With Mirrodin Besieged soon to join Standard, I want to take a look back and a look forward. The last time we visited Mirrodin, the two big artifact based mechanics were Affinity and Arcbound. Unfortunately, they ended up being too powerful in constructed. This time around, Wizards R&D seems determined not to make the same mistake with Metalcraft. I can't help but think that the next couple sets might help make Metalcraft into an archetype that matters in Standard though.

When Standard last visited Mirrodin, I played a deck something like this in the 2004 Northeast Regionals:

[cardlist]

4 Frogmite

4 Myr Enforcer

4 Arcbound Ravager

4 Arcbound Worker

4 Thoughtcast

4 Disciple of the Vault

4 Ornithopter

4 Skullclamp

4 Pyrite Spellbomb

4 Aethir Vial

3 Blinkmoth Nexus

4 Seat of the Synod

4 Great Furnace

3 Glimmervoid

2 Darksteel Citadel

4 Vault of Whispers

[/cardlist]

It was a known deck, of course. Easily the most played deck there. I felt confident in every match up except the mirror. Even against decks full of anti-artifact cards like Molder Slug, Viridian Shaman and Oxidize, I felt like a heavy favorite. I didn't quite make top 8, because I had several draws (and because there was hundreds of players!) All of my draws were against other Affinity decks. Six of the decks in the Top 8 were Affinity, three of the top four and the eventual champion. Some of the most successful Affinity decks were main-decking Shatters. The next most successful deck at Regionals that year was mono-red Goblins with Shatter and Echoing Ruins after sideboarding.

This deck was so good that banning Skullclamp wasn't enough to depower it. Every time it seemed like the deck should be brought down to a reasonable power level, a card like Cranial Plating got introduced to the deck to keep it atop the heap.

Unless you were good at playing Affinity and really enjoyed it, it wasn't a good time to be playing Standard. By making Affinity and Arcbound too powerful, Wizards really hurt Standard. Fortunately, Wizards R&D is good at learning from their mistakes. I love Metalcraft in limited, but after just adding Scars of Mirrodin to the Standard environment, it has yet to have real impact on the format. A quick glance at the Mirrodin Besieged spoilers shows that among other things, we will get more artifacts and more Metalcraft.

In hopes that Mirrodin Besieged will provide the cards needed to make Metalcraft decks relevant in Standard, I decided to make some decks featuring Metalcraft. First, I designed a controlling Blue/White deck:

[cardlist]

[Creatures]

4 Trinket Mage

4 Wall of Omens

4 Chimeric Mass

[/Creatures]

[Spells]

4 Day of Judgment

4 Everflowing Chalice

4 Glint Hawk Idol

4 Rusted Relic

4 Mimic Vat

1 Brittle Effigy

1 Elixir of Immortality

[/Spells]

[Lands]

4 Celestial Colonnade

4 Glacial Fortress

4 Seachrome Coast

4 Tectonic Edge

8 Plains

2 Island

[/Lands]

[/cardlist]

Day of Judgment- Obviously a powerful card, but also one that has strong synergy in this deck. First, much of the deck's offense can "hide" from it: Chimeric Mass, Glint Hawk Idol, Rusted Relic (sometimes) and Celestial Colonnade. Second, the rest of the creatures in the deck replace themselves: Trinket Mage and Wall of Omens. In addition, Day of Judgment combines well with Mimic Vat. Not only can you put a card advantage 187 creature like a Wall or a Mage into the Vat after a Day, but if your opponent has something better, you can take that. The Day of Judgment/Mimic Vat combo is also one of this deck's best weapons against Valakut Ramp. While the deck can put pressure on with Idols, Relics, Mages etc, it won't win before turn five, so Valakut is a problem. Putting an Avenger or a Titan under the Vat does make things more manageable though.

Trinket Mage- Allows me to main deck situationally powerful one ofs like Elixir and Effigy. With 10 targets for the Mage, worth putting into the Vat. Plus the 2/2 body can either be pressure against control or a blocker against aggro.

Chimeric Mass-With 26 land and four Chalice, it's nice to have something to sink mana into. A powerful target for Trinket Mage that doesn't die to Day of Judgment.

