Note: Discussion on post Sword of the Meek unban starts on Page 151.
Why play UB Tezzeret?
UB Tezzeret is a "control" deck, but it is very different than a traditional Draw-Go type control. It plays removal and card draw spells, but also looks to control through discard and hate artifacts. It then tops it off with the powerful combo of Thopter Foundry and Sword of the Meek. There are more variations in builds than other established decks, some choose to control with cards like Ensnaring Bridge while others top off their curve with Wurmcoil Engines or slam Chalice of the Void.
A positive of the deck is its resiliency to artifact hate. You can still smash with 5/5 indestructible Darksteel Citadels to deal with Stony Silence and you can recur dead artifacts from the graveyard to deal with artifact removal.
If you want your deck to consistently destroy Burn and Infect among other weenie decks, run it. The cost of this is that targeted discard will have to be taken out of your list so the midrange, but especially control and combo match-ups become a harder to navigate. Also, Chalice needs to be powered out before the opponent gets to cast his stuff / as soon as possible. For this reason, Mox Opal and Simian Spirit Guide are usually seen along it. In my experience, this approach is a little more inconsistent but the payoff is big against target decks.
2. To splash, or no?
Darksteel citadel and Academy Ruins (two of the pillars of this deck) put a strain on our mana base already. Fortunately, mana rocks can somewhat make up for it. And along Citadel and rocks, it's pretty easy to run Glimmervoid, a couple Mox Opal and an off-color shockland to effectively get access to a splash color. However, with the space colorless producing lands take up in our mana base design and the color intensive spells we're running and often needing to cast as soon as turn 2 or 3 (Thopter Foundry, Liliana of the Veil, Flaying Tendrils and Damnation notably), this third color should effectively be handled as a fourth. That's why experienced deckbuilders are pretty cautious in this matter. Though if you still want to tackle this challenge, splash colors will grant you access to:
Green: Abrupt decay, Maelstrom Pulse, Natural State, Nature's claim (dat Eidolon of the Great Revel), Ancient Stirrings (awesome but doesn't find Foundry) ... Mostly answers to potential problem permanents, but none is as flexible/powerful as Anguished Unmaking in my humble opinion. But Planeswalker and artifact-feeding Tarmogoyf is strong, baby.
3. All-in on the combo, or no?
The Thopter Foundry + Sword of the Meek combo is really strong. Once online, it'll stabilize against Burn, Zoo, Affinity and any aggro strategies within a couple of turns ...If you're not dead yet! At the end of the day, it's a combo that's still (fairly) fair magic, meaning that even if you successfully cast the two cards, you still need mana to activate it and may still die to a timely Scapeshift, to Kiki-Jikki going off or to the Melira-Seer-Finks trio regardless. Or to a timely Atarka's command on the top of the stack, for that matter. The combo also folds to all sorts of hate.
So while it gives the Tezz archetype tremendous inevitability, a solid win-con under an Ensnaring Bridge lock, and yet another game-winning line of play and a resilient one at that (thx Academy Ruins; pitch SotM to Thirst for Knowledge and effictively combo off just one card), its engine won't be rolling before turn 3 or 4 most times. And in this crazy modern meta game, this got to be considered as [the beginning of] the late game.
Now it is well known that UBx Tezzeret's weakness lies in its early game, and drawing too many swords won't get you to the mid-late game where we just tear apart other fair decks. So when building around the Thopter Foundry + Sword of the Meek combo, keep in mind that it probably shouldn't be the sole focus of your construction, but rather considered as another tool Tezzeret control's got in his arsenal. The main challenge that awaits you will still be to survive those modern critical turns 3 and 4.
Current Decklists
(Coming soon, lots of new cards! Check the comments for experimental builds that people are running)
Building the Deck
Here I will list core and optional cards for inclusion in the deck as well as the reasoning for them. My “Run X” values will be recommendations for the maindeck. This is for people who would like to build their own version or want to understand why each card is in the deck. I highly recommend reading through it if you want to get an in-depth look at the deck.
If you don't feel like reading too much, here are some general numbers to keep in mind:
Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas: Run 3-4
The card of the deck. Have fun with one of the best utility planeswalkers out there. Watch as your opponents sigh when you drop him on turn 3. Garruk makes a 3/3 beast? That’s cute, how about a 5/5 indestructible. Sometimes curve or artifact count can drop him down to 3.
So how do you use him? Generally you would want to build up to his ultimate and use his +1 to dig for artifacts to either protect him or mess with your opponent. Use his -1 if you need to go into beatdown mode or if you need a blocker. Darksteel Citadel is usually the best target as he retains indestructible
Liliana of the Veil: Run 2-3
Liliana is removal, great synergy with Ensnaring Bridge, rips cards out of our opponents hand, and has a great ultimate making her a card that can practically win games on her own.
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver: Run 0-2
Great in grindy matchups but can be sub-par against hyper-aggressive decks. Instead of a 4th of one of our other walkers we can avoid the Planeswalker uniqueness rule a little more often.
Tezzeret the Seeker: Run 0-2
“But I thought you said this deck was different than Tezzerator?” Despite this deck being built around Agent of Bolas, more Tezzerets is generally a good thing. Big Tezz can function as extra Ensnaring Bridges at the minimum. He tutors out our hate directly onto the battlefield, even through our own chalice, and occasionally you can slam with a bunch of 5/5s. We don’t run more since 5 CMC is high, and his +1 isn’t as useful as Little Tezz. The Planeswalker uniqueness rule comes up less often than you would think, since our opponents generally try to take him out as fast as possible.
Thopter Foundry: Run 3-4 Sword of the Meek: Run 2-3
The combo. With both on the battlefield each 1 mana creates a 1/1 flying Thopter and gains 1 life by sacrificing the Sword. Since Sword can be retrieved from the graveyard by sacrificing any artifact and it is almost useless on its own, we don't need 4. The most common splits are 4 Foundry / 3 Sword or 3 Foundry / 2 Sword. I personally prefer 4/3 maindeck and then siding out a copy of each when you expect the hate to come in out of the sideboard. Thopter tokens can attack easily under a Bridge and it converts our extra mana rocks into life and dudes when we don't have the combo online.
Hate artifacts
Ensnaring Bridge: Run 0 or 3/4
It shuts down creature based strategies. Since we are somewhat building around this card to lock down our opponent, it is important to have as few dead cards in your maindeck as possible. Bridge synergizes very well with Liliana of the Veil and many decks have a hard time handling it once resolved in game 1. Don't lean too heavily on it in game 2 and 3 as Artifact hate is common. Thopter tokens can always attack underneath the bridge.
The card can be at odds with the beatdown plan so some choose to not run it.
Spellskite: Run 2-3
Spellskite is an all-star in this deck. He blocks 3/3 Wild Nacatls, redirects Lightning Bolts, and steals opposing Boggles or Infect buffs. Post board he protects our Bridges and other artifacts from hate. As a bonus, he can be turned into a 5/5 by Tezz and start smashing the opponent. One of the best modern hate cards maindeck? I’ll take it.
Shouta chose to run maindeck Torpor Orbs over more Spellskites, it is possible there was less Burn going around in Japan at the GP.
Chalice of the Void
A card with a very unique effect, if you want to run this card you will be building your deck around playing Chalice on 1 a majority of the time, this means no 1 mana dicard effects or Serum Visions. Very strong against several archetypes.
Mana rocks Talisman of Dominance / Dimir Signet / Mox Opal
Talisman is preferable over Signet if you need that extra 1 mana on turn 2 to play a discard spell or drop a trinket. Signet is preferable if you run a lot of colorless lands and need the color fixing and you don't want to take damage from your fixing. In general, the mana rocks help you get to bigger spells, allow a lower land count, and can become 5/5 beaters later on. Try to avoid the 3 CMC rocks like Chromatic Lantern or Coalition Relic, casing Damnation or Tezz on turn 3 can be one of our best plays.
Mox Opal can allow for bigger Engineered Explosives, but depending on the number of artifacts in your build, it may be hard to get online. More Opals with more artifacts.
0-CMC
These cards are great at turning on Mox Opals or dumping quickly to enable Ensnaring Bridge. Mishra's Bauble
Effectively a bad Gitaxian Probe, but it can turn Tezz +1 into straight card draw and you also can use it on yourself to fetch away unwanted draws.
Nihil Spellbomb / Relic of Progenitus
Graveyard hate doesn’t need too much explanation. Both of these can be in the maindeck since they can cycle in a bad situation and is active against many decks. The Spellbomb can also trigger for 0 which is key in matchups like Storm, but Relic is much better at dealing with opposing Tarmogoyfs. Delve and Pod is dead now, not a maindeck card anymore.
