Running with Scissors: Artifacts in Standard

Back in July, I wrote an article called "Blue/Red Artifacts in the M15 Standard." It is currently the most read article on the site with over 4700 views and it grows by an average of 100 views a week and it isn't even standard legal anymore. So today I want to share a couple decks for the newest incarnation of a standard artifact deck. One is a deck shown off during Pro Tour Khans of Tarkir (Hawaii) and one is my own take on the deck based on the cards I have available. So let's get started!

    

Azorius Soul Blade

Todd Anderson's Pro Tour Khans of Tarkir Deck Tech

Creatures x4 Ornithopter x4 Phyrexian Revoker x4 Hero of Iroas x4 Heliod's Pilgrim Land x4 Darksteel Citadel x4 Temple of Enlightenment x4 Flooded Strand x2 Mana Confluence x4 Plains x3 Island	Artifacts x4 Springleaf Drum x4 Ghostfire Blade Planeswalkers x1 Ajani Steadfast Other Spells x4 Ensoul Artifact x4 Gods Willing x2 Stratus Walk x3 Singing Bell Strike x1 Spectra Ward
Sideboard x4 Master of Waves x4 Stubborn Denial x3 Suspension field x2 Erase x1 Mortal Obstinacy x1 Ordeal of Heliod

I suggest you actually check out the actual deck tech by Todd Anderson. Back yet? Good. So, the original deck had four copies of Stratus Walk and a single copy of Singing Bell Strike. Then I saw this tweet:

Broke my Ornithopter death pact. Things obviously did not go well. To anyone who wants to play the deck, cut 2 Stratus for 2 bell strike
— Todd Anderson (@strong_sad) October 11, 2014

So that make it perfectly clear that the deck had to do just that. Now, I have a lot of the core of this deck (except the Ghostblades that I bought just for this deck), but I lacked Ajani, Master of Waves, a couple Phyrexian Revokers, a couple Hero of Iroas, and pretty much everything from Khans of Tarkir because I opened one of the worst boxes anyone has ever opened. So I had to think about how to fix that, and I considered the Blue/Red Artifacts deck I had before. There were some pretty sweet cards in there like Lightning Strike, Shrapnel Blast, and others, so I figured maybe red wouldn't be such a bad idea.

  

Jeskai Soul Blade

2-2 at Red Battle Games, 18 October 2014 (Khans of Tarkir Game Day)

Creatures x4 Ornithopter x2 Hero of Iroas x2 Phyrexian Revoker x4 Heliod's Pilgrim Land x4 Darksteel Citadel x4 Temple of Enlightenment x2 Temple of Epiphany x2 Temple of Triumph x1 Tranquil Cove x1 Mystic Monastery x2 Mana Confluence x2 Plains x2 Island	Artifacts x4 Ghostfire Blade x4 Springleaf Drum Planeswalkers x1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion Other Spells x4 Gods Willing x4 Ensoul Artifact x3 Singing Bell Strike x2 Stratus Walk x3 Lightning Strike x1 Shrapnel Blast x1 Ephara's Enlightenment x1 Spectra Ward
Sideboard x2 Chained to the Rocks x2 Erase x3 Soldier of the Pantheon x1 Mortal Obstinancy x1 Suspension Field x1 Ordeal of Heliod x2 Stubborn Denial x1 Shrapnel Blast x2 Spear of Heliod

Yeah, this didn't go so well. Elspeth is way too expensive, the red was great for spot removal but with just four red cards in the deck, it isn't really that worth it. Also, I removed the single mountain from the deck prior to beginning the tournament which left me with two dead sideboard cards with Chained to the Rocks. I'm honestly surprised this went as well as it did. There were, however, two great cards in this deck, one of which wasn't in Todd's deck:

  

Ephara's Enlightenment boosts any card. You can give a 5/5 Darksteel Citadel +1/+1 and Flying, you can make Hero of Iroas a 4/4 with Flying, the possibilities are insane with this card, especially with Hero of Iroas and the zero cost Ornithopter allowing this to bounce and be recast.

Singing Bell Strike is the BEST card in this deck. Sure it isn't something like Ensoul Artifact or anything that will actually win you the game, but it locks down any threats an opponent has allowing your 5/5 to swing in on turn 3, 4, 5, and 6 before they get their creature back, and that's assuming they hit all their land drops. It's just amazing how great it is. I'm actually a little surprised that it isn't worth more. I mean, out of a booster box and a prerelease kit, I only have four, but it was a terrible box I guess.

Anyway... let's fix this deck. The reason I added red initially was for Shrapnel Blast and to compensate for the lack of four creatures and the Flooded Strand. I now know this was an overcompensation so I want to fix this.

Azorius Soul Blade

Creatures x4 Ornithopter x2 Hero of Iroas x2 Phyrexian Revoker x4 Heliod's Pilgrim Land x4 Darksteel Citadel x4 Temple of Enlightenment x1 Tranquil Cove x2 Evolving Wilds x2 Mana Confluence x4 Plains x3 Island	Artifacts x4 Ghostfire Blade x4 Springleaf Drum Other Spells x4 God's Willing x1 Ordeal of Heliod x4 Ensoul Artifact x1 Ordeal of Thassa x3 Singing Bell Strike x2 Stratus Walk x2 Stubborn Denial x2 Ephara's Enlightenment x1 Spectra Ward
Sideboard x3 Erase x3 Soldier of the Pantheon x1 Mortal Obstinancy x2 Banishing Light x1 Ordeal of Heliod x1 Ordeal of Thassa x1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos x2 Spear of Heliod x1 Master of Waves

I looked through all my boxes and binders of cards and found a single copy of Master of Waves that I did not sell back when it was really expensive. I added that to the sideboard along with my French Brimaz. I also had to remove Chained to the Rocks and removed Shrapnel Blast, which let me replace Suspension Field with two Banishing Light, drop in a third Erase, and a spare Ordeal of Thassa.

  

I've always had a dislike for people who play foreign language cards because others don't necessarily know what it says and many times the person who plays it doesn't even know what it says. In this case, it's a mythic rare many people play and I happen to speak/read French, so I can translate it. And words such as "attack," "block," "creature," and "vigilance" are pretty obvious to identify on the card for non-French speakers. Anyway, let me get off my soap box and back to the deck...

    

Main board has not changed aside from taking out the red, which I added an Ordeal of Heliod, an Ordeal of Thassa, an extra Ephara's Enlightenment, and I made sure to include he two Stubborn Denials in my original sideboard. Everyone runs some enchantment remover of some sort these days, and with Ensoul Artifact, losing it isn't a great option. With your 5/5 creature, one blue to counter the spell isn't bad, just leave the mana open.

  

Mana base is still not up to where I want it, but the essentials were kept. The only difference now between Todd's and my deck is that instead of four Flooded Strand, I have a single Tranquil Cove and two Evolving Wilds. They're a cheaper option and lack the ability to get an untapped land the same turn you play it, at least you have the ability to search and shuffle.

I hope you have enjoyed this look at the Azorius Soul Blade and how the deck can be built on a small budget.