I have an idea... the problem with the deck is we need either need draw or deck manipulation. Being able to sometimes tutor turn three is too slow. Since we can't stick our first threat until turn 4. Then half the time you just draw dorks and don't get anywhere, it needs some kind of card velocity we can't rely on top decks like a Rock deck can.
What about ichor wellspring + Perilous Research? I haven't tested it yet it just came to me while I was lying in bed last night. I will probably have a go at the Transmuter version but I do love just having all the cloneswith metamorph. I'd definitely run shackles with research since you can steal and sac to draw.
I run Ichor Wellspring in my Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas control deck as my primary draw engine. It works nicely with Phyrexia's Core and would be amazing with Transmuter. Now though you have me moving in a different direction, because Ensoul Artifact also happens to be awesome with Ichor Wellspring. I don't know if the list would see sit in this thread but I'll see where my brewing takes me.
I think that would likely be best as a different thread, since at that point you are looking more at a Tezzerator/March of the Machines type deck than Grand Architect wants to be.
I have been playing a u/b Heartless Architect deck for several months now and been having a lot of luck with it. Occasionally you will get an awkward hand with multiple Heartless or both Academy Ruins, but that's not too common and can usually be played through no problem. Most of the time it plays turn 3/4 wurmcoils, but has other lines of play like the sphinx summoner chains, locking out opponents with golems, and metamorphing architects to pump everything. It has natural meta hate with Spellskites and Lodestone Golems in the main which is always a plus.
I would not run less than 4 Spellskites. They are definitely the MVP of the deck. They are incredibly easy to play and throw a wrench in almost everyone's game plan and hold removal off of other cards. With Academy Ruins they get ridiculous.
Duplicant is the only cmc 6+ Treasure Mage target that I have found to be good and reliable enough to stand by Wurmcoil Engine. He helps us to interact with the opponents board and gets better with Phyrexian Metamorph and Academy Ruins. I have not tried Platinum Angel yet, but I could see it being a good sideboard card against certain decks.
Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas is absolutely amazing. He draws an extra (relevant) card every turn or turns something (like a Darksteel Citadel) into a 5/5. His ult wins games and is easy to pull off. He cleans up board stalls or gets me back from behind like no other. That being said, I would not play more than 2.
I was not a fan of Etherium Sculptor until I gave him a shot. Yes, he might not be the best top deck, but he helps enable some ridiculous plays, and more importantly: he adds consistency. Sculptor is the mini Heartless Summoning in the same way that Chief Engineer is a mini Grand Architect, which I have yet to try playing with. (I am sure there is a spot for Chief Engineer, probably as a 2-of, but the list is really tight and I have to do some rearranging to fit him in)
Some cards I think are worth testing: Chief Engineer: for obvious reasons Platinum Angel: as discussed through the rest of this thread Lightning Greaves: good protection, but probably outclassed by Spellskite Solemn Simulacrum: helps fight the occasional Blood Moon, but more importantly just a high value card that can be a good speed bump versus aggro decks like zoo. Swan Song: Could be cool tech with extra Heartless Summonings, but also relevant against Terminus, Path to Exile, and all of the sideboard artifact hate cards.
That Swan Song interaction doesn't work unless you counter one of your own spells for whatever reason.
If anything, I wonder how Heartless Summoning stacks up against the Chief Engineer versions already discussed. Engineer seems faster and more explosive: A turn 3 Wurmcoil off of Judge's Familiar, Chief Engineer and Spellskite/Etherium Sculptor is frightening for a lot of fair decks. He also has profitable interactions with Grand Architect by getting bigger and making more mana, but is way more vulnerable, and eats your combat steps in order to be fully functional as opposed to the blanket -1/-1. I wonder which way the damage output leans on average.
I don't know that an Architect/Engineer/Heartless mix is the way to go though, since you start sacrificing threat slots for enablers.
Out of curiosity, how have you found the addition of white? Sharuum seems nice (the infinite Metamorph combo rues the lack of Disciples), and Spear seems like a cool team buff, but is the mana consistent enough? Also, considering you are playing white, your board could use use some Ethersworn Canonists for the storm match up.
I haven't tested your build, but some cards confuse me. Perplex I can understand, as it always has some utility, but I wonder if Clutch of the Undercity is better than straight-up Fabricate. I'm also not sure I understand what Lightning Coils is doing for you. Lastly, have you tested any other draw effects over the Bident? It doesn't seem bad, but our early drops are tiny, and that's when you want want card draw the most, no?
Why a single Capsule? It's at par against Twin assuming you go first, but recurring it with Ruins is terribly slow and mana hungry. I would maindeck Engineered Explosives instead since its a bigger impact card, and can save you against tokens, buy a turn against twin, and kill lots of zoo critters. While the deck wants some interaction, one Capsule doesn't seem like enough.
I also wonder if Greaves is truly necessary. Engineer and Architect have pseudo-haste on their abilities, and I believe you retain priority between their resolution and ability activation (well, Engineer isn't so much an activation, but it works similarly), so if you can save them right up until the last minute, the Greaves only serve to give them Shroud for future turns, which, if you play your cards right, is irrelevant since your win condition is already in place (unless its something like Blighsteel Colossus, in which case Greaves wins on the spot).
I would consider trading Greaves for the Etherium Scultpors you cut since they also get pumps, cut down on costs across the board, and add some explosiveness to the deck. Another interesting card that is worth sideboarding, if not main-decking over Greaves, is Shimmer Myr. Slamming down multiple Sphinx Summoner's on your opponent's end step leads to nifty surprise kills.
