Kaladesh Blue Decks, Green Decks, And An Analysis Of #SCGINDY

Kaladesh is finally upon us, and it’s wasted no time revolutionizing Standard. Last week, we discussed White, Red, and Black. Today, I’d like to make our way through the rest of the set, discussing all of the blue, green, and artifact cards. Let’s go!

Aether Meltdown is actually a pretty respectable removal spell, straight-up. It’s not that different from Grasp of Darkness, and in a color that appreciates it a lot. It can even be played proactively against Smuggler’s Copter before it’s even been Crewed.

Once you factor in the Energy it produces, you’re really starting to get somewhere. For instance, it’s perfect for Aetherworks Marvel. Play an Aether Meltdown on turn 2 or 3, and you can neutralize a threat without missing a beat.

Aetherworks Marvel is one of the most dangerous cards in the new set. The ability to play turn 4 Ulamogs or Emrakuls is extremely warping, and it’s not exactly uncommon.

Like most Energy-based decks, this one features a ton of cards from the new set. After all, where else are you going to get Energy from?

A quality card that will appear in lots of random decks, not just Energy-centric ones.

A speculative addition, it’s not the worst blocker in the world, it jump-starts our Energy production, and it can help dig to Aetherworks Marvel. That said, it’s a little more medium than I’d like under the circumstances. It can just become a Glassblower’s Puzzleknot if it doesn’t work out.

Both a source of Energy and a way to put it to use if we don’t draw Aetherwoks Marvel. It’s hard to fit as many hits in as we’d like, and Architect of the Untamed helps ease this strain.

Very solid and well worth adding to a variety of decks that only lightly take advantage of Energy (as well as being an obvious addition to Energy-centric ones). It’s competing with Traverse the Ulvenwald, but the Energy boost is more valuable than it may look at first glance.

Where else are you going to find all the Energy you need for Aetherworks Marvel in one card? The possibility of playing this on 2, using it on 3, and then dropping Aetherworks Marvel is singlehandedly attractive enough to make this strategy worth exploring.

I’m not a big fan of this one. The digging is nice, sure, but spending five mana without affecting the battlefield can be risky. I love the extra life from Woodweaver’s Puzzleknot, and that’s to say nothing of getting just four Energy and not six.

A somewhat unfortunate cost for this deck, as we’d really prefer to optimize for turn 4 Aetherworks Marvels. It is a reasonable library manipulation spell, though, and we do want at least a couple instants to reduce the cost of our Emrakuls.

Here’s an alternative version with Metalwork Colossus instead of Ulamog.

This isn’t the best use of Glint-Nest Crane I’ve ever seen, but I’m not actually sure the floor for number of artifacts needs to be as high as people say it does.

In general, I think Glint-Nest Crane is great and worth bending some decks for, at least a little.

While Metalwork Colossus is much more castable than Ulamog, it’s also a lot less threatening. I can imagine losing a lot of games where I summon a turn 4 10/10 off an Aetherworks Marvel.

While we’re looking at Glimmer of Genius decks, let’s go to the other end of the spectrum and take a look at a “normal” deck that uses Glimmer of Genius as its card draw spell of choice.

Spell Queller, Rattlechains, Archangel Avacyn, and Torrential Gearhulk add up to a great flash game, and when opponents won’t play into us, we can punish them by casting Glimmer of Genius to advance our position.

An Annul that can’t hit enchantments or colored artifacts, like Gearhulks. It can, however, hit Eldrazi. A great sideboard card. The thing is, I’m not actually sure we can’t maindeck one or two of these. Who doesn’t have Smuggler’s Copter, or Pilgrim’s Eye, or Hedron Archive in their deck?

There’s stiff competition for expensive cards these days. Generally, though, I think Torrential Gearhulk is a winner, as long as you don’t have to warp your deck too much. In Jeff’s list, I’d like to see a couple of Skywhaler’s Shots. It’s just a good card, anyway, and it’d be nice to have some Skysovereign, Consul Flagship protection that we can Flashback with our Gearhulk.

