On Affinity

Hello and welcome to How to Be a Robot. First off, minus five points if you don't have Daft Punk playing already.

Second off, there's loads of great How To articles out there already. I prefer Frank Karsten's articles because of his mathematic approach to everything, and his videos are great quality too. He's look at many varients of Affinity as well, including Ghostfire Blade, Chalice of the Void, Ensoul Artifact, basically whatever card shows up and makes waves.

I'm writing this article assuming you've seen a lot of that and know the deck already. I'm looking more at the fringe cards, the last few choices that constantly shift and change, as you play different decks, and get a different feel for Modern. At the time of writing the Eldrazi have just landed, but if you read last article you'll know I don't it too much. It's a great fun match, it really tests both players, and Affinity aren't much of an underdog. I play MTGO mostly, and I think I've won one time less then I've lost.

So what interactions am I looking at today? These are more like the 'flavours' of an Affinity deck, and changes for each person playing. Everybody knows that you bring along one Basic, thanks to Ghost Quarter and Path to Exile being real cards, but which one?

Island or Mountain?

My answer is both. I wouldn't fault someone for not knowing which one to play, and I wouldn't be surprised if you decided on one in the Main and the Sideboard. This way, you can build a very aggressive deck game 1, Galvanic Blast always castable, and then you can sideboard into a more controlling deck, with an Island to guarentee that blue mana for your Master of Etherium.

On MTGO I run one Mountain in the main deck constantly, but as I mostly play 2-mans I don't have the longer term in mind. If I did, I'd definitely pack an Island in the Sideboard. I've seen some lists run only 2 Glimmervoids and 2 Basics main, but I think this is too cute. Cutting yourself off BB when you've got a Cranial Plating swing-for-the-win is no fun, as cute as it might be to surprise your enemy with a second Basic off of their second Path to Exile. The Basics are far more solid than Glimmervoid, but the range of colours is great.

And if you are running two, it's obvious I think that Mountain/Island is better than Island/Island (unless you're using counterspells) and Mountain/Mountain is never a real thing (no one plays the Atog version anymore, right?).

How about Welding Jar?

Welding Jar, that cute little broken pile of life-saver. It's a zero cost artifact that saves your bacon against mana pieces of removal, although -x/-x will still work, as will exile, BUT don't let that ruin the little artifact that's could resume. He also turns on Mox Opal, powers up Cranial Plating, Master of Etherium, Galvanic Blast and Thoughtcast, so what's to not like about it?

Well, the numbers. I think starting 1 is fine, as it gives you some slight presideboard protection against more generic answers, but I wouldn't fault you if you ran 0. I think this is another card that you could Sideboard a second copy of, but what about those hands where you get 2 Welding Jars and no one to protect? It's a rough job, but in a long tournament you will face someone with Wrath effects, and that's where Welding Jar really shines.

I've considered a lot of different cards for sideboard builds, and while a second Welding Jar sounds great there's just so little space for it. In fact Jar often comes out against White/x/y decks, because they have Path. I think 1 in the main is perfect, with no second in the sideboard, unless you're exactly a very aggressive metagame with Lightning Bolts everywhere.

What's the PERFECT HAND?

OH, the perfect hand. Or the God hand, what evs. What 7 cards are you most hoping to see when you lay your upons your seven pieces of expensive cardboard? I never actually thought about this, until I had a few great hands online. Then it went something like this:

Mox Opal (100%), Darksteel Citadel (100%) Springleaf Drum (100%), Signal Pest/Vault Skirge (60%/40%), Thoughtcast (100%), Welding Jar (100%), Galvanic Blast/interaction (60%/40%).

The above hand has 3 mana, refills itself, and provides protection while allowing for interaction beyond the first turn, depending on your Interaction pieces. You may run Thoughtseize, in which case you don't want to see that in your opening hand in case it gets Thoughtseize'd/Inquisition'd away. This isn't the fastest hand, but prepares you for the best seat in the house, going forward. Thoughtcast is always good drawing 2 cards, Galvanic Blast deals with any 4 toughness monsters asap, and Welding Jar is as effective as Spellskite against removal. What's not to like?

If you want a different opening hand, built for speed, try this one:

Inkmoth Nexus, Arcbound Ravager, Signal Pest, Mox Opal, Welding Jar, Steel Overseer, Blinkmoth Nexus.

Turn 1 play an Inkmoth and make a Signal Pest. Untap, Blinkmoth Nexus, Mox Opal, Welding Jar, Ravager or Steel Overseer. You'll have an Infect flyer, with Blinkmoth to pump, Welding Jar protection and Ravager or Overseer to pump it up. It's not hard to eat up all those artifacts, then dump the load on to a sizeable Inkmoth, killing in just 2 hits.