Trinket Mage builds can better utilize this card, great against many Tier 1 decks. Drawing it in some matchups sucks, but worst case you can blindly name a fetchland and get a 1 CMC Stone Rain.
Wurmcoil Engine / Batterskull
These guys are part of our alternate win-con, Wurmcoil is more resilient to artifact hate and better against opposing Tarmogoyfs while Batterskull is better at attacking and defending against smaller creatures. 5 CMC vs 6 CMC is also a factor. Both are resilient to our own Damnations.
Creeping Tar Pit / Blinkmoth Nexus / Mutavault:
Good stuff to round off your deck's threat density, as without manlands we can be low on threats. They dodge our own Damnations and low power can be a solid place to hide behind an Ensnaring Bridge. Shouta ran a large number of manlands to couple with the mana rocks to create a strong lategame beat squad.
Glint-Nest Crane: Run 4!
The new Trinket Mage, costs 1 less, better stats (blocks 2/2s, attacks with flying behind Ensnaring Bridge). You have to build your deck differently than Trinket Mage, 1-ofs aren't as good, which is a positive. Drawing the wrong 1-of in the Trinket Mage fetch package always felt really bad, this way we can stick to good artifacts (and 2+ CMC ones). I believe this card will be a 4-of core of the deck and will put it as such until someone proves it wrong.
Trinket Mage: Run 0 (was 2-3 before Crane)
Mainly a tutor with the body being a bonus. Powers out our 1 of hate cards and wincons like The Rack and worst case scenario grabs us a land to make our land drop for the turn. Once on the board he is expendable, we have no way to bounce to utilize him more, so feel free to chump block. We just need to delay until Tezzeret or our engines get online. Depending on how heavy your deck is on trinkets should determine how many you run in your deck. Remember that X = 0 CMC when searching for a card, so he can grab cards like Engineered Explosives. Some people opt to not run a Trinket Mage package, since it is slow sometimes.
Hangarback Walker
Another resilient threat with the upside of being able to be played early as well. Fetchable by Trinket Mage makes it good even as a 1-of in the deck. Was tested a decent amount, but it is a bit too slow for Modern.
Inkmoth Nexus: Run 0 (or 4 if you want to brew up a Tezzeret infect deck)
A very attractive card when you realize he 2 shots with Tezzeret. The problem is if Inkmoth or Tezzeret die, the poison damage you did makes 0 difference on the game. If you really want to build around this synergy. You are going to need more infect creatures, 4 Inkmoths, and probably an Expedition Map.
Dark Confidant: Run 0
I use to enjoy Bob + Tezz builds, but Thirst for Knowledge is much better now that we can discard Sword of the Meek.
Sweepers Damnation: Run 2-3
What is a control deck without a sweeper? Run it and let the value flow through you.
Flaying Tendrils
The best mass -2/-2 effect available, better in a meta with Collected Company decks and other smaller creatue or graveyard abusing decks.
Engineered Explosives: Run 0-2
Even with only two colors this is a great card, as it hits most problem 0-2 CMC permanents. Tutorable with Trinket Mage. Just remember that it hits our own permanents as well, which can be a strong reason to not run it.
Targeted Removal Doom Blade / Go for the Throat / Smother / Dismember / Slaughter Pact / Murderous Cut / Disfigure
Adding on some spot removal is nice when we cannot rely 100% on Ensnaring Bridge. Dismember is usable if we ever get color screwed and deals with everything (Including 5/5 Darksteel Citadels in the mirror). Slaughter Pact is nice, since we are often tapping out, but not as necessary with Twin not in the format anymore.
Collective Brutality: Run 0-2
A great new versitile option for us, on initial read the discard seems like a downside, but it can actually help us get Ensnaring Bridge online when we otherwise could not. Lifegain can help against aggro / burn, which can typically be poor matchups. Can be run in the sideboard in less aggressive metas, but shoring up the burn matchup is great.
Executioner's Capsule: Run 0-2
Tutoring up a kill spell is nice when you need it in a pinch, but it can be a bit slow. Great against decks like Splinter Twin where we can have it on the battlefield as essentially uncounterable removal. Also repeatable out of the graveyard when we have Academy Ruins or Trading Post. Tutorable by Trinket Mage and Tezzeret the Seeker. Hilariously kills Emrakul, the Aeons Torn.
Discard
Inquisition of Kozilek / Thoughtseize: Run 3-6
Discard really makes this deck a solid deck. We can see their hand to guide how we play hate and get rid of problematic spells like Stony Silence. Remember that Talismans are better than Signets when running discard.
A mix of Inquisition and Thoughtseize is important as our life total is quite valuable.
Card Advantage / Selection
So I've been going back and forth on these two, Thirst is super nice against Scapeshift / Control, but Serum Visions smooths your starting hand so much better, but now that Sword of the Meek is unbanned, it is an amazing card to discard for value since it can be retrieved out of the graveyard. I think Thirst is now a must at 3-4 and adding Serum Visions on top of it is optional.
Note: Now with Glint-Nest Crane it is unclear exactly how much other draw / filtering we want. Thirst for Knowledge: Run 2-3
Acts as both card advantage and filtering, since we can dump artifact hate we don't need game 1, mana rocks in game 2 and 3, or Sword of the Meek for value.
Serum Visions: Run 0-4
The best cantrip left in Modern. Turn 1 or Turn 3 with a Talisman make this a strong card. Smooths out your starting hand which leads to less Mulligans.
Anticipate
Cheaper but less card advantage and hand fixing than Thirst, possibly more correct to run in lighter artifact builds where you don't have excessive mana rocks to discard, but it is a fringe choice.
Counterspells
Old builds used a number of counterspells, but Ensnaring Bridge wants to have as few dead cards in the maindeck as possible. As soon as you have a resolved bridge with 2 Mana Leaks and an uncastable Cryptic Command in hand while Wild Nacatl beats you silly, you realize something is wrong.
If you really want to run counterspells, you are going to have to cut a lot of the colorless lands to be able to cast Cryptic Command reliably, so 1-2 CMC counterspells are best. When not relying on Ensnaring Bridge, counterspells get a lot better.
Spell Snare is a great option, hits most hate cards like Stony Silence. Dispel is the best option for winning counter wars.
The major decision for your mana base is splashing colors, using Vedalken Shackles, your life total, and fueling delve cards. A very effective pure UB mana base can be built without fetches to avoid pain, but you lose several other upsides of fetches.
Colored Lands
Colored lands have to be tailored to your build, it is hard to give exact values for these Fetch Based Mana Polluted Delta + Off-color fetches Watery Grave
Pro: Always comes in untapped, No Pain, adds colors to Engineered Explosives
Con: Depending on your build's artifact count, this card can be dangerous, but works very well with Darksteel Citadel
Utility Lands
It is a hard game balancing colorless lands in a partial artifact deck, I think around 8-9 colorless is a good spot, but this is my personal testing, no hard math done. Darksteel Citadel: Run 3-4
Adds to artifact count, grabbable with Trinket Mage and Tezzeret, turns into a 5/5 Indestructable with Tezzeret, great card.
Inventors' Fair: Run 2
Everyone loves new cards, this one is the real deal. Dodges incidental graveyard hate targeting Thopter / Sword combo, gains life, tutors. Along with the Crane we won't have as many 1-ofs anymore, so if we lose an artifact we can tutor another one out of the deck. Don't have to find the card before we can rebuy it like with Academy Ruins. Academy Ruins: Run 0 (maybe 1)
We aren't trying to Mindslaver lock like Mono U Tron, this is here for value with our powerful 1 ofs and resiliency against Artifact hate. Now I believe it is outclassed by Inventors' Fair.
Mostly a concession to Tron, but still helps against opposing utility lands and manlands in other matchups. Combos well with Surgical Extraction / Extirpate against Tron.
These cards aren't really as necessary anymore now that Thopter / Sword is in the deck, but I'll leave them here for your brewing / nostalgia enjoyment.
The Rack
Tutorable by Trinket Mage. Having a win con being tutorable by Trinket Mage is pretty sweet, sometimes we can draw blank a bit, adding this 1 card effectively adds a much higher chance of drawing a win con. Liliana + The Rack + Ensnaring Bridge is already a sweet combination used by 8-Rack decks.
Rings of Brighthearth: Run Max 1
Fringe card that does nothing its own, but synergizes very well with many of our cards. Doubles planeswalker activations (making Tezzeret deal 20 damage with only 4 other artifacts), doubles Thopter Foundry, doubles Trading Post, doubles Executioner's Capsule. You can see how it can be very powerful, however it loses its punch against a hate heavy opponent. Make sure it has many targets if you chose to run it.
Bitterblossom
Ok, so I know this isn't actually an artifact, but right now I don't really have a section elsewhere for it to go, and it most commonly replaces Thopter Foundry as they both make 1/1s. I feel the power level of Bitterblossom is much better than Thopter Foundry, we can chump block all day and don't have to blow up our artifacts. Life loss is a serious concern, especially with the rise of Burn decks, causing most people to drop Bitterblossom from their lists.