Rusted Relic- Played as one of your first two artifacts its safe from removal until you're ready to start attacking. You can even play Day of Judgment first and then play a third artifact and attack. A 5/5 for four mana is good in most match ups.

Mimic Vat- An underused card in Standard. This card should be used in decks without Metalcraft too. I played it in a mono-black deck against a Blue/White deck and I got a Wall of Omens under it. It was awesome. Three mana, tap, make a blocker and draw a card, nice! With Trinket Mage it's even more exciting.

Glint Hawk Idol- Early flying pressure, good for attacking planeswalkers and for eating away at Ramp's life total.

Everflowing Chalice- Can ramp out an early Relic or Day of Judgment. It can give you the mana needed to make Celestial Colonnade, Mimic Vat or Chimeric Mass powerful.

Next, I designed an aggressive Red version:

[cardlist]

[Creatures]

4 Kuldotha Phoenix

4 Rusted Relic

4 Vulshok Replica

4 Runed Servitor

4 Chimeric Mass

[/Creatures]

[Spells]

4 Galvanic Blast

4 Everflowing Chalice

4 Glint Hawk Idol

4 Mimic Vat

[/Spells]

[Lands]

4 Arid Mesa

4 Plains

4 Tectonic Edge

12 Mountain

[/Lands]

[/cardlist]

Kuldotha Phoenix- A powerful card I've long been trying to find the right deck for (and not just because Rada likes it.) I like it as a top of the curve finisher in a deck with heaps of artifacts. It's good against control because of the recursion. It's good against aggro for racing. It's a solid finisher against Ramp, because they have trouble killing it and they can't block it.

Vulshok Replica- Three power for three mana is excellent for an artifact creature. In an aggressive deck like this it goes great with Mimic Vat.

Runed Servitor- Provides early pressure against control or Ramp. Decent early blocker against aggro.

Galvanic Blast- The burn spell of choice for artifact decks. It's solid removal in the early game and when you get to Metalcraft, it becomes a dangerous finisher.

The main problem with Metalcraft in Standard currently is that it plays too fair. The point of constructed is to do something abusive. Valakut Ramp is a great example of this: typically, a Titan only needs to attack once for it to combine with Valakuts for lethal damage. Kiln Fiend is another example, with Assault Strobe a turn three kill is fairly easy. Sure control decks don't kill in a sudden rush of damage, but most of them play with Jace, the Mind Sculpter and that card alone is abusive.

There are certain types of cards needed to make Metalcraft really dangerous in Standard:

1. Better artifact creatures. If cards like Glint Hawk Idol, Runed Servitor, Perilous Myr and Steel Overseer are the best two drops available, it's hard to create good pressure. There are very good reasons to keep the power level of artifacts creatures down of course: flavor, Tempered Steel and the fact that anyone can use them. Sure there are some good expensive artifact creatures like Wurmcoil Engine and Molten-Tail Masticore, but Metalcraft needs cheap artifacts.
2. Better cheap artifacts that stay in play. Yes, cards like Brittle Effigy and Ratchet Bomb are constructed worthy, but if they need to be sacrificed to make them useful, then they aren't helping with Metalcraft.
3. Better artifact mana. Everflowing Chalice is excellent and Mox Opal can be good in the right situation, but Metalcraft needs more. While I don't expect artifact lands again, Myr aren't cutting it in Standard.
4. More artifact bombs. There aren't really artifacts worth building entire decks around, like Skullclamp or Arcbound Ravager. While I don't expect to see anything of that power level, there aren't any artifacts that seem worthy of being the cornerstone of a strong deck right now. Mimic Vat doesn't quite get there because it's too slow/mana intensive.
5. Artifact themed card draw. Perhaps not quite like Skullclamp and Thoughtcast, but some artifact cantrips that are better than Prophetic Prism would be a big help.

While I'm guessing we will see Wizards address some of these needs in Mirrodin Besieged and beyond, I'm confident they will be careful not to introduce any Skullclamps or Ravagers that will put the Standard environment completely under siege. As much as I enjoyed playing Affinity back in the day, once was enough. Now, if only they could help us find balance for Primeval Titan and Jace.

The Living Weapon mechanic should help Metalcraft. Also, there are a couple of cheap creatures that look promising, especially Phyrexian Revoker. Will it be enough to make Metalcraft matter in Standard? Only time and testing will tell.