Master Transmuter wants to abuse CITP effects and faties, which is not quite where this deck is at. She's a goodie, and I've wanted to make her work for ages, but it's a different style of deck. I mean, you could morph the deck into something more attuned to her with Myr Battlespheres/Thopter Assemblies as finishers, Faerie Mechanist/Solemn Simulacrum as value enablers, but I don't know that it's better given how much it hinges on her.
As for Staff, I could maybe see one in the board in really grindy matches. I'm personally not a fan given we're trying not to actually combo it off with infinite mana (which you could with Pili-Pala, but that's a whole other package). It warrants testing I suppose.
Also, regarding the instant speed Duplicant, if you have to rely on another card to make your card good, it's an argument against it, not for it. Having the potential to cast it instant speed is nice, but it shouldn't be relied upon.
All good points. I saw the Staff as a card that was also pretty good on it's own but can be ridiculous given the right circumstance, but I think you're right that it probably doesn't fit here.
You've been pretty active on this thread, but I haven't even seen a working list of yours. What have you been testing? What has been working/not working for you?
That's true. I had always dismissed Master Transmuter as kind of gimmicky and trying too hard to only play really big creatures like Blightsteel Colossus that are too hard to cast without it, but I never really thought about the flash aspect. In this way I think it is a better Shimmer Myr which will make it worth testing.
On a side note, it might be worth it to play a 1-of Staff of Domination because it combos with Tezz and Architect. Something you wouldn't want to rely on, but could be backbreaking if it ever came up.
I used those as examples, but really, Hatchling wouldn't be playable in modern, and Shriekmaw has Evoke and evasion. Duplicant definitely does some work, but it's not the same. This is clearly seen by the fact that it only ever gets 1, maybe 2 slots in the deck. We just need more interactive cards because while our game plan is proactive, it's not like Storm where we can just ignore the opponent.
I don't really know how to explain it any better.
I was saying Duplicant is better for 2 reasons. First, it has no restrictions on it's removal like the non-black clause in each of your examples. And second, it is an artifact creature with CMC 6 and therefore fits perfectly into the deck's game plan.
Also, the reason only 1 or 2 get played in most lists is because of the shear number of tutors and various other draw spells. I play 1 mainboard with 5 tutors that can find him. That effectively gives me 6 copies of Duplicant, and the tutors can all be copied by Metamorphs making them each reusable. Serum Visions and Tezz can both dig when it's necessary. I almost never want Duplicant in my starting hand, but I never have trouble finding him if I need him.
I'm not disagreeing with any of that, but unfortunately, Duplicant can't beat Twin, doesn't do anything to wide decks like Zoo or Affinity, and is incredibly costly to recur if you need to kill multiple creatures (I mean, you could use your Metamorphs, but they're flex slots). It can also be easily circumvented by Pod players if they play their cards right. Duplicant is certainly not bad, and it's easily the best option given the available cards, but there's room for improvement.
I understand we agree that Duplicant is currently the best card for its slot, but it has wider applications than you think.
You're right, Duplicant cannot beat twin and so gets sided out against it as well as against Storm, Scapeshift, and Control. However it is good against Zoo, Affinity, and other aggro decks. For Zoo, it's relevant to remove one of their larger creatures while also keeping pressure on them (it should be noted that it gains Goyf's p/t ability). Against affinity it can hit Etched Champions as well as other threats. Have you ever hit an Arcbound Ravager with a Spellskite in play? That's value. Sure, it doesn't hit Inkmoth Nexus, but that's what Shackles, Sphinxes, and sideboarded Dismembers are for.
Also, it has a high CMC but doesn't really take much effort to recur given that we are a deck focused on make artifacts cheaper and easier to play.
I used those as examples, but really, Hatchling wouldn't be playable in modern, and Shriekmaw has Evoke and evasion. Duplicant definitely does some work, but it's not the same. This is clearly seen by the fact that it only ever gets 1, maybe 2 slots in the deck. We just need more interactive cards because while our game plan is proactive, it's not like Storm where we can just ignore the opponent.
I don't really know how to explain it any better.
