Mythereal

Correct. Most of this is illegal in Standard. It's only illegal in Modern because of the lands which are easily swapped. I don't play Modern so it doesn't bother me. However, EagleEye58 suggested some new lands which are coming in, and those will make it legal in Modern.

Thanks for the suggestion about going to 60 cards; I did consider going to 60, but discovered something along the way: The 60-card deck is a great misconception, even in Standard, and really only applies in head-to-head / 2-player games. Usually a 60-card deck requires an exact set of circumstances to obtain a win, with a sideboard used to address different opponents. Since I don't use a sideboard and I rarely play 1v1, the additional four cards adds a number of different scenarios and additional power. The difference between this deck and a 60-card deck equals just 1/16th of a chance of not getting something - except the four additional cards actually make it more likely (with the exception of Roar of Reclamation). In 1v1, this can mean the difference between a win and a loss, but believe it or not the odds actually favor me even though I have a bigger deck.

There are some other things here that can be exploited too, without losing its core engine. For example, it includes an infinite mana loop of any/all colors, so with an Azure Mage on my battlefield I could conceivably draw my entire deck then play any and all spells I want. If I had both a Shimmer Myr and an Elixir of Immortality then I could do play nearly everything before my turn, crack Elixer of Immortality during my upkeep, and proceed with my turn, discarding all the remaining lands in my hand down to 7 cards, though if I haven't won during that turn I did something wrong. This is merely one alternate scenario which can be done with only extra three cards in the deck, meaning that a fourth card could provide yet more fun combos.

What it boils down to is that, with this deck and my play style, 64 is the optimal number. Kinda blows conventional "wisdom" out of the water, eh? But while 60 cards is a misconception, going more than - or even up to - 66 is very risky in 2-player/head-to-head style play.

That said, I really do need to dump the Roar of Reclamation for a couple of Fog Bank creatures since board wipe happens a lot less than you'd expect.

Thanks Zaklax!

Thank you EagleEye! I had seen Mirrodin's Core before, but it didn't register at the time. I once had a Cavern of Souls pulled out of a booster and gave it to a friend thinking it was a cheapie rare. Guess I should've checked. He's enjoying it, so I'm happy anyway. I'll have to trade for the Glimmervoid set; you're absolutely right that they'd be 100% perfect for this deck. The Rogue's Passage, the Mirrodin's Core, and the Archeological Dig - which I didn't know about until you told me - have been ordered from TCGPlayer per your recommendation. Wish I could afford the Glimmervoid now that I know about them!

I really appreciate your advice. I built this deck out of what I had, and your help cleaning it up and tuning it is very kind. :D

Cheers,
Robert~

Plenty of budget buffs out there. ;c)

I see now; the random letters at the beginning of your comment were confusing.

It's what I happened to come up first when I was looking for mana producing artifacts: 2 Darksteel Ingots and a Manalith.

Wait, what?

Good foundation for a mass token generator. :) Has serious weaknesses, though: Killing Wave, Consume the Meek, Fade Away, etc. For those, I recommend either Blood Artist or Butcher of Malakir.

I also think it is interesting that your sideboard is worth more than your deck!

Cheers!

P.S.: Consider some buffs. One Elesh Norn, and the wind gets knocked out of your sails when most of your tokens bite the dust.

You are soooo right! I wish I had them. :( Then trying to figure out what I want to swap out will be a chore. But yes, absolutely, more tutors would be terrific!

Thanks for mentioning them. :)

NOTE: Robbed this deck of its Time Sieve and dropped in a Dross Scorpion in its place.

Just FYI, I had to rob a Grand Architect from here, and sub it with a Vedalken Engineer. Will replace Grand Architect as soon as possible.

I have one of those, too. Really fun to be able to play it; I have won using it during multi-player a few times, too!

Rereading my comment makes me shudder. I should never try to write cogent English when I'm half asleep. ;c)

By the way, with Mycosynth Lattice out, Phyrexian Metamorph comes in as a copy of *anything* on the battlefield. Forgot to mention that.

Thanks, by the way, for your comment and your link to your deck. Glad you found me so I could find you!
R~

Wow, this is a fast GW deck! Very nice.

My only suggestion is a Parallel Lives in your sideboard for the tokens, as if Mercy Killing wasn't crazy enough alone!

Yep, I added Liquimetal Coating as well. I think people didn't love it because it's about as "hateful" as anything you could ever play in MtG!

Oh, yes, Plow Under is in my wishlist now. :) Lots of potential for pissing off my buddies; I'd stick it on Panoptic Mirror just for the looks they'd give me. >:D Toss in some retrieval just to play them again would be priceless for my play group.

Back to your How to Play section... I agree fully. I put a lot of time and effort into about half of my decks. The other half I literally toss together just to have a 'fresh deck' that my friends hadn't seen, with the intention that they'll be broken up again later. But for those special decks, there is a lot of refining, attention, and effort put into them. This means some can be very complicated, and need an 'instruction manual' to understand the dynamics.

I've bookmarked this deck for another reason, too: it is a great basis for getting - and keeping - a huge mana advantage for other deck types, particularly in multi-player.

