Over the past year, almost every premier set that has been released had major implications for Constructed formats, even beyond Standard. The introduction of Wilds of Eldraine brought us
Up the Beanstalk
Up the Beanstalk
When this enchantment enters and whenever you cast a spell with mana value 5 or greater, draw a card.
, which proved to be too strong of a card advantage engine for Modern. The Lost Caverns of Ixalan resulted in yet another ban. This time,
Geological Appraiser
Geological Appraiser
When this creature enters, if you cast it, discover 3. (Exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card with mana value 3 or less. Cast it without paying its mana cost or put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom in a random order.)
bit the dust for its role in a fast and consistent combo deck in Pioneer.
Meanwhile, Murders at Karlov Manor completely shook up the metagames of both Pioneer and Modern.
Vein Ripper
Vein Ripper
Flying
Ward—Sacrifice a creature.
Whenever a creature dies, target opponent loses 2 life and you gain 2 life.
is an amazing payoff for the Vampires deck in Pioneer, and the combination of
Leyline of the Guildpact
Leyline of the Guildpact
If this card is in your opening hand, you may begin the game with it on the battlefield.
Each nonland permanent you control is all colors.
Lands you control are every basic land type in addition to their other types.
and
Scion of Draco
Scion of Draco
Domain — This spell costs {2} less to cast for each basic land type among lands you control.
Flying
Each creature you control has vigilance if it's white, hexproof if it's blue, lifelink if it's black, first strike if it's red, and trample if it's green.
is still a force to be reckoned with.
Outlaws of Thunder Junction released quite recently, but it appears as though this set follows a similar trend. For instance,
Slickshot Show-Off
Slickshot Show-Off
Flying, haste
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +2/+0 until end of turn.
Plot {1}{R} (You may pay {1}{R} and exile this card from your hand. Cast it as a sorcery on a later turn without paying its mana cost. Plot only as a sorcery.)
is a clear multi-format all-star right from the jump. If that weren’t enough, a rather innovative Artifacts shell in Legacy making use of two different Thunder Junction cards won a recent Magic Online Legacy Challenge! Given the vast card pool already available for Legacy players, this unique deck is certainly worth looking into.
New Cards Play a Major Role
Before Outlaws of Thunder Junction, blue-based Artifacts shells in Legacy were hanging on by a thread in the metagame. Eight-cast decks utilizing the power of
Thought Monitor
Thought Monitor
Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs {1} less to cast for each artifact you control.)
Flying
When this creature enters, draw two cards.
and
Thoughtcast
Thoughtcast
Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs {1} less to cast for each artifact you control.)
Draw two cards.
had fallen out of favor a bit.
Patchwork Automaton
Patchwork Automaton
Ward {2} (Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter it unless that player pays {2}.)
Whenever you cast an artifact spell, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
was clearly still a powerful card in conjunction with zero-drop Artifacts, but decks were a bit too reliant on the potent two-drop to close the game.
Well, that was all about to change with the printing of Simulacrum Synthesizer. Simulacrum Synthesizer has the ability to churn out a multitude of massive tokens. If you’ve ever played against
Urza’s Saga
Urza’s Saga
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — This Saga gains "{T}: Add {C}."
II — This Saga gains "{2}, {T}: Create a 0/0 colorless Construct artifact creature token with 'This token gets +1/+1 for each artifact you control.'"
III — Search your library for an artifact card with mana cost {0} or {1}, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
, you know just how big these Construct tokens can get, and this deck utilizes both Construct makers. The difference, though, is that Synthesizer has the potential to make a bunch of Construct tokens all in the same turn!
Similar to Modern Affinity builds, this deck plays a high density of efficient Artifacts, just with significantly stronger options. Beyond just enabling Patchwork Automaton, cards like
Mox Opal
Mox Opal
Metalcraft — {T}: Add one mana of any color. Activate only if you control three or more artifacts.
and
Lotus Petal
Lotus Petal
{T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color.
ensure that your Affinity payoffs like
Frogmite
Frogmite
Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs {1} less to cast for each artifact you control.)
and
Sojourner’s Companion
Sojourner’s Companion
Affinity for artifacts
Artifact landcycling {2} ({2}, Discard this card: Search your library for an artifact land card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.)
cost as little as possible.
Seat of the Synod
Seat of the Synod
{T}: Add {U}.
works wonders here as an untapped Artifact Land, too.
Notably, Simulacrum Synthesizer isn’t the only new Artifact to make an appearance.
Lavaspur Boots
Lavaspur Boots
Equipped creature gets +1/+0 and has haste and ward {1}. (Whenever it becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter it unless that player pays {1}.)
Equip {1}
appears as a one-of in this decklist, primarily as a tutor target for Urza’s Saga. While it may be just a one-of, its ability to provide Haste to one of your massive Constructs can provide a huge swing. Its cheap Equip cost of only one mana makes it easy to move around on future turns. Tack on a power buff and Ward 1, and you’ve got a lot of upside built into these Boots.