I was saying Duplicant is better for 2 reasons. First, it has no restrictions on it's removal like the non-black clause in each of your examples. And second, it is an artifact creature with CMC 6 and therefore fits perfectly into the deck's game plan.
Also, the reason only 1 or 2 get played in most lists is because of the shear number of tutors and various other draw spells. I play 1 mainboard with 5 tutors that can find him. That effectively gives me 6 copies of Duplicant, and the tutors can all be copied by Metamorphs making them each reusable. Serum Visions and Tezz can both dig when it's necessary. I almost never want Duplicant in my starting hand, but I never have trouble finding him if I need him.
Ok my opinion on the deck (I have 5 versions of the deck proxied up) is that it has at least three problems and you can build your deck to solve one of the three but you only make the other ones worse.
1. Velocity. you need blue creatures and you need maximum enablers to power out the artifacts as fast as possible to get to winning quickly.
2. Consistency. Need to be able to find your enablers and tutor your win cons.
3. Interaction. Need to stop your opponents goldfishing you turn 4 and perhaps there is a 4th problem that is resiliency but I'll call it interaction you have to protect your threats.
I think that if you keep working with the deck, you'll find that it can achieve all of these much better than you think. I'll respond from the point of view of my Heartless builds because I don't have any experience with the non-Heartless lists yet: 1. Velocity: Turn 3 bombs or Sphinx chains are not uncommon and turn 4 happen consistently. If you don't have the turn 3 hand you will still be putting pressure on them by playing other relevant aritfacts/creatures that turn. This deck is actually quite fast. It's not aggro, but it's strong midrange. (honestly aggro has always been my easiest matchup after Bogles) 2. Consistency: In the lists I've been playing/the lists I'm testing I run 10-12 enablers, 5 tutors (with Metamorphs that can double as more tutors as I stated above), and 5-6 draw/dig spells. I find very few consistency issues in this deck. It's true that you don't run the same line of play every game, but the deck is flexible and can drop power onto the field in a lot of different ways. 3. Interaction: This is one I used to have a lot of issues with. I had a deck that just tried to aggro/midrange goldfish beatdown the opponent and it was awesome when they didn't do anything about it. But when they did, I lost. Since then, my lists have evolved to run 1 Duplicant, 3-4 Lodestone Golem, 4 Spellskite, and 2 Vedalken Shackles. Duplicant is great. He exiles any creature at sorcery speed and then sticks around. He can be tutored, copied, recurred, and pumped. Lodestone Golem does not interact with the opponents board, but it interacts with their game plan. He pushes back that "goldfishing turn 4" at least 1 turn on his own and in multiples pushes that back even further. He also has a large body and can be tutored, copied, recurred, and pumped. Spellskite is amazing. He instant speed interacts with the opponents spells and can be a wall. Skite single-handedly shuts down several strategies until answered and can be tutored, copied, recurred, pumped, and is free with heartless. Vedalken Shackles is instant speed interaction with the opponents board and can be copied and recurred. I suggest Shackles to anyone playing Architect.
Also in my sideboard there are several hate artifacts alongside dismembers and discard spells if more interaction is necessary.
Note: I am not trying to push this deck through as format breaking or even tier 1, but I do think that it deserves a lot more credit than it gets.
I agree. Trinket Mage/Capsule is great in Tezz Control and possibly in a SB Trinket Mage package (although I would rather play dismembers) but there is no maindeck space for that in these builds.
@Narvuntien: I can't speak for Chibi's list or any of the other mono blue lists, but in my list I run 4 Serum Visions for early card draw. Also having the ability to "sometimes tutor turn three" is fine, because a lot of times you can play your threat that turn. If not, holding turn 4 Wurmcoil Engine over someone's head isn't too shabby and our tutors also double as stallers and threats. Ichor Wellspring/Perilous Research doesn't fit well in this archetype because turns 2 and 3 are the most important of your game. You almost always want to be playing something else turn 2 like Heartless Summoning, Etherium Sculptor, or a hardcasted Spellskite. I know you can play Wellspring turn 2 alongside a Chief Engineer and a 1 drop or even just cast it on turn 2, but drawing 1 seems worse than any of the alternative, more explosive, plays. Turn 3 needs to be where you start to make an impact on the board. You need to be either dropping 1 or more threats or setting up for a game changing turn 4, not simply drawing cards. Perilous Research could double as a way to save Wurmcoils from path/terminus, but I think that because it can't be played on turn 1, you would have to change these decks significantly to make it worth it.