How Cute is TOO CUTE?

Cute? Disgusting stuff. How happy were you when you boarding in those Nature's Claims, only to realise giving your opponent 4 life was a bad idea, as it's ususally an extra? Precisely. When it comes to building a sideboard that's not main stream, make sure you test your cards out. For the average Affinity player, you're certainly going to see Artifact wraths like Vandalblast, Fracturing Gust or Shatterstorm. And you'll defintely see Stony Silence, but what can you do about it?

Looking at cheap options, we've got Nature's Claim, Wear // Tear and the latest addition Natural State. Do note that Natural State (and all cards that read "3 or less") are basically custom built for Modern, I feel. Abrupt Decay, Lightning Bolt, Smother, you get my drift. Digression aside, I suggest we use the smaller targeting card, because it comes with exactly what we're after. Natural State kills artifacts or enchantments, without giving extra life to the opponent. Nature's Claim can blow up any enchantment or artifact, but what's there to target now that Pod and Splinter Twin are long since gone?

If you play Wear // Tear that's also a good answer, but the Enchantment destruction and Artifact destruction are two halves of the same coin, and you can't really play both. I can't think of many situations where an Artifact and Enchantment needed answering at the same time, so it feels more like you're playing an Erase that also catches the odd Artifact.

If you play either Wear // Tear or Natural State I think you'll be fine, but really don't use Nature's Claim. They made THAT one for Infect.dec, and we're only an Infect killer a small perception of the time. Not so much that we can give out free chunks of life willy-nilly.

Does thats cover what I mean by cute? For example; you're new to the deck and want to know what your opponent is doing, but can't read their tells very well. You jam 4 Gitaxian Probe into the deck, running 64, because you figure you can just pay 2 life and now their hand, and what best to play. Great, right? Affinity doesn't lose life over it lands, so we'll have oodles to spare...

Or will we? We've got to pay life for Vault Skirge, remember, what if your opener is Git Probe, double Vault Skirge? Do you want to start of 14 life? I think that's an example of "cute, perhaps workable". It needs testing, but I wouldn't fault someone for trying.

How about Ingot Chewer? There's a good idea, he deals with any artifact, regardless of cost, doesn't give life, and even dodges a Chalice of the Void set to 1 (believe me, it works. It's cmc is always 5, even if you only pay R to Evoke). It's a very good tech I've seen used in Vintage and Legacy, so Modern can certainly do with the same trickery. That doesn't sound 'cute', but rather tried and tested, but VERY metagame specific. What if no one is playing Void? Then he's a sorcery speed, no-enchantment-killing version of Wear // Tear. What a downgrade!

Anyway, that's a look into my thoughts behind the deck. Not tricky plays, but rather the trickiness of building the deck. Before you even see 7 cards, what are you hoping for and just what did you bring to the fight?

Thanks for reading,
Fox Murdoch.

Affinity, Eldrazi, Modern.

Hello all, welcome to this article. It's all about my love affair with Affinity.

First though, Eldrazi. They're everywhere, and trouble. Let's compare to Affinity, in every way. We'll be focusing specifically on PT OGW, which featured only 2 decks in the Top 8: Affinity (2 decks) and Eldrazi (the remaining 6).

Both are colorless, more or less. There is the blue/red Eldrazi deck, but by far and large the deck doesn't choke on it's mana very often. This is a huge benefit to both decks, as color screw is a smaller issue than it would be for something like Naya beatdown. Not that it's hard to fix colours in Naya beatdown, but having to pay 6 life for it leaves you at 14 by turn 2, is your aggro really worth that much self inflicted damage?

Both are aggressive as hell. Not that you build a 3/3 on the cheap then smash, but rather there's a huge presence all of a sudden, and we see monsters from nowhere. With Eldrazi this is more subtle, as it can spit out 2/2s and 2/1s for a few turns, then make a 4/4 that Better-than-Thoughtseize's you, but both do the same thing. Affinity can dump it's whole hand on turn 1 if it's really lucky, but that's just the speed of the format for you.

Both are like psuedo ramp decks. If they draw too much mana, but not enough "action cards" they flounder about the place. Every deck can do this, but there's nothing so upsetting as having 2 Springleaf Drums, a Mox Opal, another in hand, and a Darksteel Citadel supporting a lonesome Ornithopter. Ditto Eldrazi without an Eye of Ugin.

Both are resilient. Affinity can make a 5/5 Infect flier out of nowhere and suddenly you're on a one turn clock. Eldrazai have a 5/5 trample haste that's punishing to deal with.

One advantage Affinity has over Eldrazi is the lifegain from Vault Skirge. If Affinity can make a sizeable VS and give it a Cranial Plating they're in a better position to steady the board, and racing becomes a great idea.

