This article was originally titled "There and Back Again, Affinity's Holiday"... Who knew Tolkien still had attorneys?

Today I'll be going a little more into my history with the game, at least from when I started playing competitively. It was Summer, 2003, Scourge was just released. Me and my friends had been spending months past opening Onslaught boosters and trying to figure out what kind of deck to bring to our very first FNM. My best friend at the time had a very slick Reanimator deck together, using Doomed Necromancer as the engine. Others in our group were running tribal decks, including Elves, Zombies and Goblins. I had heard of a deck that won off of Mirari's Wake, making for a huge, uncounterable army of soldiers via Decree of Justice, and decided to run my take on that.

I remember this time period very well, as this is when Magic still had it's "magic" for me. I can still remember that special feeling, drawing just the card I needed, often a gempalm of some variety or another. I still remember the smell of fresh cards after opening a booster pack, though it's been years. I remember sitting around discussing the completely useless Wooded Foothills I had just opened, scratching our heads trying to figure out why something like that would be a rare. I remember how our group decided that the best way to build Astral Slide would unquestionably be with a Blue/White/Black color combination. Most of all, I still remember sitting across the table from an unknown opponent for the first time.

He was playing an aggro Slivers deck. At this stage in my Magic career I didn't even consider different match up potentials. Come to think of it, I was probably a better player back then for just that reason. Today when I build a deck I build it with other decks in mind, to make sure I have a decent game versus anything else running around in the field. Not so back then. Back then I built my to do what it was meant to do and stick to that game no matter what. He played his Slivers, I played my lands until I got the setup I needed.

"Um, alright cards in hand?"
"Ah, just two"
"Okay, I'll swing in with both Blade Slivers for 8"
"So, alright, after you declare attackers, I'll tap out for 14, and cycle Decree of Justice putting 11 2/2 soldiers into play. I'll block."
"Are you ****ing me?"

At that point I breathed a sigh of relief, having just won my first "official" round of magic. I was happy to hear my friend from the table behind me:

"Okay, I'll play Mental Note, then Careful Study. Cards in hand? Good, activate Doomed Necromancer putting Akroma into play."

I would go on to win that FNM, leaving me with a taste for victory I would become fairly accustomed to over the next few months. My friend placed 3rd, giving him a fair bit of satisfaction. As the game evolved so did we. I started playing Astral Slide and my friend a very tuned form of Goblins. We broke into other formats as the card shop would host them. In Extended I played Tinker Control while it was still legal, and he would play Reanimater. Legacy was all about Solidarity for me, as I decided it was the coolest deck ever made, ever. My friend to this day plays Reanimator in every format he can.

I'm getting ahead of myself though. Lets go back to what may have been the critical turning point in the game for me. Mirrodin.

I was all over Mirrodin when it was released. I sold my entire Yu-Gi-Oh collection (Don't judge me) to buy a full case of Mirrodin. It took a good few hours of sitting in my room cracking packs to get everything organized. In the end I found myself with a full playset of Glimmervoids, one foil, a full set of Chalice of the Void, not yet seen as being "good" and a full set of Chrome Moxes. I was quite happy.My first order of business was of course to build Affinity, as was the plan since Mirrodin was fully spoiled.

Yes, it was a pretty different Affinity from what's floating around today. Yes, I really did play Megatog, and dammit he worked out great! I don't really remember what other decks were seeing play in the format, but then again I think everyone was playing the same deck at the time. I always thought I was being clever putting Shatter in my deck, good times.

Things changed after Darksteel and Fifth Dawn were released. Affinity as we know it came to light, and my outlook on the game started to change. I didn't grasp the value of Arcbound Ravager until it was too late, and he entered the $20 range. I decided then that Affinity wouldn't be the way to go for me, and with my first planned PTQ only a few weeks away, I had to figure something out. Suddenly I found myself worrying for the first time about the "metagame". Up until now my game was exactly what I wanted it to be. If I built a deck, I thought only of that deck and what I wanted it to do. Now, I had to base all my card choices around beating one major deck in the format, while still being able to hold its own against other decks that weren't Raffinity.

The Rock

At least as well as I remember building it!

Creatures 4 Birds of Paradise 4 Eternal Witness 4 Viridian Shaman 4 Troll Ascetic 3 Greater Harvester 19 cards Other Spells 4 Dark Banishing 2 Naturalize 4 Chrome Mox 3 Distress 2 Death Cloud 4 Terror 19 cards

Lands 12 Forest 10 Swamp 22 cards Sideboard 4 Oxidize 1 Distress 4 Wrench Mind 4 Barter in Blood 2 Glissa Sunseeker 15 cards

Now, that may not be the "exact" list I brought with me to my first PTQ, but it's very very close. This was the first time I had actually sat and evaluated every card in my deck and decided how it would help me in any given match. Mainboard Affinity hate, check. Sideboard Affinity hate, check. Mainboard aggro and win conditions, check. Sideboard options for other big decks like Tooth and Nail, check. Many of you will look at that list and pass it off as another Rock variant. It's special to me, however, as at the time I didn't know "The Rock" was even a deck. With no outside help I built this deck from scratch and feel it to be one of my shining achievements in the game.

I would go on to place 16th in my first PTQ, not bad by my standards. I trounced Affinity decks but lost more than I'd like to against non-artifact decks.

