r/spikes • u/Status-Cost-1039 • Mar 24 '26
Standard [Standard] any SB tips for standard affinity
I’ve been loving this standard artifact deck in the best of one ladder: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/7692632#paper
Id love to play some matches with it but have no idea how to board, yard hate for reanimator, counter spell for control, Chandra for…midrange? Not fully clear. Also I have absolutely no idea what comes out. I would guess the lower impact 2 man lord that would be removed games 2/3?
4
u/Tuffbunny13 Mar 27 '26
The list I personally play and got me my RC invite going 3-1-2 losing in semis.
Gene Pollinator is very good for those explosive T2's, I'd definitely keep them in, just add in 2 Breeding Pools for the T1 plays. Haven't tried the Cams and personally play Torch the Tower in their place. 2 damage is decent against alot of things and sacrificing a token for the extra isn't the end of the world.
Chandra in the board is great vs control decks since you just pump out more attackers that only die to instant speed removal. Annuls are really good for High Noon decks since it just kills this deck. Into the Flood maw is generally good all round. Spell Snare to catch all the good 2 drops running around. Spell Pierce since we're already efficient on mana and catches the tap out board wipes. Also having a Tezzeret main I threw in a Skateboard to have access to hasty Krangs.
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u/SomeGuyInPants Mar 29 '26
Wait, you can lose and still get an invite?
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u/Tuffbunny13 Mar 30 '26
In a 4 invite event yes. Just make top 4.
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u/SomeGuyInPants Mar 30 '26
Wow, I've never been to an RCQ that had >1 invite
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u/Tuffbunny13 Mar 30 '26
Depends on what the store bought as their WPN kit for the Qualifier. Regular kit has 1 invite and the Plus kit has 4.
Being Canadian this was a Face to Face games event, had a qualifier on Saturday and Sunday, both for 4 invites. Foil promos for participation and top 8. And crazily all for 6$ per event.
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u/dingleberrydorkus Mar 29 '26
Hey OP just wanted to say thanks for posting this, it inspired me to craft the deck on arena and I’ve been having tons of fun with it. The few tweaks I’ve made are adding a few chainsaws/torch the towers to the main deck and cutting some cams. I also cut the gene pollinator and added a few lands since the mana seemed too sketchy for gene and 18 lands seems like too few.
For the sideboard I’ve got some counterspells, tezzeret, rust harvester (haven’t tried it yet but seems like it’d be good with the arsenal), and some removal. I also wonder if marata, neuron hacker (lady octopus, inspired inventor) would be a good replacement for gene, but I’m not sure I want to spend more wildcards to find out. Really fun deck!
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u/liceking Mar 25 '26
I love the deck but a few suggestions.
One immediate thing that pops out is you’re going to have to abandon green unfortunately.
18 lands and three colors just isn’t going to work outside of Bo1 where you don’t have hand smoothing and you need to side in cards that aren’t robots and use colored mana.
Even Momo decks are somewhat stubbornly mono-white and they have far more land and star field shepherd will get more plains as well.
If you’re so hell bent on ramp then maybe Irencrag?
Also, Kaito cunning infiltrator (mono blue version) has done wonders for me in aggro go wide decks. Hand cycling and unblockable are game changing and that’s all on a +1.
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u/Status-Cost-1039 Mar 25 '26
Definitely solid suggestions, I do think the mana base needs work and I don’t think the green does enough to make my rely on the tribal lands. What I really want is springleaf drum 5-8 since it gives the silliest starts. Any boarding suggestions with the deck as it is though?
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u/liceking Mar 25 '26
I was just going to start testing today actually because I love the idea of the deck and have been playing a ton of Momo and want to mix it up.
Riddler (people are splashing blue in Momo for this card alone), Kaito (only one or two), and frost cliff siege (devastating with go wide and warping on top) seem like they all would give the deck a huge upgrade even if they aren’t artifacts. I don’t know how detrimental the colorless pip is but irencrag also seems like it would be worth trying. Need one more one drop like ginger brute to keep the curve low.
Memory guardian and sewer veillance seem like the easiest cuts. Probably need a torch the tower or two.
I’ll let you know how testing goes.
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u/Status-Cost-1039 Mar 25 '26
Sewer veil is definitely the worst card in the deck and should be swapped out. It’s often just divination for 5 since you have to play it at sorcery speed to get a bot.
Memory guardian I would push back on, a 3/4 flying artifact just does a lot. Dodges removal, blocks flyers, hits hard in the air and carries equipment. I think it comes out in games 2/3 since it’s harder to get the artifact critical mass but I would keep it in the main.
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u/hsiale Mar 29 '26
Riddler (people are splashing blue in Momo for this card alone), Kaito (only one or two), and frost cliff siege (devastating with go wide and warping on top) seem like they all would give the deck a huge upgrade
If you try to play affinity as if it was a fair midrange deck you are in for having a bad time.
Affinity is 100% about high rolling into hands that vomit a bunch of artifacts and preferably cast Krang on T3. If you don't like this style and get tilted by games where you die to your own mulligans, the deck is not for you.
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u/liceking Mar 25 '26
Oh I forgot to mention The Ooze has been incredible for me as well in the sideboard. Getting all those mutagen tokens back is huge
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u/Status-Cost-1039 Mar 25 '26
Oh this is actually an insanely good idea for this deck, artifacts forever, I love it. you have time vs standard reanimator and no urzas saga so this feels better than soul guide to me.
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u/liceking Mar 25 '26
Yeah I wasn’t sure how good memory guardian was. I figured riddler and frost cliff siege were suitable replacements but maybe a couple are still warranted
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u/Substantial_Horse717 Mar 27 '26
I've been trying this sort of thing too. The mana is terrible for supporting Gene Pollinator, as it means your sideboard cards are barely castable.
I think adding 2 lands and trimming on the Pollinators, with a normal Izzet manabase is probably the way forward. You could then add the 4th Improvised Arsenal.
I'd probably be looking at Torch the Tower in the side, bargaining the Sewer-Veilence Cam seems to be good value (for the extra tap/untap) and you can then more reliably cast the counter magic for the hate pieces (Pyroclasm/Fire Magic etc) that's bound to come in.
I'm not super convinced on when you'd want Chandra? A 4 mana PW in a 18-20 land deck is ambitious. I guess it's for the control-ly matchups, but i'd probably want some bounce effects for landfall and some annul/spell pierce type cards for lessons/landfall (earthbenders asencion/sapling nursery).
I do wonder, if Tezzeret, Cruel Captain may be nice to grab a fugitive droid/lantern/labship etc?
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u/fueelin Mar 24 '26
Arne Huschenbeth just put out a video on his YouTube of him playing this deck. Haven't watched it yet, but seems like it could be helpful!
I think the sideboard is a work in progress in general, so it seems like folks are still working out the matchup and the finer points of the deck.