@BusMcRider: I'm glad to see you picking up the Heartless Architect. You won't be disappointed, it's a blast to play. As far as comments go, I do have a few
1. I like that you are taking the turn 1 discard spell route. I've always thought it could be good and I mainboarded a few Duress in my standard build a few years ago, but I've never given it the time or energy to really test it in modern. Definitely let me know how well they perform.
2. I understand not having the funds for Skites. They are pricey and I was lucky to have them 3 of them left over from when I played a similar build in standard. That being said, I would advise you to start working on acquiring them because they do a lot more than keeping removal off of other creatures. They also slow down Zoo, make Splinter Twin's life difficult, wreck Bogles, keep you alive against Burn, push back Scapeshifts combo a few turns, stand in front of Etched Champions and steal the counters from Arcbound Ravager's modular, and more. They are a versatile way to throw a wrench in almost every deck's game plan. Also they are a zero mana investment off of Heartless.
3. Let me know what you think of Platinum Angel. I am probably going to drop a Trinket Mage from the sideboard to play 1 Angel. I think it could be good in some match-ups, but I feel like I would usually want a Wurmcoil or a Duplicant. I'll be interested to hear how the Angel plays out.
4. Watch out for your manabase. Your first 3 turns are incredibly important and I have found that anything coming into play tapped is painful. I would advise against the scry lands and the manland because you want to be playing:
turn 1 Serum Visions/Discard Spell
turn 2 Heartless/Sculptor/Skite/Greaves
turn 3 Everything else
This leaves no room for anything to come into play tapped. It is sometimes alright if you play something tapped turn 1 if you don't have a Thoughtseize/IOK/Visions in your opener, but I think you will find that CIPT lands end up making for awkward turns that can lose you the game. Also, the deck doesn't really need Creeping Tar Pit because 9 times out of 10 we will win in a board stall anyway.
Color is relevant too. You want to maximize your ability for an explosive turn 3. Most of the best turn 3 plays are very color intensive (usually leaning towards blue) so be careful of how many non-blue sources you have. I used to play 2 Academy Ruins, 2 Buried Ruin, 1 Darksteel Citadel, and 1 Swamp but I dropped the Buried Ruins for color consistency. Some of these turn 3 plays and their color needs are:
(These are not all of the explosive turn 3 plays. Just what I could think of off the top of my head. If people think of more let me know. A list of possible lines of play is not a bad idea with all the options in these decks.) With Turn 2 Heartless UUU Architect + Treasure Mage find Wurmcoil/other 6 drop and cast it UUU Architect + Sculptor + Wumcoil/other 6 drop or some combination of Lodestone Golems/Metamorphs UUU Architect + Spellskite (turning blue) + Wurmcoil/other 6 drop 1UU Architect + Lodestone Golem + Metamorph UUB Sculptor + Sphinx Summoner chaining Metamorphs (2 life per Morph) 1UU Chief Engineer + Sculptor + Treasure Mage and/or 6 drop UUB Engineer + Summoner chaining Metamorphs (2 life per Morph) With Turn 2 Sculptor 1UU Architect + Metamorph (copying Sculptor) + Wurmcoil/other 6 drop 1UU Architect + Shackles (leaving 1 creature untapped to be able to activate Shackles) 1UU Architect + anything else in the deck (except 6s and Sphinxes)
Also I would probably lower your number of Darkslick Shores. They seem really good because of the emphasis on turns 1-3, but turn 4 is really important too because your enablers can be killed or you have a slower hand and drawing your 4th land drop and having it be a Darkslick hurts. A lot. I run 3 and I am probably going to drop the number down to 2.
5. Lastly, I would cut the 4th Lodestone Golem over the 4th Metamorph. Metamorph can be another Golem or anything else. It enables a lot of ridiculous plays and works great with Duplicant and Academy Ruins. I wish the legend rule was never changed, but even with that change they are still all-stars.