Trading Post
This card use to be better before we had the lifegain from Thopter / Sword combo, so I don't believe it deserves a slot anymore.
Old text: "4 CMC to durdle around?" This card is way more powerful than it appears. Lifegain stops burn in its tracks (ie. when a UWR control is trying to finish you off), grabbing artifacts out of the graveyard is great against hate, draw lets our deck keep moving. We can utilize all of its modes.
Sideboard
Latest Update: Needs updating
Sideboards are always variable due to the metagame, so I included the date just in case I don't have time to keep this 100% up to date.
IMPORTANT! When making your sideboard, keep in mind your opponent will have artifact removal in Games 2 and 3. This means cards like Ensnaring Bridge will be less effective, so I have started adding more spot removal to the sideboard.
Mostly to fight heavy 1 drop decks, Delver and Burn are the main ones right now that run on a very low curve. I also listed Affinity, but I think it is only good when you are on the play, since some of their hands can get crushed by a Chalice on 0.
For Storm it stops Past in Flames, but not Pyromancer Ascension. Obviously is is also great for super graveyard decks using cards such as Vengevine, but as of this writing it is not a Tiered deck. Questionable to use against decks solely to stop Snapcaster Mage.
I think Extirpate / Surgical Extraction are a huge trap if you haven't played with them much. There are only 2 situations where you want to side it in:
A card being in the graveyard represents a threat to you (Graveyard based decks)
Removing all the copies of a card in the deck will almost guarantee you a win (Combo decks with weak backup plans)
Extirpate will most of the time represent a card disadvantage, you are 1 for 0ing yourself. Removing one threat from a deck like Burn does nothing, as they are still drawing a card every turn, the percent change of them drawing a land only goes up by a minuscule amount.
Excellent against pure combo decks combined with discard effects. Good against Tron when combined with land destruction as it can permanently turn off their tron. Tempo twin's backup plan is usually too good to warrant this card against them.
Fringe Cards: Steel Sabotage: Affinity Defense Grid: Control Decks (not as useful if not dropped on turn 2 or 3)
Splashes
Splashes in general always seem like a good idea on the surface. The best cards for splashes are removal spells, since pure removal is lacking (Abrupt Decay, Path to Exile, Terminate), but there are sacrifices to be made. The no-splash list is able to run painless lands and several colorless utility lands. In switching to a splash list we must run more fetchlands and usually cut down on the number of Darksteel Citadels.
That being said, splashing does allow Engineered Explosives to be more powerful. There are many 3 CMC permanents I would like to explode.
Green Splash (BUg)
Green splash is the most common when just splashing a few cards. Green gives us access to some of the best removal spells in Modern which allow us to better deal with problem permanents, most specifically enchantments which UB cannot kill such as Stony Silence and Leyline of Sanctity. Delve creatures have made Abrupt Decay a bit worse
If you choose to run the Pox package, you are going to want to not use any of the other 5 CMC+ card, like big Tezzeret and Batterskull, as you will be blowing up your own lands. Bitterblossom shines in this package, as it gives you a good creature to sacrifice. Crucible of Worlds looks good with Smallpox, but a lot of time it is slow, personal choice if you want to run one; with Crucible more land destruction lands will also be stronger.
Oct 24, 2016: New cards!
Apr 25, 2016: Formatting updates, added FAQ and 0-CMC artifacts
Apr 18, 2016: Thopter Sword update
Nov 7, 2015: Changed splash info, added Hangarback
May 18, 2015: Updated a little in the splash section and a few descriptions, added Ashiok and Anticipate, added most recent list
Feb 25, 2015: Added my Godzilla list, updated some Chalice text
Jan 19, 2015: Cruise, Dig, and Pod are dead, initial updates
Dec 2, 2014: Some Treasure Cruise meta updates
Oct 10, 2014: Removed Low Curve
Sept 29, 2014: Added some more pictures, trying out some new formatting
Sept 26, 2014: Rewrote intro, added article / video section, changed Core section a bit
Sept 3, 2014: Added a little more versatility to the core, rewriting splash section, rewrote a lot of the card descriptions
Aug 25, 2014: Split out Trinket Mage package
Aug 22, 2014: Added Dark Confidant, updated my list, added removal to SB info
July 10, 2014: Removed Chalice from the core section, updated decklist (added Dispel to SB)
June 23, 2014: Updated my decklist
June 19, 2014: Changed Crucible numbers for Pox, Added sideboard information
June 5, 2014: Added information about the Pox package
June 4, 2014: Added Bitterblossom and The Rack descriptions, added land explanations
May 22, 2014: Added Lands section, added Mox Opal, added Rings of Brighthearth
MTG Brewmaster - The fastest deck builder around (Please PM me with comments or problems!)
Modern: Tezzeret
???
Legacy: Imperial Painter aka. Strawberry Shortcake Tezzeret, aka. Dack in Black
MTG Brewmaster - The fastest deck builder around (Please PM me with comments or problems!)
Modern: Tezzeret
???
Legacy: Imperial Painter aka. Strawberry Shortcake Tezzeret, aka. Dack in Black
Nice that SirPsychoMantis you are going to keep the primer up-to-date.
However, just checking: why did we lose the x from U/B/x control? I think that a third color splash is still relevent to this thread and deck. And may even be more in the future, with potential key cards printed our way.
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MODERN Blue Lantern, UBx Tezzerator. OLD SCHOOL 93/94 «The Pain Train» Black Sligh, Esper «Machine Gun» Artifacts, Jund «Psycho» Ponza-Disko.
Nice that SirPsychoMantis you are going to keep the primer up-to-date.
However, just checking: why did we lose the x from U/B/x control? I think that a third color splash is still relevent to this thread and deck. And may even be more in the future, with potential key cards printed our way.
I'm still going to talk about splashes in the Primer. I always like shorter easier to say deck names, didn't mean to imply that splashes are not allowed or anything like that.
As for anyone who was posting a lot in the old thread. Feel free to post your current decklist if you would like me to include it in the primer.
MTG Brewmaster - The fastest deck builder around (Please PM me with comments or problems!)
Modern: Tezzeret
???
Legacy: Imperial Painter aka. Strawberry Shortcake Tezzeret, aka. Dack in Black
i just read through the primer and i find it very interesting. my first question atm is why not a full set of darksteel citadel?
I've been trying to balance my colorless lands, there were a few times where I needed that 2nd black and didn't have it. Our tron matchup isn't the best, so we lean some on Ghost Quarters so I don't really want to cut one, also has solid utility in other matchups. Also since I added the 2nd Academy Ruins I really like the power of it.
It is possibly correct to cut some more basics, since I was originally up to 5 from all the Blood Moons that were running around a few months ago.
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MTG Brewmaster - The fastest deck builder around (Please PM me with comments or problems!)
Modern: Tezzeret
???
Legacy: Imperial Painter aka. Strawberry Shortcake Tezzeret, aka. Dack in Black
Very similar to sirpsychomantis's list so i don't know if it is worth including in the primer... The main difference is the land base. With glimmervoids and mox opal explosives get a lot better. With 4 citadels 2 glimmervoids is safe i think, i haven't had much issues with them. Artificer's intuition has always been good, i still think it is better than a 3rd trinket mage and i still like a mox opal over a talisman. Rings is still amazing too, namely with thopter foundry.
Any chance you could expand on Artificer's Intuition? From a card advantage perspective it seems much worse, but it is repeatable. Any specific situations where it has been great?
Also, I'm going to write up the lands section next.
Edit: Also added a change log if anyone cares what I'm updating.
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Modern: Tezzeret
???
Legacy: Imperial Painter aka. Strawberry Shortcake Tezzeret, aka. Dack in Black
Not much different than the gifts and wrath based list in the primer, except I am including spot discard and I am still using a small trinket mage toolbox. It's a blast to play, both "sides" of the deck work great and seem strong and fun, as well as some synergy that exists between them. I can't say yet whether the deck is any good or not, but that's never stopped me before!
@Hammerhands: nice, «Team Tezz» (this thread) was lacking a W field advocate. Make sure to keep us posted on the results!
Guys, generally speaking, I'm sort of a little disappointed in UB. I feel like the deck (and our effort) has reached a power-cap that is just a tad bit under the power of tier-1 decks. Maybe it's a matter of card-pool (the modern card-pool).
For reference, I'm running a list similar to that of SirPsychoMantis but minus Big Tezz and Trading post; testing 2x Bitterblossom in their place at the moment.
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MODERN Blue Lantern, UBx Tezzerator. OLD SCHOOL 93/94 «The Pain Train» Black Sligh, Esper «Machine Gun» Artifacts, Jund «Psycho» Ponza-Disko.
