PSA: this deck is only $30!!!
Hey guys - you like affinity decks but don't want to dump a whopping $800 dollars just to dick around with it? Or is it that you're in a casual playgroup where using something that fast and p powerful would be complete b/s? Well, I've crafted a sweet little alternative that you can build for about $30. It has no ravagers or mox opals, but I assure you it's fun and powerful. If you're looking for a new budget build to try out or play at home with friends, this is it.
So, the premise of this deck is artifacts. Basically, it's geared toward production of thopters that we then aim to make bigger in order to smash up the opponent. The thopter production in this deck comes from Pia and Kiran Nalaar, Whirler Rogue, Sai, Master Thopterist, Thopter Engineer and Ghirapur Gearcrafter. We then aim to buffer the creatures to make them threats (since 1/1 is too small). The cards that allow us to buffer are Cranial Plating, Ensoul Artifact, Chief of the Foundry and Signal Pest. We round out the creature slot in the deck with Vault Skirge because it's a good card that fits the 1-drop slot and also gains life.
This deck has some collateral damage cards to help further its tempo so that we can still play as aggressively as possible. We run two copies of Shrapnel Blast and three copies of Galvanic Blast because they give us the flexibility to either kill creatures or hit the opponent in the face with damage. The fact that Shrapnel Blast is an instant also means that it can be used in response to a create that's about to die in combat, whereas Galvanic Blast can allow us to remove blocking threats that would kill our stuff in combat.
The rest of the deck is rounded out with four copies of Springleaf Drum to provide mana fixing and ramping in addition to our manabase which already includes flexy mana like Shivan Reef and Crumbling Vestige. From there, the other 15 lands consist of basics and three copies of Darksteel Citadel, just in case we need something to sac to Shrapnel Blast or to hook Ensoul Artifact.
