Mikey K159's picture
By: Mikey K159, Michael
May 19 2014 12:00pm
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Decktech

 

The strength in this deck comes from having a 3/3 creature for only 1 mana, which allows you to win faster, rather than play the long game. I find it to be mostly better against the blue control decks, but so far I have not been all that impressed against the other decks in the format. My problem with this version of Affinity right off the bat is how easy it is to block a 3/3 these days in pauper, it makes me unsure just how affective it is over the Perilous Research spots. But let's get into the games instead of me going on and on shall we?

 

Match 1 vs Delver Fish

This is one of the matches where I believe the Ardent Recruits shine. It allows you to put Delver Fish under enough pressure that they have to scramble to build a board so that they can race, while you also are casting more spells than they can counter. After board you have Pyroblast to deal with Insectile Aberration or to win a counter war, but be careful because they have the option to sideboard in Hydroblast to take care of your (Pryoblast)s and Atogs easily.

 

It's true that Ardent Recruit just gets blocked by Spire Golem all day long, but that is why I believe you nuke them with Galvanic Blast the first chance you get and think it's going to resolve. Delver Fish has a hard time dealing with 4 power creatures, which you have 8 of them in your deck and they don't have much in the way of getting a creature off the board as well.

 

Match 2 vs Mono Black Control

Mono Black Control has always been a deck I fear when playing any type of Affinity deck, but I fear it more playing this version because you don't have a good late game plan. You're playing this version of Affinity to win the game fast and give your opponents as little time as possible to draw into what they need to come back on you. Also, I believe I lost game 1 due to my myself, I should have remembered that Spinning Darkness is a card and played around it so I deserved to lose game 1, in game 2 I think things just didn't go my way and Mono Black did what it was supposed to do.

 

This is where I think the Perilous Affinity deck shines because you're still an aggressive deck, while being able to switch to a control deck that draws a good deep amount of cards into your deck and then you win with a combo kill of Atog and Fling. It's a big reason why I like Perilous Affinity more than this deck as a whole in the format.

 

Match 3 vs UB Teachings Control

I think this is a good match for just about every version of Affinity. The Teachings deck can often be a little slow in both removing your threats affectedly and putting a quick clock on you, so you should usually get enough time to keep building back up from any amount of removal they throw at you.

 

This particular version of Affinity is especially good against an archetype like this because you have a 1 mana cost 3/3 that they have to deal with, while also keeping up counter magic to deal with your bigger threats, which usually just doesn't happen. If you want any good sideboard cards for decks like Teachings, Duress or Reaping the Graves are my favorite and usual go to options.

 

Final Thoughts and Updated List

I will be perfectly honest with all of you; I am not a big fan of this version of Affinity. I feel as though Affinity's matches against blue decks are already good enough that you would have a better time having extra reach like Lightning Bolts or Disciple of the Vault where your Ardent Recruits are. I don't feel like the 1 mana 3/3 really adds much to the matches you need to make better, such as Mono Black Control or Tron. 

Perilous Research or Disciple of the Vault would just do better because of the long game it gives you. I admit I may be wrong and maybe I am a little biased, but after much testing with different Affinity decks, I feel like this one is the weakest of them. I have made changes to this deck, so let's check them out.

 

 

 

 

I think the main deck is pretty much where it should be and it’s not all that far off from just a regular stock main deck. The only change I decided to make was to take out a Chromatic Sphere for a Terrarion to try and get some value out of a fifth Chromatic Star effect in the deck. I see everyone who plays Affinity decks usually play it as a 1 or 2 of in their deck so I want to see if the comes into play tapped clause is as relevant as I may think. 

In the sideboard I didn't make that many changes as I was pretty satisfied with it overall. I did however take out a Pyroblast for a second Electrickery because I wanted to be able to actually draw it more often and I think Pyroblast as a 2 of is just perfectly fine. I did consider Krark-Clan Shaman, but this deck requires metalcraft to be active a bit more than the usual Affinity deck and so I am unsure as to if it’s a good idea, which at this time I do not think it is. 

Well that's pretty much it for now, see you guys next time!