@Hammerhands: nice, «Team Tezz» (this thread) was lacking a W field advocate. Make sure to keep us posted on the results!
Guys, generally speaking, I'm sort of a little disappointed in UB. I feel like the deck (and our effort) has reached a power-cap that is just a tad bit under the power of tier-1 decks. Maybe it's a matter of card-pool (the modern card-pool).
For reference, I'm running a list similar to that of SirPsychoMantis but minus Big Tezz and Trading post; testing 2x Bitterblossom in their place at the moment.
I literally have been tuning this deck and have gone through dozens of iterations, white splash, green splash...I honestly don't think the splashes are worth it. We're already too slow and don't have a turn 1 mana dork like Pod and Zoo. So adding a third color just ruins consistence imho...we also can't ping ourselves like Zoo and Pod does because we aren't as aggressive.
To me what hurts this deck the most is all the hate people bring in preparation of Affinity.
This deck survives due to Academy Ruins and Spellskite, because if we can keep our hosers like Bridge, Needle, Chalice, Torpor Orb and Cage in play we literally "win" vs the decks they are relevant against.
That's why I've been experimenting with Welding Jar as an additional "counterspell" to destruction effects. We simply have to keep our hosers in play then kill as fast as we can either with tezz -4, -1 or thopter tokens, heck I've even been able to win off The Rack.
Also it just takes trillions of games against different TIER 1 decks, that's why I had to break down and just build the deck on mtgo.
I have to say I'm actually pretty impressed with how surprisingly powerful deck works against a lot of top decks. A lot of decks just get shut down with the right silver bullets. And i'm still playing PsychoMantis normal list with -1 Chalice, +1 Thirst. I think the best thing our deck could get is a really good 1 drop artifact that we could put in the toolbox. Something like 2: destroy target creature and draw a card, or something like that.
So one of the things that frustrates me is mulligans when we have a hand full of hate and an unknown opponent game 1. Dropping a Trinket Mage for the perfect answer is great, seeing 3x Land, 2x Pithing Needle, 1x Mana Rock, 1x Discard kinda sucks when the Pithing Needle could be a dead card. The next experiment I'm going to take on is a Trinket Mage sideboard and a more straightforward plan game 1.
I will probably add 2 more mana rocks, Cliques to the maindeck, and probably Bitterblossom.
I feel this could make the deck a bit more suitable when taking it to larger tournaments where your first round opponent could be playing anything.
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Modern: Tezzeret
???
Legacy: Imperial Painter aka. Strawberry Shortcake Tezzeret, aka. Dack in Black
How is everyone liking their maindeck to have 1 Chalice of the Void? I loved it, but as a singleton, drawing it in the opening hand is difficult and sometimes against 1 drop decks, you draw it too late so I decided to take it out and put it in the sideboard. Board contains 2 Chalice of the Voids. May bump it to 3. I need some help tweaking the sideboard though. Maybe the mainboard as well.
I don't like Ensnaring Bridge all too much to where I want to have 3 in the main deck, but 2 seems fine. Mana base is solid as well. Still contemplating the sideboard. Also contemplating Chalice of the Voids main and how many if any and what to cut.
Trading Post is a power house. Card has done nothing but amazing things. I've contemplated cutting Thopter Foundry since the life gaining portion is done better by Trading Post, but creating the 1/1 flyer that I can turn into a 5/5 is also good. Right now, I'm keeping both in there and it seems to be doing well.
Let me know.
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Why play UB Tezzeret?
UB Tezzeret is a "control" deck, but it is very different than a traditional Draw-Go type control. It plays removal and card draw spells, but also looks to control through discard and hate artifacts. It then tops it off with the powerful combo of Thopter Foundry and Sword of the Meek. There are more variations in builds than other established decks, some choose to control with cards like Ensnaring Bridge while others top off their curve with Wurmcoil Engines or slam Chalice of the Void.
The deck is good at responding to a known meta, it is easy to maindeck cards like Spellskite, Torpor Orb, Grafdigger's Cage, or Chalice of the Void due to the strength of Tezzeret's +1.
A positive of the deck is its resiliency to artifact hate. You can still smash with 5/5 indestructible Darksteel Citadels to deal with Stony Silence and you can recur dead artifacts from the graveyard to deal with artifact removal.
The Core
FAQs
1. Chalice, or no?
Red: Pyroclasm, Anger of the Gods, Radiant Flames, Terminate, Slaughter games, Crumble to dust. Neat sweepers but we have some already, and Bridge also works toward that end of surviving swarms. Slaughter games and Crumble to dust are good but kind of narrow, whereas white's hate has waaay wider applications IMO. Jwelt adds: Ghirapur Aether Grid, Galvanic Blast, Lightning Bolt, Rakdos Charm, Pia and Kiran Nalaar. Yup. Oh, and Blood Moon.
Green: Abrupt decay, Maelstrom Pulse, Natural State, Nature's claim (dat Eidolon of the Great Revel), Ancient Stirrings (awesome but doesn't find Foundry) ... Mostly answers to potential problem permanents, but none is as flexible/powerful as Anguished Unmaking in my humble opinion. But Planeswalker and artifact-feeding Tarmogoyf is strong, baby.
So while it gives the Tezz archetype tremendous inevitability, a solid win-con under an Ensnaring Bridge lock, and yet another game-winning line of play and a resilient one at that (thx Academy Ruins; pitch SotM to Thirst for Knowledge and effictively combo off just one card), its engine won't be rolling before turn 3 or 4 most times. And in this crazy modern meta game, this got to be considered as [the beginning of] the late game.
Now it is well known that UBx Tezzeret's weakness lies in its early game, and drawing too many swords won't get you to the mid-late game where we just tear apart other fair decks. So when building around the Thopter Foundry + Sword of the Meek combo, keep in mind that it probably shouldn't be the sole focus of your construction, but rather considered as another tool Tezzeret control's got in his arsenal. The main challenge that awaits you will still be to survive those modern critical turns 3 and 4.
Current Decklists
(Coming soon, lots of new cards! Check the comments for experimental builds that people are running)
Articles / Videos
PMaynard video set 1
PMaynard video set 2
Old:
Shouta's Deck Tech
LSV Playing Shouta's list
Building the Deck
Here I will list core and optional cards for inclusion in the deck as well as the reasoning for them. My “Run X” values will be recommendations for the maindeck. This is for people who would like to build their own version or want to understand why each card is in the deck. I highly recommend reading through it if you want to get an in-depth look at the deck.
If you don't feel like reading too much, here are some general numbers to keep in mind:
- For Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas +1, ~18 artifacts minimizes whiffs
- Glimmervoid and Mox Opal, ~25 artifacts, preferably low cost
__________________________________________________________________________________________The Planeswalkers
Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas: Run 3-4
The card of the deck. Have fun with one of the best utility planeswalkers out there. Watch as your opponents sigh when you drop him on turn 3. Garruk makes a 3/3 beast? That’s cute, how about a 5/5 indestructible. Sometimes curve or artifact count can drop him down to 3.
So how do you use him? Generally you would want to build up to his ultimate and use his +1 to dig for artifacts to either protect him or mess with your opponent. Use his -1 if you need to go into beatdown mode or if you need a blocker. Darksteel Citadel is usually the best target as he retains indestructible
Liliana of the Veil: Run 2-3
Liliana is removal, great synergy with Ensnaring Bridge, rips cards out of our opponents hand, and has a great ultimate making her a card that can practically win games on her own.
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver: Run 0-2
Great in grindy matchups but can be sub-par against hyper-aggressive decks. Instead of a 4th of one of our other walkers we can avoid the Planeswalker uniqueness rule a little more often.
Tezzeret the Seeker: Run 0-2
“But I thought you said this deck was different than Tezzerator?” Despite this deck being built around Agent of Bolas, more Tezzerets is generally a good thing. Big Tezz can function as extra Ensnaring Bridges at the minimum. He tutors out our hate directly onto the battlefield, even through our own chalice, and occasionally you can slam with a bunch of 5/5s. We don’t run more since 5 CMC is high, and his +1 isn’t as useful as Little Tezz. The Planeswalker uniqueness rule comes up less often than you would think, since our opponents generally try to take him out as fast as possible.
The Artifacts
Thopter Foundry: Run 3-4
Sword of the Meek: Run 2-3
The combo. With both on the battlefield each 1 mana creates a 1/1 flying Thopter and gains 1 life by sacrificing the Sword. Since Sword can be retrieved from the graveyard by sacrificing any artifact and it is almost useless on its own, we don't need 4. The most common splits are 4 Foundry / 3 Sword or 3 Foundry / 2 Sword. I personally prefer 4/3 maindeck and then siding out a copy of each when you expect the hate to come in out of the sideboard. Thopter tokens can attack easily under a Bridge and it converts our extra mana rocks into life and dudes when we don't have the combo online.