Where Eldrazi have a hand over Affinity is the benefits the creatures come with. Haste is huge, Thought-Knot Seer is ridiculous (exile, no life loss, Thoughtsieze's range), a two mana "huge/huge" anyway. Eldrazi have their power up-front, while Affinity need to work at it.

I haven't played the Eldrazi deck myself, but I've played against it plenty online, and watched the coverage from PT OGW. Apart from being a great event (I love me some Magic coverage) it really show cased great plays. My favourite play was by Frank Karsten in a feature match, against Infect. Fearing a Viridian Corrupter (ETB kill your Artifact) he played a Blinkmoth and passed the turn. His other permanents were a Glimmervoid and Springleaf Drum.

It's subtle, but beautiful. If the Corrupter blows up the Springleaf Drum, there goes the Glimmervoid too, and the game. With an Inkmoth out (either manland would do) if the Corrupter play happens Karsten can tap either land to activate Nexus, keeping an Artifact around, then again next turn using the other land. It's risky, it gives up playing a load of Artifacts anyway, but the play was very aware of it's opponent's capabilities, respected them and played toward it. That's top level stuff and no what you'd expect to hear when people discuss their favourite plays from a Pro Tour.

Let's Ban It Already!

Now let's talk about the banning, because everyone knows there' something coming. If Eldrazi and Affinity seem so similar though, is it possible both could see a banning? I don't think so, but let's discuss it.

Eldrazi's biggest cheat is having 2 lands that make 2 mana. Eye of Ugin is super cheap cheatiness early on, with free 2/1s who're often 4/4 ot 5/5, and free 2/2s or bigger via Endless One. Eldrazi Temple is the least offensive of the cards, seeing it only gives you CC once a turn, but Eye of Ugin does it once-per-card. Easily the bigger offender, right?

The issue with selecting Eye of Ugin over Eldrazi Temple is that it unfairly nerfs UrzaTron at the same time (and where was THAT at the PT?). If you go ahead and ban the card it stops the "dump your hand" aspect of Eldrazi as well as stopping turn 2 Thought-Knot. While it provides the same gritty opening turns as Thoughtseize it really doesn't feel fair when it comes with a 4/4 attached. Sure you get a card if you kill the 4/4, but you know what it does? Takes the removal in your hand when it shows up!

I feel as though Eldrazi would still be fine with Eldrazi Temple as it's only 4 mana card, seeing it can play multiples and still have the occasionally bonkers turn. Nothing wrong with the opponent getting a great hand, but not when it comes with the consistency of 8 such lands.

The advantage to banning Temple over Eye dodges around harming an innocent bystander, leaving UrzaTron with it's favourite Legendary Land, but I think in this case it's better for the entire format to not have such an obvious best deck, even if two decks get clipped from the one banning. So my vote would be to acknowledge the hit to UrzaTron (sorry!) but ban Eye of Ugin.

Looking at Affinity, who was the only deck that looked fight to really even stand up against Eldrazi, I don't see a need to ban anything. The great thing about the deck is that it's already got three huge angles to attack it.

First, the deck is full of creatures. They're easy to kill, with Bolt, Path to Exile, Dismember, etc. Second, it's full of Artifacts. I think there's an Artifact wrath for every colour, or close to, or even multiples. Second, plenty of the creatures start off with only 1 toughness. Ravager, Vault Skirge, Signal Pest, Steel Overseer, you get the point -- you're at no end of answers to the deck, and none of the creatures are rewarding the Affinity player with a Thoughtseize or better for simply playing it. You can see the explosive Ravager turns, where everyone gets eaten on to a unfair duo of attackers, with BB open so there isn't a safe block, but the Affinity player has to put so much more work into getting that keen edge on their game, it's easily far more work.

If I think the deck has enough angles of weakness then let's look at the mana, seeing that's where I identified Eldrazi's biggest issue. Mox Opal is the only real double mana for the deck, being an artifact, costing 0 and providing mana. Even that isn't gaurenteed because you need Metalcraft. The second fast mana I can think of is Springleaf Drum, providing a mana as soon as it shows up, but only if you have a creature you don't want to attack with. That's two cards as well, sure, and one of them Legendary while the other not, yes, but both of them need other cards to work. Mox Opal without two other Artifacts does nothing but buff your Metalcraft, and Springleaf Drum without a creature is a Darksteel Relic without indestructible. Both are spells, and give the opponent a chance to counter them. I don't feel like you could attack Affinity for it's mana, nor it's cards, when considering where to ban things.