@weapon_omega: Seems intriguing, but also seems fragile and like a different deck completely. I would be interested in seeing the decklist, but I don't think it belongs in this thread.
Superion has been tested by a lot of people (let's be real, that's the first card everyone wanted to put in these decks) and it is really good when you can play it (or multiples off of Heartless) but it sits in your hand as a dead card more often than you'd like.
edit: I see that you did start your own thread for Mythic Engineer and I'll be sure to check that out.
I'm testing out a build with Engineers to see if they are a good addition to the Heartless builds. My changes were:
-1 Serum Visions
-1 Lodestone Golem
-1 Heartless Summoning (not sure if this was a good choice but the thought was that I would be replacing it with other enablers and be reducing the number of times I have awkward hands with multiple Heartless.
+3 Chief Engineer
I have never found myself to be short on blue creatures for Architect. I almost never need more than 2-4 mana, with the occasional 5-6 to play my threats and with Architect, Treasure Mage, Etherium Sculptor, Sphinx Summoner, Phyrexian Metamorph, and the ability to add net 1 with turning artifacts blue, I always have the mana available. Chief, as I said before, is definitely worth testing, but I don't think he would be a replacement for Architect, since the ability is significantly less powerful and lacks the ability to pump artifact creatures, which is relevant. Also, chief isn't as good at playing with Vedalken Shackles which I highly recommend to anyone playing with this archetype. Lodestone Golem turn 3 or even turn 4 on the play is relevant because of modern's "turn 4 rule". It sets Splinter Twin back a turn, holds off Supreme Verdict and other sweeps, holds off Liliana of the Veil turn 3 on the play, and overall makes it harder for opponents to interact with your deck. Playing multiples or Metamorphing them is even better. They also are a large body that can put pressure on an opponent and has the ability to trade with relevant creatures like goyf.
The Swan Song would be to counter extra Heartless Summonings, turning them into 2/2 blue flyers with the added bonus of also being able to counter several of the cards that are good against this deck. That being said, I think it's a little too cute and adding a card to get rid of a dead card seems counterproductive.
The way I see Heartless Summoning is that it is an extremely powerful enabler that is much harder to remove and most of the time opponents will just let it resolve and sit there not bothering to try getting rid of it. The Chief Engineer Heartless-less route seems much more fragile to me. Modern is full of removal and it would be easy to get your engineer or even your 1 drop shot down in response to casting your Spellskite/Etherium Sculptor turn two and then, unless you have turn 3 Architect, you are set back several turns with a few weenies in play. Heartless also can power out turn 3 Wurmcoils pretty regularly with the added benefit of the Treasure Mage tutor on turn 3 so you don't need to have the Wurmcoil in hand or you can search for a different fatty if necessary.
The -1/-1 can be relevant by making Spellskites vulnerable to a single bolt or by bringing a single Architect in range of cards like Izzet Charm but generally you are able to play multiple Skites or Academy Ruins can always do some work. Also Architects can pump them back up to 4 toughness.
The only other downside to Heartless is that the deck can just durdle around without much board presence for the first few turns until an explosive turn 3/4, but I have found that it has such strong mid and late games making that not a problem.
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.
All good points. I saw the Staff as a card that was also pretty good on it's own but can be ridiculous given the right circumstance, but I think you're right that it probably doesn't fit here.
You've been pretty active on this thread, but I haven't even seen a working list of yours. What have you been testing? What has been working/not working for you?
That's true. I had always dismissed Master Transmuter as kind of gimmicky and trying too hard to only play really big creatures like Blightsteel Colossus that are too hard to cast without it, but I never really thought about the flash aspect. In this way I think it is a better Shimmer Myr which will make it worth testing.
On a side note, it might be worth it to play a 1-of Staff of Domination because it combos with Tezz and Architect. Something you wouldn't want to rely on, but could be backbreaking if it ever came up.
I understand we agree that Duplicant is currently the best card for its slot, but it has wider applications than you think.