Hate artifacts
Ensnaring Bridge: Run 0 or 3/4
It shuts down creature based strategies. Since we are somewhat building around this card to lock down our opponent, it is important to have as few dead cards in your maindeck as possible. Bridge synergizes very well with Liliana of the Veil and many decks have a hard time handling it once resolved in game 1. Don't lean too heavily on it in game 2 and 3 as Artifact hate is common. Thopter tokens can always attack underneath the bridge.
The card can be at odds with the beatdown plan so some choose to not run it.
Spellskite: Run 2-3
Spellskite is an all-star in this deck. He blocks 3/3 Wild Nacatls, redirects Lightning Bolts, and steals opposing Boggles or Infect buffs. Post board he protects our Bridges and other artifacts from hate. As a bonus, he can be turned into a 5/5 by Tezz and start smashing the opponent. One of the best modern hate cards maindeck? I’ll take it.
Shouta chose to run maindeck Torpor Orbs over more Spellskites, it is possible there was less Burn going around in Japan at the GP.
Chalice of the Void
A card with a very unique effect, if you want to run this card you will be building your deck around playing Chalice on 1 a majority of the time, this means no 1 mana dicard effects or Serum Visions. Very strong against several archetypes.
Mana rocks
Talisman of Dominance / Dimir Signet / Mox Opal
Talisman is preferable over Signet if you need that extra 1 mana on turn 2 to play a discard spell or drop a trinket. Signet is preferable if you run a lot of colorless lands and need the color fixing and you don't want to take damage from your fixing. In general, the mana rocks help you get to bigger spells, allow a lower land count, and can become 5/5 beaters later on. Try to avoid the 3 CMC rocks like Chromatic Lantern or Coalition Relic, casing Damnation or Tezz on turn 3 can be one of our best plays.
Mox Opal can allow for bigger Engineered Explosives, but depending on the number of artifacts in your build, it may be hard to get online. More Opals with more artifacts.
0-CMC
These cards are great at turning on Mox Opals or dumping quickly to enable Ensnaring Bridge.
Mishra's Bauble
Effectively a bad Gitaxian Probe, but it can turn Tezz +1 into straight card draw and you also can use it on yourself to fetch away unwanted draws.
Welding Jar
Great when dealing with artifact destroying hate, but not Stony Silence
Nihil Spellbomb / Relic of Progenitus
Graveyard hate doesn’t need too much explanation. Both of these can be in the maindeck since they can cycle in a bad situation and is active against many decks. The Spellbomb can also trigger for 0 which is key in matchups like Storm, but Relic is much better at dealing with opposing Tarmogoyfs. Delve and Pod is dead now, not a maindeck card anymore.
Pithing Needle
Trinket Mage builds can better utilize this card, great against many Tier 1 decks. Drawing it in some matchups sucks, but worst case you can blindly name a fetchland and get a 1 CMC Stone Rain.
Grafdigger's Cage
Torpor Orb
Ratchet Bomb
Defense Grid
These are some other hate cards you could run maindeck if you are playing in a known meta. I will discuss sideboard options more later.
The Creatures
Wurmcoil Engine / Batterskull
These guys are part of our alternate win-con, Wurmcoil is more resilient to artifact hate and better against opposing Tarmogoyfs while Batterskull is better at attacking and defending against smaller creatures. 5 CMC vs 6 CMC is also a factor. Both are resilient to our own Damnations.
Creeping Tar Pit / Blinkmoth Nexus / Mutavault:
Good stuff to round off your deck's threat density, as without manlands we can be low on threats. They dodge our own Damnations and low power can be a solid place to hide behind an Ensnaring Bridge. Shouta ran a large number of manlands to couple with the mana rocks to create a strong lategame beat squad.
Glint-Nest Crane: Run 4!
The new Trinket Mage, costs 1 less, better stats (blocks 2/2s, attacks with flying behind Ensnaring Bridge). You have to build your deck differently than Trinket Mage, 1-ofs aren't as good, which is a positive. Drawing the wrong 1-of in the Trinket Mage fetch package always felt really bad, this way we can stick to good artifacts (and 2+ CMC ones). I believe this card will be a 4-of core of the deck and will put it as such until someone proves it wrong.
Trinket Mage: Run 0 (was 2-3 before Crane)
Mainly a tutor with the body being a bonus. Powers out our 1 of hate cards and wincons like The Rack and worst case scenario grabs us a land to make our land drop for the turn. Once on the board he is expendable, we have no way to bounce to utilize him more, so feel free to chump block. We just need to delay until Tezzeret or our engines get online. Depending on how heavy your deck is on trinkets should determine how many you run in your deck. Remember that X = 0 CMC when searching for a card, so he can grab cards like Engineered Explosives. Some people opt to not run a Trinket Mage package, since it is slow sometimes.
Hangarback Walker
Another resilient threat with the upside of being able to be played early as well. Fetchable by Trinket Mage makes it good even as a 1-of in the deck. Was tested a decent amount, but it is a bit too slow for Modern.
Inkmoth Nexus: Run 0 (or 4 if you want to brew up a Tezzeret infect deck)
A very attractive card when you realize he 2 shots with Tezzeret. The problem is if Inkmoth or Tezzeret die, the poison damage you did makes 0 difference on the game. If you really want to build around this synergy. You are going to need more infect creatures, 4 Inkmoths, and probably an Expedition Map.
Dark Confidant: Run 0
I use to enjoy Bob + Tezz builds, but Thirst for Knowledge is much better now that we can discard Sword of the Meek.
The Control
Sweepers
Damnation: Run 2-3
What is a control deck without a sweeper? Run it and let the value flow through you.
Flaying Tendrils
The best mass -2/-2 effect available, better in a meta with Collected Company decks and other smaller creatue or graveyard abusing decks.
Engineered Explosives: Run 0-2
Even with only two colors this is a great card, as it hits most problem 0-2 CMC permanents. Tutorable with Trinket Mage. Just remember that it hits our own permanents as well, which can be a strong reason to not run it.
Targeted Removal
Doom Blade / Go for the Throat / Smother / Dismember / Slaughter Pact / Murderous Cut / Disfigure
Adding on some spot removal is nice when we cannot rely 100% on Ensnaring Bridge. Dismember is usable if we ever get color screwed and deals with everything (Including 5/5 Darksteel Citadels in the mirror). Slaughter Pact is nice, since we are often tapping out, but not as necessary with Twin not in the format anymore.
Collective Brutality: Run 0-2
A great new versitile option for us, on initial read the discard seems like a downside, but it can actually help us get Ensnaring Bridge online when we otherwise could not. Lifegain can help against aggro / burn, which can typically be poor matchups. Can be run in the sideboard in less aggressive metas, but shoring up the burn matchup is great.
Executioner's Capsule: Run 0-2
Tutoring up a kill spell is nice when you need it in a pinch, but it can be a bit slow. Great against decks like Splinter Twin where we can have it on the battlefield as essentially uncounterable removal. Also repeatable out of the graveyard when we have Academy Ruins or Trading Post. Tutorable by Trinket Mage and Tezzeret the Seeker. Hilariously kills Emrakul, the Aeons Torn.
Discard
Inquisition of Kozilek / Thoughtseize: Run 3-6
Discard really makes this deck a solid deck. We can see their hand to guide how we play hate and get rid of problematic spells like Stony Silence. Remember that Talismans are better than Signets when running discard.
Collective Brutality: Run 0-2
See above.
A mix of Inquisition and Thoughtseize is important as our life total is quite valuable.
Card Advantage / Selection
So I've been going back and forth on these two, Thirst is super nice against Scapeshift / Control, but Serum Visions smooths your starting hand so much better, but now that Sword of the Meek is unbanned, it is an amazing card to discard for value since it can be retrieved out of the graveyard. I think Thirst is now a must at 3-4 and adding Serum Visions on top of it is optional.
Note: Now with Glint-Nest Crane it is unclear exactly how much other draw / filtering we want.
Thirst for Knowledge: Run 2-3
Acts as both card advantage and filtering, since we can dump artifact hate we don't need game 1, mana rocks in game 2 and 3, or Sword of the Meek for value.
Serum Visions: Run 0-4
The best cantrip left in Modern. Turn 1 or Turn 3 with a Talisman make this a strong card. Smooths out your starting hand which leads to less Mulligans.
Anticipate
Cheaper but less card advantage and hand fixing than Thirst, possibly more correct to run in lighter artifact builds where you don't have excessive mana rocks to discard, but it is a fringe choice.
