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.
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