It's late in the year now. I've said my very fond farewells to Onslaught block and have been spending time getting to know the citizens of Kamigawa. This set also holds a special place in my heart, and not just because my otaku butt can actually pronounce all the card names! There was something magical about the cards in this new set, the flavor, art, everything. This was also the first set I ever went to a prerelease for. I remember being excited to find Cranial Extraction, Kokusho, the Evening Star and Gifts Ungiven in my "god pack", then promptly going 1-6 in the actual event!

It was also at this time, however, that I shunned everything I knew to be good and holy about the game, and shelled out for Raffinity. I built the stock list sparing no expense! I had in my possession a fully functional Ravager Affinity deck that I was ready to rock the FNM scene with. At least, I would have been, if I didn't proceed to lose every single game I played with it! Maybe it was karma, maybe it was bad draws, or lack of understanding of the deck, but I just couldn't pilot it into anything but the ground!

It's early 2004, and Affinity (among other things) is GONE. Disciple of the Vault, Arcbound Ravager and all six artifact lands have been banned. I suddenly feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, and I start building home brew decks again. My mono black control deck shows great results, winning several tournaments. Without Affinity decks around, Wrench Mind becomes a pseudo Hymn to Tourach. Life is good, times are great. I've started playing in Vintage tournaments running 2-Land Belcher and loving it. Betrayers of Kamigawa is released, ninjas are cool...

Saviors of Kamaigawa is released but I never see it. I've since quit the game after a couple thousand dollars worth of Vintage and legacy staples was liberated from my collection. It doesn't matter though, there's no one to play with anyway...

Fast forward to January 2010 and I'm back!

I've been having a blast trying new decks in Standard, and have finally started to break into Legacy and Extended. With Affinity being so cheap, and incarnations of it existing in both Legacy and Extended, it sounded like something worth trying. The entire deck cost my under 50 tix, and having a playset of Aether Vials around surely doesn't hurt. I put together two lists I felt very comfortable with, made a pot of coffee, gave my wife a kiss "goodbye" and settled in for some extensive play testing...

Now, I have a procedure when I do something like this. First I make sure all my nightly affairs are in order so as to get a healthy chunk of uninterrupted, non-guilty playtime in. I start a pot of coffee and fill a bottle of water. Adjust my seat, load up FRAPS, and play a couple casual "fun" games to get me in the mood. Everything had gone according to plan so far. What I wanted was to have a nice set of videos showing you Affinity in action. How it beats Landstill and Zoo and Reanimator. How despite bannings it can survive in Extended. Unfortunately, after a weekend and a half of play testing, I had nothing! No success stories, no amazing plays, no nothing. It seems after six years I still can't play this deck. I was, however, able to take something away from it all. Here's what I 've come up with, and my thoughts on the deck:

^{Atleast Affinity's hard to hate against, right?}

• Despite their necessity, I never wanted to see an artifact land, and when I did, I got a Glimmervoid
•  When I wanted Fling, I got Shrapnel Blast, when I wanted Shrapnel Blast, I got Fling. When I cut both, I found I needed either for a win.
• The best cards in the deck are Disciple of the Vault and Thoughtcast, both non-artifact
• Arcbound Ravager eats babies.
• When playing against a combo deck of any sort is considered polite to just stop playing cards, bend over, and "take it"
• In Extended, I'm fairly sure Atog is better than Arcbound Ravager, unless you have both in play with no other artifact creatures, in which case, they're both bad
• The mana base in the deck allows for any sideboard options. The crap-shoot MTGO shuffler, does not.
• Lotus Petal is a great card to play in the Legacy version, unless you draw it.
• The deck has a great match up against everything that doesn't beat it 2/3rds of the time
• Affinity sucks. Affinity's a bad deck. Affinity's stupid...

Okay, okay, I'm mostly joking (mostly). I actually don't regret purchasing this deck in the least, and it's for one simple reason...

No, I don't see Affinity coming back the same way in Scars of Mirrodin. I do, however, see great potential for cards in this coming set to bolster Affinity in Legacy. Among the thing's I would like to see:

• A new run of artifact lands. Being able to run 8 artifacts lands that tap for the same color would be amazing. I've found one of my biggest issue with the deck is it's shaky mana base, and I can't bring myself to like Springleaf Drum, I've tried.
• Affinity-enabled removal, draw, and/or countermagic. Affinity needs a better draw engine, as it seems once you've blown your hand, that's it. I hated finding myself dead in the water praying a top-deck Fling before I got pummeled. Removal would be amazing, I mean, would a "5B - Affinity for Artifacts - Destroy target creature" really be so bad? Countermagic is at least a consideration. Yes, it'll slow down the deck but it could also allow for some interesting archetypes.
• Better Modular creatures. I've been generally underwhelmed with Arcbound Worker, and would love to see a better variety of Modular dudes.
• Artifact Dual Lands. I can dream, can't I?

This deck is frustrating. I can make myself believe it's as bad as it is. Affinity is so borderline good, that all it needs is a little push in the right direction. With Scars of Mirrodin out later this year, I hope the deck can get that little push, though I also fear the block will bring with it even more obscene decks!

I'd like to conclude by saying that all thoughts and opinions in this article are purely my own, except the one where Ravager eats babies, that one's fact. Long-time Affinity supporters may just tell me "I'm doing it wrong", and that's fair. I personally think the deck would work better by replacing the artifact lands with Islands, and then taking cards out to make room for Force of Will, Daze, Ponder, Tarmogoyf and other non-artifact cards. We'll call it, "Not Affinity", widely seen as a better deck than "Affinity".

Next week I'll continue on with Legacy, and how I'm breaking through on a budget!

-Jeff Torres