You're right, Duplicant cannot beat twin and so gets sided out against it as well as against Storm, Scapeshift, and Control. However it is good against Zoo, Affinity, and other aggro decks. For Zoo, it's relevant to remove one of their larger creatures while also keeping pressure on them (it should be noted that it gains Goyf's p/t ability). Against affinity it can hit Etched Champions as well as other threats. Have you ever hit an Arcbound Ravager with a Spellskite in play? That's value. Sure, it doesn't hit Inkmoth Nexus, but that's what Shackles, Sphinxes, and sideboarded Dismembers are for.
Also, it has a high CMC but doesn't really take much effort to recur given that we are a deck focused on make artifacts cheaper and easier to play.
I was saying Duplicant is better for 2 reasons. First, it has no restrictions on it's removal like the non-black clause in each of your examples. And second, it is an artifact creature with CMC 6 and therefore fits perfectly into the deck's game plan.
Also, the reason only 1 or 2 get played in most lists is because of the shear number of tutors and various other draw spells. I play 1 mainboard with 5 tutors that can find him. That effectively gives me 6 copies of Duplicant, and the tutors can all be copied by Metamorphs making them each reusable. Serum Visions and Tezz can both dig when it's necessary. I almost never want Duplicant in my starting hand, but I never have trouble finding him if I need him.
I think that if you keep working with the deck, you'll find that it can achieve all of these much better than you think. I'll respond from the point of view of my Heartless builds because I don't have any experience with the non-Heartless lists yet:
1. Velocity: Turn 3 bombs or Sphinx chains are not uncommon and turn 4 happen consistently. If you don't have the turn 3 hand you will still be putting pressure on them by playing other relevant aritfacts/creatures that turn. This deck is actually quite fast. It's not aggro, but it's strong midrange. (honestly aggro has always been my easiest matchup after Bogles)
2. Consistency: In the lists I've been playing/the lists I'm testing I run 10-12 enablers, 5 tutors (with Metamorphs that can double as more tutors as I stated above), and 5-6 draw/dig spells. I find very few consistency issues in this deck. It's true that you don't run the same line of play every game, but the deck is flexible and can drop power onto the field in a lot of different ways.
3. Interaction: This is one I used to have a lot of issues with. I had a deck that just tried to aggro/midrange goldfish beatdown the opponent and it was awesome when they didn't do anything about it. But when they did, I lost. Since then, my lists have evolved to run 1 Duplicant, 3-4 Lodestone Golem, 4 Spellskite, and 2 Vedalken Shackles.
Duplicant is great. He exiles any creature at sorcery speed and then sticks around. He can be tutored, copied, recurred, and pumped.
Lodestone Golem does not interact with the opponents board, but it interacts with their game plan. He pushes back that "goldfishing turn 4" at least 1 turn on his own and in multiples pushes that back even further. He also has a large body and can be tutored, copied, recurred, and pumped.
Spellskite is amazing. He instant speed interacts with the opponents spells and can be a wall. Skite single-handedly shuts down several strategies until answered and can be tutored, copied, recurred, pumped, and is free with heartless.
Vedalken Shackles is instant speed interaction with the opponents board and can be copied and recurred. I suggest Shackles to anyone playing Architect.
Also in my sideboard there are several hate artifacts alongside dismembers and discard spells if more interaction is necessary.
Note: I am not trying to push this deck through as format breaking or even tier 1, but I do think that it deserves a lot more credit than it gets.
We already have a better version in Duplicant. And his friends Treasure Mage and Sphinx Summoner make sure you can find him if you need him.
I agree. Trinket Mage/Capsule is great in Tezz Control and possibly in a SB Trinket Mage package (although I would rather play dismembers) but there is no maindeck space for that in these builds.
@Narvuntien: I can't speak for Chibi's list or any of the other mono blue lists, but in my list I run 4 Serum Visions for early card draw. Also having the ability to "sometimes tutor turn three" is fine, because a lot of times you can play your threat that turn. If not, holding turn 4 Wurmcoil Engine over someone's head isn't too shabby and our tutors also double as stallers and threats.