I’m not a fan. I hope it doesn’t come to this. There were 32 Smuggler’s Copters in the Top 8 of the Standard Open in Indianapolis. The last thing I want is my two-mana counterspell to specifically call out not working against artifacts. Maybe we can use some Revolutionary Rebuffs in small numbers, but I’d like to avoid it. It’s like people are holding on to the memories of control styles gone by. Do you want to win, or just play the style that reminds you of the “good old days?” For instance, we could play something like this:

Looks like a lot of fun, for sure. The thing is, that’s a lot of mediocre cards. Why aren’t we overpowering people with overpowered cards instead? To prove how smart we are? For not playing the good cards?

I don’t consider this one of them.

There are a lot better options for bouncing and blinking stuff.

I think “the dream” isn’t strong enough on this one to just use it in a fair deck. It’s worth keeping in mind, however, for Aetherworks Marvel decks as an additional fatty to flip. However, it’s really not strong enough to dominate a game immediately unless you’ve got eight extra Energy. That’s a big ask.

Another five-mana Control Magic, Confiscation Coup can miss sometimes if you don’t have enough Energy but has the upside of being able to hit artifacts or creatures. While I don’t have high hopes for Shrewd Negotiations, I think Confiscation Coup will get there, even if it’s just as a sideboard card. The ability to steal Aetherworks Marvel is a real thing, but with just a little bit of help, it can actually steal the Skysovereign, itself.

We talked about this card a fair bit on Friday, but here’s a new twist:

Tireless Tracker is an awesome source of lots of artifacts, letting you scry every turn.

Verdurous Gearhulk is particularly sweet with the Kingpin, letting you start gaining five life a turn immediately.

I’d be interested if the card had flash, and maybe let me flash something back.

Even though there are ways to combo this, it is a “drawback.” Even if we can turn it into an advantage a reasonable percentage of the time, it’s not like Cancel is a high bar. If Disappearing Act sees play, it’s probably in small numbers in a deck with lots of two-cost enters-the-battlefield-trigger stuff like Glint-Nest Crane and various Puzzleknots.

In Modern, we could potentially put Dramatic Reversal under an Isochron Scepter and go infinite with a Gilded Lotus or something.

In Standard, I don’t see anything remotely close to compelling enough for us to want this; however, they could always print something with so sick of a tap ability, or something with some sort of Stasis-like effect, or something else that makes our creatures all gain a powerful tap ability until end of turn.

You don’t know how badly I want to build some kind of Animation Module, Decoction Module, and Fabrication Module deck!

Era of Innovation might fit into such a deck, depending on which enablers it wants redundancy in. The main issue, however, is how inefficient Era of Innovation is to activate.

Really, the most likely way to use it is as a two-mana draw-three in a deck loaded with Energy enablers. For instance, maybe there’s a place for it in some kind of U/R or Temur Dynavolt Tower deck?

Not even close. It’s three bodies, but just two damage. Even if the 0/3 was a 1/3, we still wouldn’t even be remotely tempted.

While this is a bonus we’re generally interested in, it is inconvenient to need to use up the permission spell to get it. Additionally, four-cost counterspells are already fairly challenging to use sometimes. When we do have space for such things, we’re probably better served by playing with unique effects like Summary Dismissal or Insidious Will. There’s an abundance of other ways to get a little selection.

I’m generally a bigger fan of Summary Dismissal right now than Insidious Will. We certainly don’t need to play a four-mana counterspell, so it’s not like that alone is enough of an assessment. I just think stopping Emrakul, the Promised End is a really big deal. Insidious Will’s upside is the option to Deflection or Twincast a spell, but there really isn’t much worth Deflecting or Twincasting right now beyond the possibility of Deflecting a removal spell to get a two-for-one or proactively copying your own spell late.

Maybe they will print a Fireball that everyone plays, or some sort of Identity Crisis-type card that makes the Deflection more appealing. For now, Emrakul, the Promised End seems a way more frequent and important battle, if you can even afford to play four-mana permission.

I’m not sure there’s enough support for it; but Gearseeker Serpent is certainly doing its part to bring Affinity back. Yeah, it can’t drop below two cost, but it is +1/+2 over Myr Enforcer and conditionally unblockable.

This build might still be trying too hard, but there’s something there…

Getting four Energy from one card is cute, but even if we wanted it that badly, we could get it more efficiently from Woodweaver’s Puzzleknot, Glassblower’s Puzzleknot, Consulate Surveillance, Confiscation Coup, or Aethertouch Renegade.

