I hadn't considered Jalira....that could be an interesting inclusion. Definitely worth testing (and makes me actually want to try stuffing Darksteel Colossus into the deck!).


elk

As I mentioned in another thread, I should try to keep my lists current for the sake of discussion.

I'm running with Garren's Idea of Jalira which actually seems like it could work well in this shell (There may not be enough consistent tokens for a Blasting Station idea but there is for Jalira). Because of that, I also added the Darksteel Colossus to see if I could cheat it into play. If it ends up a dud, than I can drop it and 1 Bident of Thassa to add back in the 2x Angelic Edict.



Regardless, the DLC additions have made the Artifact deck a viable option now (not top tier by any means but it's at least competitive).


elk

Hahaha - first time use of Jalira, Master Polymorphist resulted in living the dream of Darksteel Colossus. Also, I didn't see it at first, but 2x Sanctum Gargoyle and Jalira works just fine too (slow depending on how many Etherium Sculptor are in play but you're dropping a creature every cycle too). Fun stuff but still remains to be seen if it's worth it over the removal option of Angelic Edict.


elk

I've been playing with my version of your deck now most of last night and I have to say it's working very well. Jalira really is pulling her weight for me - though I have to admit it's mostly because there is nothing in this deck I am disappointed to see her produce. Here's what I'm running at the moment.



Obviously I took a divergent path towards the end (including the Ingots and the Obelisk) but it does mean I can reasonably hard cast the Colossus every now and again which is nice. I'm really going to have to find a way to squeeze a couple of Sanctum Gargoyle in there though. They're just a solid addition.

@ Garren - I'm curious about a few choices you've made (and you highlighted two of them in your post) so was hoping you would elaborate on them.

Why Righteous Blow? It's a conditional shock (for creatures only) that seems weak in comparison to other 1 mana choices. I'd be suggesting something like Gods Willing/ Vapor Snag/ Cloudshift? Granted these aren't 'removal' but I think you'd get more out of them.

Why Darksteel Ingot? Mana fixing isn't much of a problem in a two color deck and outside of Darksteel Colossus there isn't much to ramp in to. Granted with enough Sculptors this could be basically a free cast but I think you could use this spot better (especially at 3 copies).

Why Obelisk of Alara? Normally I'm a fan of this making it into decks and the idea of getting it out early is great but you can only activate 2 modes based on your current mana (you should at least switch your lands over to the Arcane Sanctum to get access to the 3rd mode). I just don't see the life gain/ looting being necessary in this particular deck (the could have some use though). You could consider Military Intelligence or Bident of Thassa to get into draw versus loot (and I will say that any decent amount of tokens in play with Bident will frequently over draw your hand).

I will say though that I've enjoyed Jalira and think that was a good call.

I've been also dabbling in the Esper variations too just to get more early bodies (if only would could have some freaking decent mana!). Because of the mana, I think Azorius is the way to go but the 2 and 3 drop slot is light on artifact creatures. It may be worth while to go outside the family to have some other filler options there (which is where my testing is headed).


elk

Here is something I was tooling around with earlier tonight.



Going a a bit different direction here. All you guys and your flying creatures....oh wait, Nimbus Wings hehehe.

With so much draw why not play Chasm Skulker especially that you can give him evasion.

I'd also consider Brimaz, King of Oreskos and Squadron Hawk (I love them).

I actually had both Brimaz and Squadron Hawk in the deck when I first threw it together.

The deck actually started out as a list full of fliers (Squadron Hawk, Cloudfin Raptor, etc) but I ended up switching things up mostly because of Nimbus Wings. It felt super redundant because the majority of the creatures already had flying or unblockable to begin with, so the majority of time Nimbus Wings wasn't really any better than Holy Strength which isn't exactly too great.

I dropped Nimbus Wings completely because of this, but came to find out that the flier version just felt like a worse version of the more traditional Azorius fliers list. The Enchantment plan just seemed like it wasn't adding much overall, at least not enough to run it over more cheap fliers or stuff like Warden to ramp into a bigger game.

Which got me to slip Nimbus Wings back into the deck, and instead remove some of the cheap fliers and replace them with some other creatures that have more potential with the Enchantment plan.


As for your suggestions. The deck would probably run a little better if we were to go -3 Scroll Thief, +1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos, +2 Chasm Stalker.