So where does that leave things? To be honest, I don't think any immediate action is needed. The Eldrazi menace is real, and here, and EVERYONE knows about it. That means we can adopt, either building our decks toward beating the deck, or switching to the deck ourselves. Suddenly a "4/4" becomes to norm for turn 2 plays, and Lightning Bolt is out of a job (that's gotta be scary for WOTC). Given time, and a few GPs, we'll see how people build your decks that win around it. If the deck is just too strong and it's not possible to build a way to interact with it, then action is required, and some kind of banning. How long is long enough to determine Eldrazi are worse for the format then not? I think that's a gauge for Wizards to decide for themselves, but it obviously needs listening to the social media out there, as well as tournament results. If Wizards made changes because people complained about a card they'd never print another set again -- every card has been complained about at some point guaranteed.

If we saw an event with 8 Eldrazi's in the Top 8, or over 50% in the Top 16, that's when warning flags go flying up and Wizards needs to perhaps exercise an emergency banning. I don't think anyone would want that, but it's better than leaving the Modern format with it's first genuine Rav-inity Mirrodin Standard. Ditto goes for seeing perhaps a similar mix of nothing but aggro, or a lopsided Top 8 like Eldrazi v Affinity as we saw in PT OGW. Likewise, if there IS a range of decks but they're all very heavily geared toward Eldrazi hate, we see a warping of the format that no one likes.

Compare that to the format without Eldrazi, with Splinter Twin again. I'm not about to say the deck is a missing hero at the moment, I never played it much myself nor against it, but it certainly was slower, and a poster child for the "Turn 4 kill" that Modern is aiming towards. Eldrazi is threatening to knock Thoughtseize and Lightning Bolt out of a job, and the only deck that's Top 8'd alongside is known as the best Game 1 deck in the format.

I'm all for shake up, and PT OGW was plenty of that, but not without a very measured and reasonable response afterward. I have no doubt Wizards have their finger on the pulse, but each voice out there helps provide a point of view, or give more volume to all the others, so that's why I'm posting my point of view here.

Now then, to "eat all my Artifacts and dump them onto an unblockable Signal Pest" (or to summarise, what evs):

I wouldn't ban anything yet, I'd give the format a chance to react, absorb and respond to the Eldrazi menace. If problems persist, THEN we've got an issue that needs addressing. This "wait and see" approach may seem unfair, if people are going to spend money buying into Eldrazi, only to be told very quickly afterwards the deck's no longer so playable, but that's just peanuts to the whole format, and all the decks that people like to play. Imagine you really like Merfolk, but just knew how poorly the deck played? You're already a Tier 2 deck, but against Eldrazi? It's almost like they're got their own Tier, Tier E.

What's Next for Fox Murdoch?

Oh right, me. Well I'm flying down to Melbourne for GP Melbourne, and it's going to be great. I have the deck, am a dedicated Affinity fan, would probably get a tattoo if I was into that, and suggest nothing but Daft Punk while you practice. I wouldn't fault anyone for playing Eldrazi, but I really hope people get behind their decks and look for ways to deal with the Eldrazi, keeping the format from warping horribly.

See you there!
Fox Murdoch.

GP Melbourne excitement!

I've only a few minutes, so here's the hot stuff:

I'm going to GP Melbourne, which means I'm going to Melbourne for a weekend. LOVE the place, so this'll be sweet. Also likely visiting friends.

The Twin menace and the Bloom bastard are gone, only to be replaced instantly by the Eldrazi brothers (colorless and blue/red versions) as well as the best first line of defense, heartless robot Affinity! Whoever said Modern didn't have room to be discovered should be happy with that, right?

As for the Eldrazi menace, the biggest offender is having 2 double lands (Eldrazi Temple and Eye of Ugin) and one of them needs banning--but not instantly. The format needs a chance to breath, for all the decks that exist to respond to the Eldrazi menace, and to see if it can't be contained by a severe warping of the format, meta, and sideboards everyone. Cards as simple as Trinisphere (buy all you can, it's worth $10 atm but that could shoot up) give other decks a chance to force them to play fair. Regardless there may be a banning if the deck is as easy to target hate against as Affinity.

I'm playing Affinity at GP Sydney, having the cards and the online version of the deck. I love me robots, Daft Punk, anything roboty.

I have written a novel about a robot, but that's pure brags, nothing to do with Magic.

It was interesting to see a Top 8 of purely aggressive decks. Modern being a turn 4 format has really push the speed, and there was 2 Affinity in the PT OGW top 8 and more Eldrazi. Control was nowhere, and UrzaTron was totally a blip on the radar.

I feel as if playing one deck and playing it well is the best way to get good at Modern, moreso now then ever. Twin players do need to find a new deck, so why not Eldrazi? I'm kidding, play Merfolk. I want an easy win if I ever play you at an event.

I will write more later, now I have to head off to work.

Fox Murdoch.