Untapping is something I’m always interested in when it comes to loops and manaless abilities. Untapping mana creatures is interesting, too. Aetherworks Marvel is a very compelling permanent to untap…

Not a Constructed-worthy rate right now, to start with. On top of that, it matches up terribly against lots of the most common stuff. Smuggler’s Copter, Archangel Avacyn, Grasp of Darkness, Chandra, Torch of Defiance…this one isn’t in the ZIP code.

Speaking of not being in the ZIP code of playability, Malfunction is two too expensive to be of interest to us.

It’s expensive, but Metallurgic Summonings is both a potential source of blockers/victory conditions and a source of massive card advantage (when you Regrowth all of your instants and sorceries). It’s such a ridiculously over-the-top way to generate advantage, maybe we’re supposed to find a way to put it in some kind of weird ramp deck?

I keep wanting to put Wildest Dreams into random three-color midrange or control decks, but I keep finding it looking like a worse Seasons Past. The card looks absurd (better than Regrowth), but there are just so many good Regrowths these days. Maybe it’s just supposed to be a minor role-player in Ramp or a backup victory condition for a combo deck.

Had Rashmi in my first draft deck, and it was so good, I want to try it in Constructed. I’m not overly concerned about the potential to save mana on the spells (though maybe I should be). Rather, I’m just trying to draw two extra cards a turn, including on my opponent’s turn, right after playing Rashmi on turn 5. Here’s another deck with Rashmi, this one trying to make more focused use of it.

If we wanted to stay two colors, we might be able to lean into Aether Meltdown and emphasize the Energy sub-theme, maybe even going so far as to play Aetherworks Marvel. However, if we play a third, we get to pick up some much-appreciated removal.

Black is also tempting, particularly since Liliana, the Last Hope loves having a creature worth getting back. I also think Grasp of Darkness looks like the best removal spell in the format.

White has a little appeal itself. Spell Queller, Archangel Avacyn, Reflector Mage, Skywhaler’s Shot, and Fumigate are all interesting options.

That Minister of Inquires costs just a single mana and has an ability that is sometimes relevant to various graveyard combo decks means we should keep this one on the list to consider if we’re working on various Aetherworks Marvel decks. It’s also kind of interesting, the idea of using four of these and four Thriving Turtles. Why are we accelerating Energy so fast? I don’t know, but it’s interesting that we can.

Striped Bear? No thanks. At least it’s an Artificer.

I like where Padeem’s head’s at, but it mostly just looks like a worse Rashmi. Here’s an attempt to make it work:

It’s like it asks so much more of you and you get so much less. The only real advantages are a slightly more durable body and the hexproof for your artifacts ability (which matters some, but not a ton).

Of course, on the flipside, Padeem is probably a great sideboard card for artifact-based decks, like Metalwork Colossus, without many targets for removal maindeck.

This is a lot of potential extra cards, and if we’re playing a Crush of Tentacles deck, we’ll hopefully consider the bouncing to be upside, too. Caleb Scherer’s Crush deck from this weekend is an excellent example of the sort of stuff Paradoxical Outcome enables:

All the zero-cost artifacts are a lot of free extra cards, and the cantrip artifacts are functionally two-mana draw-twos. Once we get enough of this stuff involved, we can set up Aetherflux Reservoir, gaining tons of extra life a turn or winning the game outright.

We don’t have to be able to do a full 50 to make use of the Reservoir. Even if we just cast a Bone Saw, a Cathar’s Shield, a Prophetic Prism, and a Paradoxical Outcome (followed by replacing them), we’re still up 28 life in the process.

As long as you’re copying two permanents that cost four or more, you’re usually getting your money’s worth. However, there are enough times where you can’t that you really need to get more than that in the normal use to make it worth considering. Fortunately, you can target your opponent’s creatures, which decreases the risk of not being able to copy anything good.

Goblin Dark-Dwellers, Torrential Gearhulk, and Hedron Archive are obvious possibilities, but I wonder if Greenwarden of Murasa might be the missing link?

Oh, I would definitely be in for an Unsummon with scry 1. That would at least be comparable to Vapor Snag, possibly better. However, the limitation of only hitting tapped creatures makes Select for Inspection substantially less useful for protecting your own creatures or removing potential blockers.