And thanks for the tip on the Sinkholes! I've not run across those, but I will add them to the wishlist too. :)

Cheers,
Robert~

Pretty interesting deck.

I've been playing a lot of artifact decks over the years, and have most of the non M15 cards you have.

I like your mana ramp to get out your stuff quickly, and a lot of options.

You have a lot of potential in this deck; let's see if we can get it focused for you.


Recommendations:

Remove the Hammer and drop in two fervor in order to get the haste more quickly. The Hammer may be an extra artifact, but Fervor is faster and easier to get out at 2R, offsetting the benefit of a singular artifact.

The Soul of New Phyrexia is also unnecessary. Swap two Darksteel Forge for them. Your mana ramp is fine to play one quickly. Crowned Ceratok Crowned Ceratok gives each creature with a +1/+1 counter trample. ;c) Have at least two in the deck, replacing the Phyrexian Revoker unless you have a specific need for them. Everything you've pumped up with the Steel Overseers, including the Overseers themselves, will have trample.

Consider getting a Mycosynth Lattice + Creeping Corrosion. Mycosynth Lattice makes everything colorless (so you can use any mana for anything requiring a color) and also makes EVERYTHING on the battlefield into an artifact. With Mycosynth Lattice + Darksteel Forge, playing a Creeping Corrosion is a guaranteed win if it doesn't get countered and your opponent(s) have no indestructible.

The mana thing is even better with a Mycosynth Golem on the battlefield, replacing one or two of your Chief Engineers; your creatures would essentially be free (and untapped), leaving your mana to do other things, like draw cards. The Bident's okay, but is insufficient for the purpose of drawing and requires at least one creature to do combat damage, which is also the only time you are getting to draw a card; depending on what you're playing against, forcing your opponent's creatures to attack you so they have no defenders (assuming they aren't playing with vigilance) might not be in your best interest. Azure Mage lets you pay 4 to draw as an instant (and as soon as she hits the battlefield), which is very effective at the end of the turn before yours. I recommend 2 Azure Mage in the deck to get one out quickly.

Alternately, if you keep the Bident, consider a couple of Hovermyr: flying + vigilance artifact creatures for just 2 colorless. People hate seeing them with a Steel Overseer on the battlefield.

Without Mycosynth Lattice, you'll need some green mana, so dropping in something like one Opaline Unicorn or one Alloy Myr, replacing one of the Memnites,which will get you mana of any color and still give you an artifact creature to pump up with the Steel Overseer. If you drop in a Prophetic Prism, you will get to draw a card when it enters the battlefield. But since you don't need trample until later, I'd stick with a mana-making critter.

Dump the Shivan Reef pain lands. You don't need them. They're expensive (monetarily) and ping you for a point of damage when you use it for red or blue. Replace them with Buried Ruin, which gives you the ability to retrieve a misfortunately disposed artifact, or a couple of Izzet Guildgates.

Find an Unwinding Clock, which untaps ALL of your artifacts during EACH of your opponents' untap steps. Even if someone is playing a Kill Switch or an untapped Storage Matrix, your artifacts untap during each other player's untap step regardless. This including your artifact lands.

By the way, I recommend starting the game with at least one Steel Overseer in your hand, even if you have to mulligan several times. And if you ever have an opening hand with at least one Steel Overseer, 1 red mana, and a Fervor, chances are you have the game already won.

For a highly effective Steel Overseer deck, take a look at mine here:
http://www.mtgvault.com/sixit/decks/steel-this-deck/
When I play this deck, and start with a Steel Overseer in my opening hand, my win rate is over 90%. Honestly, it's closer to 100%.


I hope all of this gives you some ideas. Your deck is pretty good as-is, so have fun with it! Artifact decks are my favorite type, and I've gotten pretty good over the years with them, so feel free to ask me anything; I'll be glad to help if I can.

Cheers and best of luck,
Robert~

What a fun deck! It beats the pants off my red/black land destruction decks, which, admittedly, are designed not for winning but just for torquing my buddy's shorts.

I have many of the cards you have in your main deck, even a couple of the quicksand. But I've never seen the Plow Under card; I'll have to add those to my wishlist!

Your "How to Play" section is PHENOMENAL. I'm going to have to steal it as a template for my more intricate decks. ;cP

By the way, do you know about the Splinter + Myr Landshaper combo? Might be something you find interesting. My buddy had never EVER been so mad as when I exiled all of his lands out of his library, hand, and graveyard, leaving him just a couple on the field. He was playing a mono deck. ;c)

Thanks for inviting me to check out this deck!

Cheers,
Robert~

Oracle text says "target". You can check it out on Wizard's site.

True. However, Goblin Snowman is more fun because it poses a problem for your opponent(s). Most are shocked to find a non-flying Fog Bank equivalent in red. Not only that, Goblin Snowman is 5 for $1 whereas Goblin Chieftain is $1.25 each.

Not exactly. I'm not interested in a faster play style; if I want fast I'll play a Boros deck. ;c) This is more fun while still being plenty fast enough.

Nope, not even close to 10X better. Not even 2X better.

You've missed my combos, but that's alright. ;c)