In playing Artifacts, Shrapnel Blast and Isochron Scepter lots lately I decided to put together a deck that would tap shrapnel blast and burn my opponent for five, then untap the Scepter so I could do it again. (I featured this deck on my blog recently) I eventually found a Dross Scorpion and figured this would be a great trigger for the scepter since when I sack a creature to the Shrapnel Blast, the Dross Scorpion would trigger allowing me to untap the Sceptor and do it again.
I added cards that would accelerate the play, double the damage and give me needed fuel for the shrapnel blast. In play testing Ichor Wellspring I became a nice way to draw the needed cards I had in the deck. I also added Piston Sledge (one of my favorite cards) for a little more power.
I could burn my opponent a lot but I couldn't always get the cards I needed, the deck felt a little clunky, and at that moment I decided to move away from tapping and re-tapping the scepter lots to a deck that would allow me to recast the Shrapnel Blast multiple times. This wasn't any better so I went with a mix. The problem at the time and one that I still haven't fixed was that I could never get the best use out of every card or source of mana. It always felt like I could do more.
This may have come back to bite me at the tournament. There were a few time where I wasn't utilizing my resources and I made some mistakes or the wrong decision. At on point I played my Dross Scorpion but didn't have enough to activate my scepter with Shrapnel Blast.
We set up the tournament where we can choose to buy in and get prizes. I thought I would do well so I bought in, which payed off in the end. There were 8 of us who showed up to play. (My play group consists of 13-15 people.) We split up into 2 Pods/Groups.
As a last minute bonus to my deck I added some more smaller burn specifically the Lightning Bolt. Along with Searing Blood and Magma Jet these allowed me to keep the annoying creatures off the table and get a few swings in before casting Shrapnel Blast all over my opponent. These last minute changes and having the 4th person in my pod being late meant I had to wait to play when we started. this gave me time to sneak in some play games and sneak looks at the other players decks.
My first round was against Zack who was playing a Red/Black demon creature sacking and annoying cards to make me loose life deck. I won 2-1 overall. one of the games and the only in the tournament I had problems being Mana-Screwed. luckily in game 2 he had the same problem. Game 3 was interesting. He started out turn one playing 2 Dark Ritual and then Phyrexian Obliterator. My Turn 2 I had a artifact land out and a Shrapnel Blast in Hand. I figured this would be the best time to kill the Obliterator and move on, so I did. He ended up one land ahead of me but I was able to deal more damage to his life than he was able to make me loose in the end.
Against Jon who was playing a Myr Deck I went 2-0. game one I started with a lot of burn stuff to destroy his artifacts and he conceded to move on. In the second game he almost had me. He was gaining so much life, 1 for every creature he had 2 times a turn. I had a slow start too, not getting my 3rd land. He destroyed my second, and I almost conceded. I was able to keep his threats off the field for some time, and we ended up in a standstill for a while with him at 50+ life. He ended up drawing lots of lands and I got the lands I needed, with a stacked hand from having to discard the junk I moved forward, slowly. Most of the damage I got in with my creatures. At one point I got my Spiraling Duelist on the field with a Piston Sledge on her and he exiled here for one white with Dispatch
He only needed one more card to win by decking me with a combo, but i was able to bring him all the way back to the 20's and to 0.
In testing my deck most recently I found I needed more creatures out on the field for some raw power. This is how the Myr Enforcer, Volshok War Boar, Etched Champion and Spiraling Duelist ended up in the deck. All great cards for what I was accomplishing in the deck. They added the needed force in the deck to keep my opponent on their toes and eyes on the field instead of what was coming from my hand.
Having this extra Power came in handy when I faced my other opponents. Round 3 in the Pod I lost 1-2 against John who was playing a White/Green Heroic Protection deck. Out of the Pod and into the Semi Finals I played Tiffany who wielded a Mono Green Devotion Ramp Deck. I lost to her 1-2. The game I won I was able to get her early creature which helped her ramp off the field. The games I lost my big creatures and big burn spells came in handy but her creatures were so much BIGGER and came with Trample which meant the Etched Champion was no help.
This was the version of the deck I played. See it on Tappedout.net
I placed 4th overall out of 8 people. This is pretty good compared to what the winner overall was playing with. Brenden was playing a Black/Green Dredge Deck. I came close In the final matches, but overall I had a lot of fun, and my deck preformed well.