Counterspells
Old builds used a number of counterspells, but Ensnaring Bridge wants to have as few dead cards in the maindeck as possible. As soon as you have a resolved bridge with 2 Mana Leaks and an uncastable Cryptic Command in hand while Wild Nacatl beats you silly, you realize something is wrong.
If you really want to run counterspells, you are going to have to cut a lot of the colorless lands to be able to cast Cryptic Command reliably, so 1-2 CMC counterspells are best. When not relying on Ensnaring Bridge, counterspells get a lot better.
Spell Snare is a great option, hits most hate cards like Stony Silence.
Dispel is the best option for winning counter wars.
The Lands
The major decision for your mana base is splashing colors, using Vedalken Shackles, your life total, and fueling delve cards. A very effective pure UB mana base can be built without fetches to avoid pain, but you lose several other upsides of fetches.
Colored Lands
Colored lands have to be tailored to your build, it is hard to give exact values for these
Fetch Based Mana
Polluted Delta + Off-color fetches
Watery Grave
Painless Lands
River of Tears
Pro: Always comes in untapped, No Pain
Con: Seems like the perfect land, but we can easily get screwed off of Black if we don't draw other lands
Creeping Tar Pit (Talked about in the creatures section)
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth (Downside is giving your opponents black as well, Legendary, only run 1)
Glimmervoid
Pro: Always comes in untapped, No Pain, adds colors to Engineered Explosives
Con: Depending on your build's artifact count, this card can be dangerous, but works very well with Darksteel Citadel
Utility Lands
It is a hard game balancing colorless lands in a partial artifact deck, I think around 8-9 colorless is a good spot, but this is my personal testing, no hard math done.
Darksteel Citadel: Run 3-4
Adds to artifact count, grabbable with Trinket Mage and Tezzeret, turns into a 5/5 Indestructable with Tezzeret, great card.
Everyone loves new cards, this one is the real deal. Dodges incidental graveyard hate targeting Thopter / Sword combo, gains life, tutors. Along with the Crane we won't have as many 1-ofs anymore, so if we lose an artifact we can tutor another one out of the deck. Don't have to find the card before we can rebuy it like with Academy Ruins.
Academy Ruins: Run 0 (maybe 1)
We aren't trying to Mindslaver lock like Mono U Tron, this is here for value with our powerful 1 ofs and resiliency against Artifact hate. Now I believe it is outclassed by Inventors' Fair.
Ghost Quarter: Fetches basics for free when targeting your own Darksteel Citadel
Mostly a concession to Tron, but still helps against opposing utility lands and manlands in other matchups. Combos well with Surgical Extraction / Extirpate against Tron.
If you are going more land denial route with Crucible of Worlds then this card is a definite addition.
Old Tech
These cards aren't really as necessary anymore now that Thopter / Sword is in the deck, but I'll leave them here for your brewing / nostalgia enjoyment.
The Rack
Tutorable by Trinket Mage. Having a win con being tutorable by Trinket Mage is pretty sweet, sometimes we can draw blank a bit, adding this 1 card effectively adds a much higher chance of drawing a win con. Liliana + The Rack + Ensnaring Bridge is already a sweet combination used by 8-Rack decks.
Rings of Brighthearth: Run Max 1
Fringe card that does nothing its own, but synergizes very well with many of our cards. Doubles planeswalker activations (making Tezzeret deal 20 damage with only 4 other artifacts), doubles Thopter Foundry, doubles Trading Post, doubles Executioner's Capsule. You can see how it can be very powerful, however it loses its punch against a hate heavy opponent. Make sure it has many targets if you chose to run it.
Bitterblossom
Ok, so I know this isn't actually an artifact, but right now I don't really have a section elsewhere for it to go, and it most commonly replaces Thopter Foundry as they both make 1/1s. I feel the power level of Bitterblossom is much better than Thopter Foundry, we can chump block all day and don't have to blow up our artifacts. Life loss is a serious concern, especially with the rise of Burn decks, causing most people to drop Bitterblossom from their lists.
Trading Post
This card use to be better before we had the lifegain from Thopter / Sword combo, so I don't believe it deserves a slot anymore.
Old text: "4 CMC to durdle around?" This card is way more powerful than it appears. Lifegain stops burn in its tracks (ie. when a UWR control is trying to finish you off), grabbing artifacts out of the graveyard is great against hate, draw lets our deck keep moving. We can utilize all of its modes.
Sideboard
Latest Update: Needs updating
Sideboards are always variable due to the metagame, so I included the date just in case I don't have time to keep this 100% up to date.
IMPORTANT! When making your sideboard, keep in mind your opponent will have artifact removal in Games 2 and 3. This means cards like Ensnaring Bridge will be less effective, so I have started adding more spot removal to the sideboard.
Chalice of the Void: Delver, Burn, Affinity
Mostly to fight heavy 1 drop decks, Delver and Burn are the main ones right now that run on a very low curve. I also listed Affinity, but I think it is only good when you are on the play, since some of their hands can get crushed by a Chalice on 0.
For Storm it stops Past in Flames, but not Pyromancer Ascension. Obviously is is also great for super graveyard decks using cards such as Vengevine, but as of this writing it is not a Tiered deck. Questionable to use against decks solely to stop Snapcaster Mage.
Extirpate / Surgical Extraction: Scapeshift, Ad Nauseam Combo, Tron, Pure Graveyard Decks
I think Extirpate / Surgical Extraction are a huge trap if you haven't played with them much. There are only 2 situations where you want to side it in:
Extirpate will most of the time represent a card disadvantage, you are 1 for 0ing yourself. Removing one threat from a deck like Burn does nothing, as they are still drawing a card every turn, the percent change of them drawing a land only goes up by a minuscule amount.
Excellent against pure combo decks combined with discard effects. Good against Tron when combined with land destruction as it can permanently turn off their tron. Tempo twin's backup plan is usually too good to warrant this card against them.
I like being able to side into 6 discard spells against control / combo and also swap out Thoughtseizes in machups where our life total is precious.
Blows up tron lands and control wants to be able to cast as many counterspells as they can in a turn, blow up their lands.
Stops Stony Silence out of white decks, counters Mana Leak and Remand, counters Dark Confidant who can be a very large problem if left resolved.
Vendilion Clique: Combo, Decks where we want to be the beatdown
Not really for a specific deck, allows us to be more aggressive and also disrupt combos.
Fringe Cards:
Steel Sabotage: Affinity
Defense Grid: Control Decks (not as useful if not dropped on turn 2 or 3)
Splashes
Splashes in general always seem like a good idea on the surface. The best cards for splashes are removal spells, since pure
That being said, splashing does allow Engineered Explosives to be more powerful. There are many 3 CMC permanents I would like to explode.
Green Splash (BUg)
Green splash is the most common when just splashing a few cards. Green gives us access to some of the best removal spells in Modern which allow us to better deal with problem permanents, most specifically enchantments which UB cannot kill such as Stony Silence and Leyline of Sanctity. Delve creatures have made Abrupt Decay a bit worse
Main Cards to Splash:
Red Splash (UBr / Grixis)
Main Cards to Splash:
White Splash (UBw / Esper)
Holds a lot of interesting cards, Path to Exile, Esper Charm, Tidehollow Sculler, and Disenchant as just a few. Have to cut some number of Darksteel Citadels to be able to support a heavy 3 color mana base.
Pox Package (Optional)
If you choose to run the Pox package, you are going to want to not use any of the other 5 CMC+ card, like big Tezzeret and Batterskull, as you will be blowing up your own lands. Bitterblossom shines in this package, as it gives you a good creature to sacrifice. Crucible of Worlds looks good with Smallpox, but a lot of time it is slow, personal choice if you want to run one; with Crucible more land destruction lands will also be stronger.
Oct 24, 2016: New cards!
Apr 25, 2016: Formatting updates, added FAQ and 0-CMC artifacts
Apr 18, 2016: Thopter Sword update
Nov 7, 2015: Changed splash info, added Hangarback
May 18, 2015: Updated a little in the splash section and a few descriptions, added Ashiok and Anticipate, added most recent list
Feb 25, 2015: Added my Godzilla list, updated some Chalice text
Jan 19, 2015: Cruise, Dig, and Pod are dead, initial updates
Dec 2, 2014: Some Treasure Cruise meta updates
Oct 10, 2014: Removed Low Curve
Sept 29, 2014: Added some more pictures, trying out some new formatting
Sept 26, 2014: Rewrote intro, added article / video section, changed Core section a bit
Sept 3, 2014: Added a little more versatility to the core, rewriting splash section, rewrote a lot of the card descriptions
Aug 25, 2014: Split out Trinket Mage package
Aug 22, 2014: Added Dark Confidant, updated my list, added removal to SB info
July 10, 2014: Removed Chalice from the core section, updated decklist (added Dispel to SB)
June 23, 2014: Updated my decklist
June 19, 2014: Changed Crucible numbers for Pox, Added sideboard information
June 5, 2014: Added information about the Pox package
June 4, 2014: Added Bitterblossom and The Rack descriptions, added land explanations
May 22, 2014: Added Lands section, added Mox Opal, added Rings of Brighthearth
Modern:
???