Ichor Wellspring/Perilous Research doesn't fit well in this archetype because turns 2 and 3 are the most important of your game. You almost always want to be playing something else turn 2 like Heartless Summoning, Etherium Sculptor, or a hardcasted Spellskite. I know you can play Wellspring turn 2 alongside a Chief Engineer and a 1 drop or even just cast it on turn 2, but drawing 1 seems worse than any of the alternative, more explosive, plays. Turn 3 needs to be where you start to make an impact on the board. You need to be either dropping 1 or more threats or setting up for a game changing turn 4, not simply drawing cards. Perilous Research could double as a way to save Wurmcoils from path/terminus, but I think that because it can't be played on turn 1, you would have to change these decks significantly to make it worth it.
@BusMcRider: I'm glad to see you picking up the Heartless Architect. You won't be disappointed, it's a blast to play. As far as comments go, I do have a few
1. I like that you are taking the turn 1 discard spell route. I've always thought it could be good and I mainboarded a few Duress in my standard build a few years ago, but I've never given it the time or energy to really test it in modern. Definitely let me know how well they perform.
2. I understand not having the funds for Skites. They are pricey and I was lucky to have them 3 of them left over from when I played a similar build in standard. That being said, I would advise you to start working on acquiring them because they do a lot more than keeping removal off of other creatures. They also slow down Zoo, make Splinter Twin's life difficult, wreck Bogles, keep you alive against Burn, push back Scapeshifts combo a few turns, stand in front of Etched Champions and steal the counters from Arcbound Ravager's modular, and more. They are a versatile way to throw a wrench in almost every deck's game plan. Also they are a zero mana investment off of Heartless.
3. Let me know what you think of Platinum Angel. I am probably going to drop a Trinket Mage from the sideboard to play 1 Angel. I think it could be good in some match-ups, but I feel like I would usually want a Wurmcoil or a Duplicant. I'll be interested to hear how the Angel plays out.
4. Watch out for your manabase. Your first 3 turns are incredibly important and I have found that anything coming into play tapped is painful. I would advise against the scry lands and the manland because you want to be playing:
turn 1 Serum Visions/Discard Spell
turn 2 Heartless/Sculptor/Skite/Greaves
turn 3 Everything else
This leaves no room for anything to come into play tapped. It is sometimes alright if you play something tapped turn 1 if you don't have a Thoughtseize/IOK/Visions in your opener, but I think you will find that CIPT lands end up making for awkward turns that can lose you the game. Also, the deck doesn't really need Creeping Tar Pit because 9 times out of 10 we will win in a board stall anyway.
Color is relevant too. You want to maximize your ability for an explosive turn 3. Most of the best turn 3 plays are very color intensive (usually leaning towards blue) so be careful of how many non-blue sources you have. I used to play 2 Academy Ruins, 2 Buried Ruin, 1 Darksteel Citadel, and 1 Swamp but I dropped the Buried Ruins for color consistency. Some of these turn 3 plays and their color needs are:
(These are not all of the explosive turn 3 plays. Just what I could think of off the top of my head. If people think of more let me know. A list of possible lines of play is not a bad idea with all the options in these decks.)
With Turn 2 Heartless
UUU Architect + Treasure Mage find Wurmcoil/other 6 drop and cast it
UUU Architect + Sculptor + Wumcoil/other 6 drop or some combination of Lodestone Golems/Metamorphs
UUU Architect + Spellskite (turning blue) + Wurmcoil/other 6 drop
1UU Architect + Lodestone Golem + Metamorph
UUB Sculptor + Sphinx Summoner chaining Metamorphs (2 life per Morph)
1UU Chief Engineer + Sculptor + Treasure Mage and/or 6 drop
UUB Engineer + Summoner chaining Metamorphs (2 life per Morph)
With Turn 2 Sculptor
1UU Architect + Metamorph (copying Sculptor) + Wurmcoil/other 6 drop
1UU Architect + Shackles (leaving 1 creature untapped to be able to activate Shackles)
1UU Architect + anything else in the deck (except 6s and Sphinxes)
Also I would probably lower your number of Darkslick Shores. They seem really good because of the emphasis on turns 1-3, but turn 4 is really important too because your enablers can be killed or you have a slower hand and drawing your 4th land drop and having it be a Darkslick hurts. A lot. I run 3 and I am probably going to drop the number down to 2.