It’s another five-mana Control Magic with the upside of also being able to hit artifacts but the downside of needing you to have an artifact to give them. Some common choices include Prophetic Prism, Puzzleknots, Hedron Crawler, Pilgrim’s Eye, Servos, and Thopters. However, you can also give your opponent something like a Torrential Gearhulk and then bounce it.

The only true “drawback” artifact you can give someone right now is Geist-Fueled Scarecrow. It’s got a big enough body, however, that the drawback you give them probably isn’t big enough to make up for it. In general, Confiscation Coup is a more exciting option.

Tezzeret’s Ambition costs one less than the fail state of Scour the Laboratory. In exchange:

● It’s a sorcery, not an instant

● It requires you to have an artifact, or else discard a card.

● It doesn’t cost four when you have delirium.

I’m not saying Scour the Laboratory is some amazing thing right now. I just think it’s a mediocre card that looks better than Tezzeret’s Ambition. Besides, there are so many great fives right now. Why play something this weak?

We wouldn’t be even close to interested in a 3/4 for three, and it’s not like a 4/5 for three would even be all that good. That’s a lot of work just to get up to passable.

Wouldn’t be interested even if the flying was always on and the card cost one less.

Related.

I am in for Appetite for the Unnatural! It’s not the best Naturalize we’ve ever seen, but it has the advantage of being legal. This weekend’s Open featured 32 Smuggler’s Copters in the Top 8! It’s time to adjust how we build decks!

Yes, it’s quite a bit worse than Thragtusk. An extra point of toughness and trample hardly make up for the 3/3 you don’t get when it leaves the battlefield (and an extra green mana symbol). That said, Arborback Stomper is legal. Costing the same as Verdurous Gearhulk and Nissa, Vital Force might make the bar too high, but it might have purpose as a niche sideboard option.

It’s tough, though, since it has exactly the wrong amount of toughness for fighting Chandra, Torch of Defiance, which many opponents you’d want to sideboard in lifegain against might have. Traverse the Ulvenwald, Eldritch Evolution, Bring to Light, Eldrazi Displacer, and Saheeli Rai might all be potentially interested in it, but it would be fringe at best.

I would love for this card to be good. These types usually aren’t, but this one has a pretty respectable body attached to it. I mean, how many cards do you need to draw to get ahead? By the time you’re drawing two, you are doing really well for yourself. The combo with Nissa, Voice of Zendikar makes that particularly easy.

Verdurous Gearhulk is also a mondo-combo with the Armorcraft Judge, though it’s also just one of the best cards in the set.

There are just so many ways to use Verdurous Gearhulk well. It’s absurdly undercosted, and it synergizes with tons and tons of stuff like Delirium, adding two types at once, including a hard-to-find one.

Being a green five-drop is hard, but Nissa, Vital Force is so good, it can live up to it. She’s a little bit Den Protector, a little bit Reality Smasher. She’s also got an ultimate that comes online in just a single turn.

As for the +1/+1 counter deck above, we might also consider Durable Handicraft, depending on how hard we want to push the Animation Module theme.

Durable Handicraft and Animation Module let you make as many tokens as you have mana for each turn, assuming you can do anything to get it started.

It would be pretty easy to trigger Fairgrounds Trumpeter, but we’d play Undergrowth Champion before we played a Fairgrounds Trumpeter.

Blossoming Defense is an excellent new trick that can help win fights or protect your best creatures from removal. For instance, check out Brian Braun-Duin’s list from this weekend:

It isn’t Dromoka’s Command, but it gives us some flexibility, some dimensions of interaction, and a big potential tempo boost when we counter something like a Ruinous Path.

I am a little skeptical of Bristling Hydra as a straight-up creature; however, it does look appealing in some sort of Energy-based aggro deck. For instance:

If we’re going to use Longtusk Cub, we’d make sure we’ve got a plan for getting it through.

Once you connect that first time, you’ll tend to be able to start snowballing pretty hard. You do need to connect, though, to start things off. Of course, you could also just rely on Energy produced from stuff like Attune with Aether and Voltaic Brawler. If you grow the Cub to a 4/4 before attacking on turn 3, it’s gonna be pretty hard to stop in combat.

If you are in the market for a Fog, Commencement of Festivities is the cheapest you’ll find these days. The most likely decks to want it are some kind of U/G Part the Waterveil deck (maybe), or as a sideboard option for some kind of a deck that desperately wants to buy a little time, maybe a ramp deck, a combo deck, or possibly even just some deck with Fumigate or Descend upon the Sinful.