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Thunder Junction Meets Warhammer
Where this deck starts to separate itself even further from Modern Affinity builds is with its inclusion of some fantastic three-drop Artifact Creatures from the MTG Warhammer set. After a long waiting period, Warhammer cards have just recently made their way onto Magic Online. From
Triumph of Saint Katherine
Triumph of Saint Katherine
Lifelink
Praesidium Protectiva — When this creature is put into your graveyard from the battlefield, exile it and the top six cards of your library in a face-down pile. If you do, shuffle that pile and put it back on top of your library.
Miracle {1}{W} (You may cast this card for its miracle cost when you draw it if it's the first card you drew this turn.)
to
Chaos Defiler
Chaos Defiler
Trample
Battle Cannon — When this creature enters or dies, for each opponent, choose a nonland permanent that player controls. Destroy one of them chosen at random.
, these cards have quickly begun making their presences felt.
The first Warhammer card this deck features is
Skorpekh Lord
Skorpekh Lord
Menace
Command Protocols — Other artifact creatures you control get +1/+0 and have menace.
Unearth {2}{B} ({2}{B}: Return this card from your graveyard to the battlefield. It gains haste. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step or if it would leave the battlefield. Unearth only as a sorcery.)
. Skorpekh Lord simply does everything this deck wants. It grants a form of evasion to all of your massive Constructs. It triggers Synthesizer when you cast it or Unearth it. The only downside is that it costs three mana, but in Legacy, this is hardly a problem. Mox Opal and Lotus Petal make it trivial to cast this card early, even without a Land in play that produces black mana. Add in the almighty
Ancient Tomb
Ancient Tomb
{T}: Add {C}{C}. This land deals 2 damage to you.
and it’s easy to play this card ahead of schedule.
That brings us to the second Warhammer card:
Sicarian Infiltrator
Sicarian Infiltrator
Flash
Squad {2} (As an additional cost to cast this spell, you may pay {2} any number of times. When this creature enters, create that many tokens that are copies of it.)
Benediction of the Omnissiah — When this creature enters, draw a card.
. Sicarian Infiltrator is a neat mana sink that works exceptionally well with Synthesizer. At minimum, Sicarian Infiltrator is a three-mana 1/2 that draws a card when it enters. However, if you have excess mana lying around, you can use its Squad ability to have it create extra copies of itself when entering play. Importantly, each copy that enters the battlefield has a mana value of three, so each copy will trigger Synthesizer as well.
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Bigger and Better
The addition of Synthesizer, Lavaspur Boots, and a couple elite Warhammer cards have given the Legacy Patchwork Automaton archetype a new identity. Rather than relying heavily on synergies between
Urza’s Bauble
Urza’s Bauble
{T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Look at a card at random in target player's hand. You draw a card at the beginning of the next turn's upkeep.
and
Emry, Lurker of the Loch
Emry, Lurker of the Loch
Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs {1} less to cast for each artifact you control.)
When Emry enters, mill four cards.
{T}: Choose target artifact card in your graveyard. You may cast that card this turn. (You still pay its costs. Timing rules still apply.)
to pull ahead, this deck consistently puts a ton of extra pressure on the opponent.
Being able to Flood the board with Constructs helps a ton in Creature-heavy matchups. You are also a little less vulnerable to
Orcish Bowmasters
Orcish Bowmasters
Flash
When this creature enters and whenever an opponent draws a card except the first one they draw in each of their draw steps, this creature deals 1 damage to any target. Then amass Orcs 1.
and
Chalice of the Void
Chalice of the Void
This artifact enters with X charge counters on it.
Whenever a player casts a spell with mana value equal to the number of charge counters on this artifact, counter that spell.
for X=0.
The one area this deck gets a little weaker in is disrupting fast combo decks. Interestingly, this deck plays four copies of Force of Will in the sideboard, not in the maindeck. At first glance, this may seem like a wild choice to make. However, it makes sense considering how few blue cards this deck has to pitch to Force. There are no copies of Emry, Thoughtcast, or
Kappa Cannoneer
Kappa Cannoneer
Improvise (Your artifacts can help cast this spell. Each artifact you tap after you're done activating mana abilities pays for {1}.)
Ward {4}
Whenever this creature or another artifact you control enters, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. It can't be blocked this turn.
to be found here. The only blue cards in the maindeck are Infiltrator, Thought Monitor, and Synthesizer, the last of which you really don’t want to pitch to Force.
By cutting Force of Will from the maindeck, this deck gets to play even more Artifacts to help fuel the Synthesizer/Automaton gameplan. As such, you’re main gameplan is bolstered, and you can still side in Force of will for games two and three when necessary. You will feel the cost against strategies like
Doomsday
Doomsday
Search your library and graveyard for five cards and exile the rest. Put the chosen cards on top of your library in any order. You lose half your life, rounded up.
combo in game one, though, so this decision does have its tradeoffs.
At the end of the day, there’s no denying the elite performance this archetype put up. The Thunder Junction cards undoubtedly played a large part in the deck’s success. If you’re looking to play Legacy in the coming weeks, it might be worth packing some extra hate cards like Null Rod. This deck is powerful and will run you over if you’re not prepared.
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