Lastly, 4 Summoners seems like overkill, since you want to chain them into Metamorphs because they're easier to cast. I would definitely cut down to 3, and maybe even down to 2 if you decided to run something like Fabricate for better tutoring.
In other news I think I'm finally happy with this build. It curves perfectly and has a lot in common with Merfolk and Pod while being weirdly susceptible to Echoing Truth and Maelstrom Pulse:
As for choices: I downgraded the Summoned Sphinx combo a bit, it's still very potent. The manabase allows me to through out Tar Pit and threaten to alpha strike due to Architect lord pumps.
This Deck List provides enough chances to ramp, convoke, and cheat out enough big nasty artifacts on turns 3-5. After that I can start hard casting any top decked fatties and the Vedalkens are largely relegated to Chump blockers and outs to Lily of the Veil's -2.
As for fatty choices: the Avatar of New Phyrexia is just fab, Wurm is decent, the angels are for beats plus their must-answer ability, the dragon helps sweep and beat definitely great against tokens and Merfolk.
This seems like a really good place start. Suddenly slamming 3-5 Sphinx Summoner's into play as early as turn 3 is pretty brutal.
I would consider Thopter Assembly as a fatty, since it essentially walls affinity forever, and lets you run a nifty sideboard Time Sieve.
I would also consider a singleton Inkwell Leviathan since it is essentially unkillable outside of boardsweep (which we are weak to anyway).
That being said, your list looks very top heavy, and a lot of the fatties aren't terribly useful without an engine card to get them in early. I would look into Treasure Mage to serve as both a tutor and a convoke/Architect source, and cut down on monsters bigger than Summoner. Additionally, Muddle the Mixture seems pretty clutch since it fetches Engineer, Sculptor, and Spellskite (and that SB Sieve ) while also serving as a passable counter spell against Scapeshift, Storm and any of Twin's draw effects.
I think that would likely be best as a different thread, since at that point you are looking more at a Tezzerator/March of the Machines type deck than Grand Architect wants to be.
That Swan Song interaction doesn't work unless you counter one of your own spells for whatever reason.
If anything, I wonder how Heartless Summoning stacks up against the Chief Engineer versions already discussed. Engineer seems faster and more explosive: A turn 3 Wurmcoil off of Judge's Familiar, Chief Engineer and Spellskite/Etherium Sculptor is frightening for a lot of fair decks. He also has profitable interactions with Grand Architect by getting bigger and making more mana, but is way more vulnerable, and eats your combat steps in order to be fully functional as opposed to the blanket -1/-1. I wonder which way the damage output leans on average.
I don't know that an Architect/Engineer/Heartless mix is the way to go though, since you start sacrificing threat slots for enablers.
Out of curiosity, how have you found the addition of white? Sharuum seems nice (the infinite Metamorph combo rues the lack of Disciples), and Spear seems like a cool team buff, but is the mana consistent enough? Also, considering you are playing white, your board could use use some Ethersworn Canonists for the storm match up.
I haven't tested your build, but some cards confuse me. Perplex I can understand, as it always has some utility, but I wonder if Clutch of the Undercity is better than straight-up Fabricate. I'm also not sure I understand what Lightning Coils is doing for you. Lastly, have you tested any other draw effects over the Bident? It doesn't seem bad, but our early drops are tiny, and that's when you want want card draw the most, no?
Why a single Capsule? It's at par against Twin assuming you go first, but recurring it with Ruins is terribly slow and mana hungry. I would maindeck Engineered Explosives instead since its a bigger impact card, and can save you against tokens, buy a turn against twin, and kill lots of zoo critters. While the deck wants some interaction, one Capsule doesn't seem like enough.
I also wonder if Greaves is truly necessary. Engineer and Architect have pseudo-haste on their abilities, and I believe you retain priority between their resolution and ability activation (well, Engineer isn't so much an activation, but it works similarly), so if you can save them right up until the last minute, the Greaves only serve to give them Shroud for future turns, which, if you play your cards right, is irrelevant since your win condition is already in place (unless its something like Blighsteel Colossus, in which case Greaves wins on the spot).
I would consider trading Greaves for the Etherium Scultpors you cut since they also get pumps, cut down on costs across the board, and add some explosiveness to the deck. Another interesting card that is worth sideboarding, if not main-decking over Greaves, is Shimmer Myr. Slamming down multiple Sphinx Summoner's on your opponent's end step leads to nifty surprise kills.
Lastly, 4 Summoners seems like overkill, since you want to chain them into Metamorphs because they're easier to cast. I would definitely cut down to 3, and maybe even down to 2 if you decided to run something like Fabricate for better tutoring.
This seems like a really good place start. Suddenly slamming 3-5 Sphinx Summoner's into play as early as turn 3 is pretty brutal.
I would consider Thopter Assembly as a fatty, since it essentially walls affinity forever, and lets you run a nifty sideboard Time Sieve.
I would also consider a singleton Inkwell Leviathan since it is essentially unkillable outside of boardsweep (which we are weak to anyway).
That being said, your list looks very top heavy, and a lot of the fatties aren't terribly useful without an engine card to get them in early. I would look into Treasure Mage to serve as both a tutor and a convoke/Architect source, and cut down on monsters bigger than Summoner. Additionally, Muddle the Mixture seems pretty clutch since it fetches Engineer, Sculptor, and Spellskite (and that SB Sieve ) while also serving as a passable counter spell against Scapeshift, Storm and any of Twin's draw effects.