Would be a lot weaker than Verdurous Gearhulk, even if it cost five.

Reclaiming Vines was already seeing no play, and now you can play eight!

All jokes aside, Creeping Mold looks better in the new format, if only because of the ability to hit Skysovereign, Consul Flagship. It’s isn’t very good at anything, but it does do a lot of stuff, if you’re willing to pay a premium for the flexibility.

It’s hard to wrap my mind around playing this over Verdurous Gearhulk. The Gearhulk has “haste,” so to speak. It adds more power to an empty battlefield by far. It’s better against removal. It doesn’t require power-pumping cards to get value from.

I wonder: how many human lifetimes have already been spent trying to best this dubious challenge? Here’s an oddball approach:

Reveal two Wispweaver Angels and then blink one to loop an arbitrary number of times, gaining as much life as you want with Pious Evangel. Reveal Cataclysmic Gearhulk, and it doesn’t matter if they take it or not. Of course, if the other creature is a Reflector Mage, you’re kind of doing it anyway.

Other options to consider include Clutch of Currents, Drag Under, Ulvenwald Hydra, and Emrakul, the Promised End (a great one to bounce or blink with Clutch of Currents, Drag Under, Reflector Mage, or Eldrazi Displacer, to be sure).

This just isn’t enough material to be interesting, and even if we’re in the market for this effect, Angel of Intervention and Master Marionette are so much better at it (to say nothing of Verdurous Gearhulk).

A poor body for Constructed at this cost, and an ability that is both expensive and not particularly useful.

We wouldn’t want a 4/4 with vigilance and reach for four. We certainly don’t want one that gets -2/-0 when you don’t have a six-cost planeswalker on the battlefield.

Just not enough material for three mana.

Twice the cost of Dromoka’s Command, with only one combination instead of six. And it’s a sorcery.

The Seedsculptor isn’t the worst, but it’s probably still a little short of what we’d need unless we are getting some serious rewards for +1/+1 counter synergy. Obsessive Skinner has so much higher a ceiling and hasn’t even been showing up as fringe.

This sure is a sorcery.

It’s so weird that Nature’s Way grants vigilance and trample when neither actually interacts with the damage-dealing ability, despite it seeming like they should. As far as the strength of the card, it’s a slight buff to Rabid Bite, which wasn’t even close to good enough for Constructed. It’s asking a lot to need to have a decent-sized creature on the battlefield before being able to remove a creature. Besides, the games where you have a creature that big aren’t the ones where you need the help as often. On top of all that, the spell fails if your opponent has an instant-speed removal spell. Maybe vigilance and trample is enough to sweeten the pot and get us interested, but I doubt it.

Nissa, Nature’s Artisan is a Planeswalker deck card that’s legal for Standard play. While Chandra, Pyrogenius is pretty hard to imagine playing, Nissa, Nature’s Artisan is at least the best Nissa to cost six. There’s basically no way I’d want to use this Nissa on her own; however, she was born to combo with Verdant Crescendo.

With just a single copy of Nissa, Nature’s Artisan in your 60, Verdant Crescendo is basically a Rampant Growth cantrip, but instead of drawing a random card, you always draw Nissa (which is convenient, as it curves into her perfectly).

With Nissa’s Pilgrimage and Explosive Vegetation both gone, there is a little bit of an opening for ramp spells.

While certainly not the worst, Ornamental Courage is still not particularly strong and up against steep competition. Blossoming Defense is much better for Constructed, as hexproof is so versatile and useful, while we’re not always going to get as much value from untapping a creature.

Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter is a little expensive to operate for my tastes. That said, the X/X ability is actually a potentially major dimension to add to your deck. Additionally, the fact that it’s a 1/2 is actually pretty important right now (particularly with cards like Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, which makes it a 2/3 after picking up a +1/+1 counter). Finally, the tokens are artifact creatures, so Oviya Pashiri is a repeatable source of artifacts for stuff like Contraband Kingpin and Unlicensed Disintegration.

Helluva Draft common, but there are countless better options for Constructed.

Riparian Tiger is maybe half the card that Verdurous Gearhulk is. Unfortunately, it costs just as much.