Legacy:
Coming Soon
Pre-Sword of the Meek unban
UB Lists
Deck Tech
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
3 Liliana of the Veil
Creature (2)
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Spellskite
Sorcery (6)
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Damnation
Instant (9)
4 Thirst for Knowledge
2 Smother
1 Go for the Throat
1 Doom Blade
1 Slaughter Pact
Artifact (15)
4 Dimir Signet
3 Talisman of Dominance
2 Mox Opal
2 Torpor Orb
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Pithing Needle
1 Batterskull
4 Mutavault
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
4 Darkslick Shores
3 River of Tears
2 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Darksteel Citadel
1 Slaughter Pact
2 Duress
2 Negate
2 Sower of Temptation
2 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror
1 Consume the Meek
2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
2 Flashfreeze
Godzilla (Polymorph package)
1 Proteus Staff
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
2 Liliana of the Veil
1 Karn Liberated
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Damnation
1 Drown in Sorrow
2 Slaughter Pact
3 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Cryptic Command
1 Savor the Moment
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Batterskull
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Torpor Orb
1 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Dimir Signet
3 Talisman of Dominance
1 Mox Opal
2 Mutavault
3 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Darksteel Citadel
1 Watery Grave
4 Darkslick Shores
2 River of Tears
1 Swamp
1 Torpor Orb
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Darkblast
2 Negate
1 Flashfreeze
1 Night of Souls' Betrayal
2 Duress
1 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Batterskkull
2 Spellskite
Grixis (UBr) Lists
2 Liliana of the Veil
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
Creatures (5)
2 Spellskite
1 Keranos, God of Storms
1 Batterskull
1 Wurmcoil Engine
Sorceries (6)
2 Thoughtseize
4 Damnation
Instants (6)
1 Smother
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Cryptic Command
Meta-Hate (6)
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Engineered Explosives
3 Relic of Progenitus
1 Torpor Orb
1 Mox Opal
3 Talisman of Dominance
4 Dimir Signet
1 Crucible of Worlds
Land (21)
1 Island
2 Swamp
1 Mountain
4 Glimmervoid
3 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Ghost Quarter
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Academy Ruins
2 Sun Droplet
2 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Slaughter Games
2 Chalice of the Void
1 Torpor Orb
2 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Night of Souls' Betrayal
2 Counterflux
Currently using a Red splash for Slaughter Games / Pyroclasm for much better game against combo (Dig Through Time) and Delver (Treasure Cruise).
Land (23)
1 Blood Crypt
2 Bloodstained Mire
3 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Darksteel Citadel
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Island
4 Polluted Delta
1 Steam Vents
2 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Watery Grave
Creature (3)
2 Spellskite
1 Wurmcoil Engine
Artifact (11)
1 Batterskull
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Executioner's Capsule
1 Mox Opal
4 Talisman of Dominance
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
Instant (7)
2 Dig Through Time
2 Dismember
1 Slaughter Pact
2 Thirst for Knowledge
Sorcery (10)
1 Damnation
2 Pyroclasm
4 Serum Visions
3 Thoughtseize
2 Fulminator Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
3 Chalice of the Void
1 Damping Matrix
1 Torpor Orb
2 Negate
1 Damnation
3 Slaughter Games
2 engineered explosives
2 executioner's capsule
2 pyrite spellbomb
2 nihil spellbomb
4 talisman of indulgence
2 vedalken shackles
2 batterskull
Creatures: 4
2 spellskite
2 mishra, artificer prodigy
sorceries: 6
4 inquisition of kozilek
2 pyroclasm
Planeswalkers: 4
4 tezzeret, agent of bolas
4 galvanic blast
2 thirst for knowledge
2 dig through time
lands: 22
4 darksteel citadel
1 academy ruins
1 lavaclaw reaches
5 island
1 steam vents
1 blood crypt
1 watery grave
4 polluted delta
4 scalding tarn
2 spell snare
2 redirect
2 negate
2 echoing truth
2 shadow of doubt
2 slaughter games
2 counterflux
1 grafdigger's cage
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
4 Dimir Signet
2 Rakdos Signet
1 Mox Opal
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Trading Post
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Vedalken Shackles
2 Batterskull
2 Spellskite
2 Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
2 Electrolyze
3 Pyroclasm
3 Slaughter Pact
1 Pact of Negation
2 Hive Mind
1 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Blood Crypt
2 Steam Vents
1 Watery Grave
4 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
3 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Academy Ruins
1 Tolaria West
1 Swamp
4 Island
2 Torpor Orb
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Spellskite
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
2 Sun Droplet
2 Blood Moon
1 Pyroclasm
1 Damnation
1 Night of Souls' Betrayal
3 Slaughter Games
Pre-DigCruise Revolution Lists
UB Lists
2 Trinket Mage
2 Spellskite
3 Dark Confidant
Spells (10)
2 Damnation
2 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Serum Visions
Walkers (7)
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
3 Liliana of the Veil
Artifacts (13)
3 Talisman of Dominance
3 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Pithing Needle
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Executioner's Capsule
1 Trading Post
1 The Rack
3 Darksteel Citadel
3 Watery Grave
3 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Academy Ruins
2 Island
4 Darkslick Shores
1 River of Tears
2 Swamp
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Damnation
1 Chalice of the Void
2 Spell Snare
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Torpor Orb
2 Vendilion Clique
1 Slaughter Pact
2 Fulminator Mage
2 Dismember
2 Dispel
1 mox opal
2 engineered explosives
1 nihil spellbomb
1 executioner's capsule
2 pithing needle
2 talisman of dominance
1 thopter foundry
1 rings of brighthearth
3 ensnaring bridge
1 trading post
1 batterskull
sorceries: 6
2 thoughtseize
2 inquisition of kozilek
2 damnation
Creatures: 5
3 spellskite
2 trinket mage
3 liliana of the veil
4 tezzeret, agent of bolas
instants: 2
2 thirst for knowledge
enchantments: 1
1 artificer's intuition
lands: 23
1 urborg, tomb of yawgmoth
1 creeping tar pit
4 darkslick shores
4 river of tears
2 glimmervoid
1 island
2 swamp
4 darksteel citadel
3 ghost quarter
1 academy ruins
2 dispel
2 spell snare
1 negate
1 crucible of worlds
2 witchbane orb
4 chalice of the void
1 grafdigger's cage
1 expedition map
1 elixir of immortality
3 Trinket Mage
2 Spellskite
Spells
2 Smallpox
2 Damnation
2 Thoughtseize
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Fabricate
1 Bitterblossom
Planewalkers
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2 Liliana of the Veil
Artifacts
4 Talisman of Dominance
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Pithing Needle
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 The Rack
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Dimir Signet
1 Executioner's Capsule
2 Darksteel Citadel
2 Watery Grave
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Academy Ruins
1 Buried Ruin
2 Island
4 Darkslick Shores
2 River of Tears
3 Swamp
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Marsh Flats
1 Damnation
1 Cranial Extraction
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Echoing Truth
2 Defense Grid
1 Spell Snare
1 Negate
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Torpor Orb
2 Extirpate
1 Vendilion Clique
2 Fulminator Mage
2x Creeping tar pit
3x Darkslick shores
1x Sunken ruins
1x Island
2x Swamp
1x Glimmervoid
1x River of tears
1x Urborg, tomb of Yawgmoth
2x Watery grave
4x Darksteel citadel
3x Ghost quarter
1x Tectonic edge
1x Academy ruins
4x Talisman of Dominance
1x Dimir signet
Early game
2x Inquisition of Kozilek
2x Thoughtseize
2x Serum visions
2x Smallpox
1x Bitterblossom
2x Spellskite
2x Ensnaring bridge
2x Damnation
1x Thirst for Knowledge
3x Liliana of the Veil
4x Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
Trinket package
3x Trinket mage
1x Necrogen spellbomb
1x The Rack
1x Engineered explosives
1x Nihil spellbomb
1x Pithing needle
1x Executioner's capsule
1x Engineered explosives
1x Spellskite
1x Pithing needle
1x Grafdigger's Cage
2x Echoing truth
2x Chalice of the Void
2x Vendilion Clique
2x Dispel
1x Slaughter pact
1x Ensnaring bridge
1x Trading post
BUg Lists
2 Spellskite
2 Wurmcoil Engine
Artifacts:12
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Executioner's Capsule
1 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Dimir Signet
1 Golgari Signet
1 Ratchet Bomb
2 Talisman of Dominance
1 Torpor Orb
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Batterskull
Instants/Sorceries: 15
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Mana Leak
2 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Thirst for Knowledge
3 Cryptic Command
2 Damnation
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
Lands:25
1 Academy Ruins
1 Breeding Pool
4 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Forest
1 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Watery Grave
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Dispel
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Pithing Needle
2 Steel Sabotage
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Negate
4 Fulminator Mage
Tezzewrath (Esper)
4 Marsh Flats
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Swamp
2 Godless Shrine
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Watery Grave
2 Creeping Tar Pit
3 Darksteel Citadel
4 Inkmoth Nexus
2 Ghost Quarter
Ramp
4 Azorius Signet
4 Talisman of Progress
3 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
2 Spellskite
Removal
3 Wrath of God
2 Supreme Verdict
1 Day of Judgment
3 Path to Exile
1 Detention Sphere
Other
4 Gifts Ungiven
3 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Unburial Rites
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
3 Ghostly Prision
3 Aven Mindcensor
2 Detention Sphere
3 Negate
2 Vendillion Clique
1 Path to Exile
1 Ghost Quarter
Modern:
???