5. Lastly, I would cut the 4th Lodestone Golem over the 4th Metamorph. Metamorph can be another Golem or anything else. It enables a lot of ridiculous plays and works great with Duplicant and Academy Ruins. I wish the legend rule was never changed, but even with that change they are still all-stars.
@weapon_omega: Seems intriguing, but also seems fragile and like a different deck completely. I would be interested in seeing the decklist, but I don't think it belongs in this thread.
Superion has been tested by a lot of people (let's be real, that's the first card everyone wanted to put in these decks) and it is really good when you can play it (or multiples off of Heartless) but it sits in your hand as a dead card more often than you'd like.
edit: I see that you did start your own thread for Mythic Engineer and I'll be sure to check that out.
I'm testing out a build with Engineers to see if they are a good addition to the Heartless builds. My changes were:
-1 Serum Visions
-1 Lodestone Golem
-1 Heartless Summoning (not sure if this was a good choice but the thought was that I would be replacing it with other enablers and be reducing the number of times I have awkward hands with multiple Heartless.
+3 Chief Engineer
2 Etherium Sculptor
3 Chief Engineer
4 Grand Architect
4 Spellskite
3 Lodestone Golem
4 Phyrexian Metamorph
2 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Duplicant
3 Treasure Mage
2 Sphinx Summoner
2 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2 Vedalken Shackles
3 Serum Visions
2 Academy Ruins
1 Darksteel Citadel
3 Darkslick Shores
3 Drowned Catacomb
4 Watery Grave
8 Island
1 Swamp
2 Trinket Mage
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Pithing Needle
1 Platinum Angel
4 Dismember
3 Duress
1 Appetite for Brains
Lodestone Golem turn 3 or even turn 4 on the play is relevant because of modern's "turn 4 rule". It sets Splinter Twin back a turn, holds off Supreme Verdict and other sweeps, holds off Liliana of the Veil turn 3 on the play, and overall makes it harder for opponents to interact with your deck. Playing multiples or Metamorphing them is even better. They also are a large body that can put pressure on an opponent and has the ability to trade with relevant creatures like goyf.
The way I see Heartless Summoning is that it is an extremely powerful enabler that is much harder to remove and most of the time opponents will just let it resolve and sit there not bothering to try getting rid of it. The Chief Engineer Heartless-less route seems much more fragile to me. Modern is full of removal and it would be easy to get your engineer or even your 1 drop shot down in response to casting your Spellskite/Etherium Sculptor turn two and then, unless you have turn 3 Architect, you are set back several turns with a few weenies in play. Heartless also can power out turn 3 Wurmcoils pretty regularly with the added benefit of the Treasure Mage tutor on turn 3 so you don't need to have the Wurmcoil in hand or you can search for a different fatty if necessary.
The -1/-1 can be relevant by making Spellskites vulnerable to a single bolt or by bringing a single Architect in range of cards like Izzet Charm but generally you are able to play multiple Skites or Academy Ruins can always do some work. Also Architects can pump them back up to 4 toughness.
The only other downside to Heartless is that the deck can just durdle around without much board presence for the first few turns until an explosive turn 3/4, but I have found that it has such strong mid and late games making that not a problem.
Here's my current list:
2 Etherium Sculptor
4 Grand Architect
4 Spellskite
4 Lodestone Golem
4 Phyrexian Metamorph
2 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Duplicant
3 Treasure Mage
2 Sphinx Summoner
4 Heartless Summoning
2 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2 Vedalken Shackles
4 Serum Visions
1 Darksteel Citadel
3 Darkslick Shores
3 Drowned Catacomb
4 Watery Grave
8 Island
1 Swamp
3 Trinket Mage
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Pithing Needle
4 Dismember
3 Duress
1 Appetite for Brains
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)
Vedalken Shackles is a great way to interact with the opponent and it does major work. It can steal threats and stop combos. Also, it can double as repeatable removal for Dark Confidant, Vendilion Clique, Snapcaster Mage, and other annoying cards with 1 toughness while Heartless Summoning is in play.
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.