While Take Down is a sadly a sorcery, it is cheap enough, versatile enough, and effective enough to be a worthy sideboard consideration. Aerial Volley rotated out, so the comparison isn’t that important; however, I would strongly prefer Aerial Volley. Take Down can actually kill an Archangel Avacyn, not to mention occasionally sweeping more than three Thopters; but not being able to kill Smuggler’s Copter very well is a major strike against it.

A 3/2 vanilla for two is closer than a lot of these cards to being playable.

Close, but no cigar.

Even after you attack and use up the Rhino’s Energy, you’re still only up to a 3/4, which wouldn’t be good enough to pay three mana for. Yeah, you do net a little Energy in the event they kill it, and it does give you another way to spend Energy. However, there are much more exciting options available.

A lot of people are going to just pass over Wild Wanderer without much thought. I’m not so sure it should be dismissed, though. Its rate is fine, not impressive. It’s basically an Explosive Vegetation that leaves you with a 3/2 instead of a second Rampant Growth. I’d prefer the Vegetation, but it’s not legal.

Wild Wanderer does have an important advantage, however. It has three power, making it the perfect size to crew Skysovereign, Consul Flagship. It’s also the perfect size to crew Cultivator’s Caravan, which could totally fit into whatever ramp strategy we’re talking about here. Between Matter Reshaper, Tireless Tracker, and Wild Wanderer, maybe a bunch of Skysovereigns isn’t actually crazy in a ramp deck.

One other possible fringe use of the Wanderer is in some sort of blink deck, triggering it over and over with Eldrazi Displacer and Essence Flux. I don’t have high hopes for the Wanderer, but I’m certainly considering it.

The activation is just too mana-intensive to be worth it in Constructed. It’s not like we making our awesome card drawing engine indestructible. It’s just a 1/1 that doesn’t do much besides block.

It’s basically just a glorified Dutiful Thrull.

Empyreal Voyager is a bit of an odd duck. A 2/3 flier with trample is a weird thing to pay for, and then the payoff comes from connecting and is just Energy without a way to spend it. Nevertheless, I could imagine Empyreal Voyager having chances. There are plenty of reasonable ways to convert Energy into value, like Longtusk Cub.

Once we value Energy at about half a +1/+1 counter, Empyreal Voyager is sort of a flying Whirling Dervish. Where it starts to pull ahead is when you increase its power, whether by a Verdurous Gearhulk or a Fabrication Module.

Fabrication Module is cute, but I’m not sure we’re getting enough bang for our buck. For three mana, we could have just played a Nissa, Voice of Zendikar.

It’s not the most impressive two-drop in the world, but if you just want to get Energy as efficiently as possible, it does produce an above-average amount, and for just two mana.

Even if we were playing a +1/+1 counter deck, are we really willing to pay an extra mana for this kind of effect to avoid hitting our creatures? They even have +1/+1 counters on them!

It’s better than a Hexplate Golem, so at least it’s accomplished that much.

Too expensive and unreliable for Constructed.

Less unreliable, but it’s the same cost and Crew as Skysovereign, Consul Flagship. Its ability is even a paltry version of the Flagship’s.

Wouldn’t consider it at four, let alone five.

This one is a little bit of a weird one, but I’ve got a feeling we’ve just got better things to do for four mana. It maybe be a cantrip, but even then, it’s just adding two extra power to your attacks, like a Striped Bear. That’s a little simplified, but that’s the basic issue I have with the card. Maybe it can find a home in some Start Your Engines deck or something.

A possible minor role-player, if some weird “Affinity” deck ends up playable. Even though I think there is a decent chance of that, I am skeptical Chief of the Foundry fits in it. Glint-Nest Crane, Contraband Kingpin, Gearseeker Serpent…there are enough non-artifact creatures that look compelling that a rather one-dimensional lord that dies to Skysovereign and almost every removal spell isn’t very enticing.

I appreciate what it’s trying to do, and maybe at one we’d be interested. At two, we can do better.

Not strictly better than Tumble Magnet, as it does enter the battlefield tapped. Nevertheless, the versatility with other Energy cards and the ability to go after planeswalkers makes this one a success.

Too unreliable and too expensive.

Not even for three mana.

People play such amazing two-drops. We’ve got to do much better than this, even if we care about it being an artifact.