That said, I feel kind of good finally finding a decent place to run Scroll Thief. It is a card that I have neglected up to this point because almost every deck that can run it is likely better off running something else instead. Nimbus Wings works pretty well on him, making him a 2/5 flier, as does Ethereal Armor (making it a 2/4 or higher First strike). Even Ordeal isn't terrible on it.

Well so far I really love the concept of UW Enchantments, as usually Enchantment decks had huge problems with card disadvantage (at least that's my experience).

I also loved the addition of Scroll Thief but as you said, there are better alternatives...

I played your deck with -4x Scroll Thief +1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos, +1 Baneslayer Angel and +2 Chasm Skulker. So far I'm having a lot of success

I did test 4x Squadron Hawk but in the end decided that they're not needed and I can buff other stuff better. I do love enchanted Trained Caracal.

I also tried running it as Selesnya - dropping blue, Ajani's Pridemate and Rhox Faithmender and adding 4x Spire Tracer, 4x Wandering Wolf, 3x Aura Gnarlid and 3x Triumph of Ferocity.

I always considered Triumph of Ferocity as a bad card, but in this particular case it's really nice and I usually have a high pumped creature which allows me to draw 2 cards a turn + buffs Ethereal Armor.

Runs well too.

At that point I would basically be running my Selesnya Wolf deck (which is over in the Selesnya thread).

Which is actually where I got the idea to put this together from hehe.

For reference:

As you said it's simply because it's removal. It's performed adequately so far but I am definitely considering trading it out for something else. Probably a set of Vapor Snags since they serve as quasi-protection for my guys while allowing me to re-trigger Myrsmith.


I've thrown these two together simply because they are a 'run both or run neither' combination in my deck. I originally threw in the Obelisk simply because I wanted to test it within an Artifact build and, once I added it, adding the Ingots allowed me to access all five modes of the Obelisk. I'll fully admit it isn't great or anything but it holds its ground a little. I wouldn't miss it if it was gone however. More of a 'nice to have around' rather then a core part of the deck.

It is funny would should mention those two cards specifically though as I've actually cut one of both Righteous Blow and Darksteel Ingot in favour of a pair of Sanctum Gargoyle and I've liked having the Gargoyles around more than I've missed the others.

As my post probably hinted, I gapped on Ingot giving you access to the balance of modes on Obelisk. I do agree that Sanctum Gargoyle helps a fair amount in these decks. It allows you the chance to hold your 'snags/ willings etc' longer and drain their hands of removal. Also good for cycling things like the capsules (and recur targets from Jalira - fun times with 2x Sanctum - sac one, recur it, repeat).

elk

Elixir for re-use of stuff since you need the protection vs Angelic Edict and possibly other stuff. And since you depend a bit on drawing with Avarice Amulet, getting that back is nice too. Wall of Omens for early block and draw. Stoneforge Mystic also early blocker but also Avarice Amulet fetcher and possibly cutting casting cost down by half. Obelisk of Alara for possibly discarding Darksteel Colossus when you happen to draw it and everything else it might be good for with Darksteel Ingot. Mercurial Pretender because why the F*** be content with just 1 Darksteel Colossus or 2 indestructible blockers in the form of Creepy Doll (obvious Avarice Amulet target btw)

I like the deck Empo, but I can see it will have major problems with air defense, any thoughts about Nimbus wings? Would be pretty sweet on a creepy doll.

I have no idea what to remove. All seems to do well in the tests up to now but some quick air defense would be nice. Beats having to dig for bomb.

You have a ton of draw and multiple ways to reshuffle so I would probably cut the elixers and 2 Think Twice. You could cut the Quickens instead of 2 Think Twice but i'm a sucker for insta-cleansing

Maybe I indeed could do with a little less elixir since I have kozi around. Not going for a full set of wings anywyas since I have the mystic to fetch them.

- 2 Elixir of Immortality
- 1 Think Twice
+ 3 Cobbled Wings

I don t think it s a good idea to play mercurial pretender in a Jalira deck.
If it comes into play and the only creature you have is Jalira you re going to be a sad puppy.

What about Guard Gomazoa for flying defense? Also, I'd use the UBG land instead of the guildgates. Gives you an extra option with Obelisk.