Legacy:
The old thread has been locked and archived. Someone new will be maintaining the primer.
― Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential
I will always firmly stand by the belief that Magic is a game first and a collectable second.
However, just checking: why did we lose the x from U/B/x control? I think that a third color splash is still relevent to this thread and deck. And may even be more in the future, with potential key cards printed our way.
OLD SCHOOL 93/94 «The Pain Train» Black Sligh, Esper «Machine Gun» Artifacts, Jund «Psycho» Ponza-Disko.
I'm still going to talk about splashes in the Primer. I always like shorter easier to say deck names, didn't mean to imply that splashes are not allowed or anything like that.
As for anyone who was posting a lot in the old thread. Feel free to post your current decklist if you would like me to include it in the primer.
Modern:
???
Legacy:
Is it a mtgsalvation policy thing?
Twitch: gamerchamp
Modern: UGrand Architect, UBTezzeret Control, UBWRG Bridge From Below (Dredge)
Legacy: UWGTrue-Name Bant
Since someone else will be maintaining the "Primer" first post information they have to be able to edit it.
I really like the possibilities of this deck. If I could swing the costs of the Liliana's and Damnations right now I would definitely give it a try.
― Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential
I will always firmly stand by the belief that Magic is a game first and a collectable second.
Just kiddding. Good job taking over the primer.
Just sold my Tezzerets recently so you won't be hearing from me again.
Also, my list is still good in the current meta, so there's no need to update it yet.
Modern: Jund Legacy: RUG Delver EDH: Captain Sisay
UBRGrixis ControlUBR | URPhoenixUR | UWMiraclesUW |GBRJundGBR | UBFaeriesUB | UBWAd NauseumUBW |GBRWBlueless ShadowGBRW |
MTGA
UBRGrixis ControlUBR | UTempoU
I've been trying to balance my colorless lands, there were a few times where I needed that 2nd black and didn't have it. Our tron matchup isn't the best, so we lean some on Ghost Quarters so I don't really want to cut one, also has solid utility in other matchups. Also since I added the 2nd Academy Ruins I really like the power of it.
It is possibly correct to cut some more basics, since I was originally up to 5 from all the Blood Moons that were running around a few months ago.
Modern:
???
Legacy:
1 mox opal
2 engineered explosives
1 nihil spellbomb
1 executioner's capsule
2 pithing needle
2 talisman of dominance
1 thopter foundry
1 rings of brighthearth
3 ensnaring bridge
1 trading post
1 batterskull
sorceries: 6
2 thoughtseize
2 inquisition of kozilek
2 damnation
Creatures: 5
3 spellskite
2 trinket mage
3 liliana of the veil
4 tezzeret, agent of bolas
instants: 2
2 thirst for knowledge
enchantments: 1
1 artificer's intuition
lands: 23
1 urborg, tomb of yawgmoth
1 creeping tar pit
4 darkslick shores
4 river of tears
2 glimmervoid
1 island
2 swamp
4 darksteel citadel
3 ghost quarter
1 academy ruins
2 dispel
2 spell snare
1 negate
1 crucible of worlds
2 witchbane orb
4 chalice of the void
1 grafdigger's cage
1 expedition map
1 elixir of immortality
Very similar to sirpsychomantis's list so i don't know if it is worth including in the primer... The main difference is the land base. With glimmervoids and mox opal explosives get a lot better. With 4 citadels 2 glimmervoids is safe i think, i haven't had much issues with them. Artificer's intuition has always been good, i still think it is better than a 3rd trinket mage and i still like a mox opal over a talisman. Rings is still amazing too, namely with thopter foundry.
Also, I'm going to write up the lands section next.
Edit: Also added a change log if anyone cares what I'm updating.
Modern:
???
Legacy:
1 Academy Ruins
3 Arid Mesa
1 Creeping Tar Pit
3 Ghost Quarter
4 Godless Shrine
1 Hallowed Fountain
4 Marsh Flats
1 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Watery Grave
3 Darksteel Citadel
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Executioner's Capsule
1 Expedition Map
1 Pithing Needle
4 Talisman of Progress
Sorceries
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Thoughtseize
1 Day of Judgment
1 Lingering Souls
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Wrath of God
1 Unburial Rites
4 Gifts Ungiven
1 Path to Exile
Enchantments
1 Detention Sphere
Creatures
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Spellskite
3 Trinket Mage
2 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
Planeswalkers
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
Not much different than the gifts and wrath based list in the primer, except I am including spot discard and I am still using a small trinket mage toolbox. It's a blast to play, both "sides" of the deck work great and seem strong and fun, as well as some synergy that exists between them. I can't say yet whether the deck is any good or not, but that's never stopped me before!
Guys, generally speaking, I'm sort of a little disappointed in UB. I feel like the deck (and our effort) has reached a power-cap that is just a tad bit under the power of tier-1 decks. Maybe it's a matter of card-pool (the modern card-pool).
For reference, I'm running a list similar to that of SirPsychoMantis but minus Big Tezz and Trading post; testing 2x Bitterblossom in their place at the moment.
OLD SCHOOL 93/94 «The Pain Train» Black Sligh, Esper «Machine Gun» Artifacts, Jund «Psycho» Ponza-Disko.
I literally have been tuning this deck and have gone through dozens of iterations, white splash, green splash...I honestly don't think the splashes are worth it. We're already too slow and don't have a turn 1 mana dork like Pod and Zoo. So adding a third color just ruins consistence imho...we also can't ping ourselves like Zoo and Pod does because we aren't as aggressive.
To me what hurts this deck the most is all the hate people bring in preparation of Affinity.
This deck survives due to Academy Ruins and Spellskite, because if we can keep our hosers like Bridge, Needle, Chalice, Torpor Orb and Cage in play we literally "win" vs the decks they are relevant against.
That's why I've been experimenting with Welding Jar as an additional "counterspell" to destruction effects. We simply have to keep our hosers in play then kill as fast as we can either with tezz -4, -1 or thopter tokens, heck I've even been able to win off The Rack.
Also it just takes trillions of games against different TIER 1 decks, that's why I had to break down and just build the deck on mtgo.
Twitch: gamerchamp
Modern: UGrand Architect, UBTezzeret Control, UBWRG Bridge From Below (Dredge)
Legacy: UWGTrue-Name Bant
I will probably add 2 more mana rocks, Cliques to the maindeck, and probably Bitterblossom.
I feel this could make the deck a bit more suitable when taking it to larger tournaments where your first round opponent could be playing anything.
Modern:
???
Legacy:
2 Spellskite
3 Trinket Mage
Planeswalkers (8)
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
Instants/Sorceries (9)
2 Damnation
3 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Thoughtseize
Artifacts (15)
4 Talisman of Dominance
1 Talisman of Indulgence
1 Batterskull
1 Thopter Foundry
1 Trading Post
1 Executioner's Capsule
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Torpor Orb
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Pithing Needle
2 Ensnaring Bridges
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Watery Grave
3 Darksteel Citadel
2 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Academy Ruins
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Tectonic Edge
2 Island
3 Swamp
2 Torpor Orb
2 Chalice of the Void
2 Extirpate
2 Defense Grid
2 Negate
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Damnation
I don't like Ensnaring Bridge all too much to where I want to have 3 in the main deck, but 2 seems fine. Mana base is solid as well. Still contemplating the sideboard. Also contemplating Chalice of the Voids main and how many if any and what to cut.
Trading Post is a power house. Card has done nothing but amazing things. I've contemplated cutting Thopter Foundry since the life gaining portion is done better by Trading Post, but creating the 1/1 flyer that I can turn into a 5/5 is also good. Right now, I'm keeping both in there and it seems to be doing well.
Let me know.