Electrostatic Pummeler is quite the build-around. We want to stack both Energy and pump spells on it, in a good mix. The more you pump the Pummeler, the more the Energy is worth. The more Energy you have to double it, the more the pump spells are worth.

Voltaic Brawler and Lathnu Hellion are great cards and great sources of Energy. The cool part about splashing red, however, is getting to play Built to Smash.

Built to Smash is a mana-efficient way to pump your Pummeler, but with the added bonus of giving it trample.

Turn 2: Sage of Shaila’s Claim.

Turn 3: Electrostatic Pummeler.

Turn 4: Built to Smash, Uncaged Fury, attack for 42.

Foundry Inspector is much more appealing to me than Chief of the Foundry. It’s a better set of stats for Crewing, and the cost reduction ability plays nicely with cantrip artifacts, Puzzleknots, Skysovereign, Metalwork Colossus, and more.

While Ghirapur Orrery can serve as a sideboard card in a fast aggro deck against an attrition-based midrange or control deck, I’m more excited about it as part of a madness deck, particularly one with blue for cards like Just the Wind. Even if our opponent empties their hand, we can bounce a creature back to make them miss the Ancestral Recall. If our opponent has no creatures and we just need to empty our hand, maybe we can discard it to Call the Bloodline, Cryptbreaker, Stromkirk Condemned, or Haunted Dead.

An obvious inclusion for any Stone Haven Outfitter / Stoneforge Acolyte / Weapons Trainer deck that might exist. Generally, though, it’s also just a passable option for Toolcraft Exemplar / Inventor’s Apprentice decks. I’m not super in-love with it, but if you are trying to be super all-in, it’s worth exploring.

For three, I’d consider it. At four, there’s little chance it’ll be effective enough, but not 100% able to be ruled out for some weird synergy-heavy deck.

Key to the City is a totally respectable enabler for decks that care about both artifacts (like Inventor’s Apprentice and Unlicensed Disintegration) and discard outlets (like Scrapheap Scrounger and Fiery Temper). For instance, Jacob Hagen’s RB Aggro deck from this weekend:

People like this card, but it seems sketchy to me. This isn’t a Morphling at all. It doesn’t have a defensive ability beyond gaining toughness until end of turn. Its keywords aren’t that great at instant speed. It goes through its Energy quickly but doesn’t give you a major payoff if you’ve already got a stockpile of Energy. It’s also just super-bad at combat. It can’t even kill a Smuggler’s Copter without dying, despite costing five.

If I were going to use Multiform Wonder, I would guess it would be part of some weird Aetherworks Marvel deck (most likely the sideboard).

Deathtouch just isn’t strong enough in Constructed to be worth the cost here.

I prefer Fleetwheel Cruiser, but Ovalchase Dragster has its moments. It’s easier to Crew and kills planeswalkers that opponents thought were safe from the Cruiser.

Perpetual Timepiece is an interesting enabler for graveyard-based strategies that might actually be decent since it doesn’t cost any mana. For instance, check out Zach Voss’s Grixis Emerge deck from Indy:

Scrapheap Scrounger, Haunted Dead, Prized Amalgam, and Kozilek’s Return are a lot of great cards to flip to a Timepiece.

Not enough rate.

A possibility for Vehicle-based aggro decks, though Smuggler’s Copter, Fleetwheel Cruiser, and Skysovereign, Consul Flagship are all a fair bit better.

Too slow.

It’s like a much, much, worse Smuggler’s Copter.

An awesome card that’s appeared in a lot of my lists, just one weekend in, and already it’s taken its first trophy.

This one looks a little silly, but I’m not 100% sure it’s unplayable. Flying does help here. Most likely, it’s just a fair bit worse than Fleetwheel Cruiser, but artifacts are an interesting tribe these days…

You’d have to be pretty hard-up for Equipment to consider Torch Gauntlet. It’s just not big of a piece of Equipment for the cost.

Better than it looks, but probably still not playable. It is interesting in that it is a repeatable source of artifacts for stuff like Contraband Kingpin, however.

Generally, just not a strong enough card to be interesting; however, it is a fringe possibility for a highly synergistic artifact deck with lots of graveyard interactions and sacrifice outlets (like Syndicate Trafficker). I wouldn’t bet the farm on it, though.

Me?

As I’ve been saying since it was spoiled, I would bet the farm on this little Vehicle, right here…

This is a messed-up Magic card.