just tap it to create three different artifact tokens to get the tutor effect.
Chimil, the Inner Sun is a nice curve topping artifact. At your endstep every turn it's cheating out basically any permament for free with the choice of putting it in your hand if you'd like. Your hoping to hit an artifact of course to trigger the Synthesizer and creating an untapped Construct. Chimil is also just great that your cards you cast cannot be countered. We probably run only one of these because of the high mana cost and due to the fact that we will lose Mirror Box eventually and it is Legendary.
What is an artifact deck without Urza?
Urza, Planeswalker
Urza, Lord Protector & Urza, Planeswalker along with The Mightstone and Weakstone of course.
While eventually Urza brings even more artifact Soldier tokens to the party I really just like The Mightstone and Weakstone. It's a nice Artifact in itself a tadbit expensive but good ramp and effects on it.
I wanted to include some mentions for possible additions to this deck. And again feel free to drop a comment and suggest something.
Akal Pakal, First Among Equals should probably be included here even if he's not an artifact by default but we have ways to get around that too. He is especially useful if we run Liberator, Urza's Battlethopter's to give everything Flash.
Dollhouse of Horrors is another 5 drop but it has good Construct synergies and Urza makes it cheaper to get out.
The One Ring
Just a pretty powerful card draw engine and artifact on curve on T4.
The Enigma Jewel
Nexus of Becoming alongside Portal to Phyrexia, Cityscape Leveler, Terisian Mindbreaker, Thousand Moons Smithy , Moonshaker Cavalry, Hoarding Broodlord, Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant, Su-Chi Cave Guard, City on Fire or One with the Multiverse + Encroaching Mycosynth to make it an artifact so it works with the Nexus.
The question is whether the artifact synergies can overcome it's shortcomings especially when certain cards from Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, Innistrad: Crimson Vow, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, and Streets of New Capenna rotate out of Standard with the release of Bloomburrow triggering rotation. And that set's theme doesn't imply that tons of new artifacts are coming. Of course Magic™ is always dropping all kinds of incredibly powerful artifacts that could have an impact on the format so we will have to wait and see. I look forward to picking and choosing new cards to add to it as we get them. And we still got Dominaria United, The Brothers' War, Phyrexia: All Will Be One, March of the Machine, and March of the Machine: The Aftermath all fairly artifact heavy sets until Q4 of 2025 before anymore card sets rotate out.
Is the synergistic artifact strategy the best way to accomplish this deck's idea or should we play this card in another archetype shell throwing in the few cards it needs to work? Thing is I'm not trying to play the game's meta and fit it into a competitive archetype shell either.
Other routes to build this deck Show
Art used within is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards™. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.
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Casual
98% Competitive
Revision 4 See all
(1 week ago)
| +1 | Foreboding Statue Flip | side |
| -1 | The Mightstone and Weakstone Meld | side |
| Date added | 3 weeks |
| Last updated | 1 week |
| Legality | This deck is Standard legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 20 - 10 Mythic Rares 14 - 3 Rares 2 - 1 Uncommons 4 - 1 Commons |
| Cards | 60 |
| Avg. CMC | 3.74 |
| Tokens | Blood, Clue, Construct 0/0 C, Construct 0/0 C, Copy Clone, Food, Gnome 1/1 C, Map, Rebel 2/2 R |
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