I Came, I Saw, I Took Home the Trophy: A Modular Look at Affinity

By Styfen Batten
11/14/2003

I promised a tournament report on my County Championships to The Ferrett, but after looking back through my notes I discovered that there wasn't much for anyone to learn from a report of the day. It was a case of"I came, I saw, and I took home the trophy."

So instead I'm going to look at the deck type that I (and several others) played to victory over that weekend. Guess what one it is by reading the title up there? It's Affinity.

Affinity has the most potential for different builds of the same archetype in the current Standard format. There is only one color that has to be used in every different build. The other four can all be used or discarded as desired. In short, there are a lot of choices to be made when building this deck.

This article will not give out the one Affinity deck listing that is better than all the rest. The reason for that is not because there isn't a best build - in fact, there is only one correct build, and that's the build for the local metagame. Instead, this will look at the core cards for the deck before moving onto the different directions you can take the deck. If you must rush on to the decklists, they're at the bottom of the article.

The Core Creatures
Blue and artifacts provide the base to this deck. (And I get a medal for stating the obvious.) They are consistent to every build that has been played. Without artifacts and the Affinity spells, the deck just ain't cheddar, it's some other type of cheese. So let's kick off by looking at the critters.

Frogmite
There should be no discussion about this card. Affinity is an aggressive deck, it wants threats, it wants early damage, it wants card synergy and it wants artifacts. This amphibian can be dropped on turn 2 with consistency - and with a strong draw, playing it on turn 1 is possible. These are effective against U/W as a Wing Shards soak. It's been called the Basking Rootwalla of Affinity, and you should use four.

Myr Enforcer
This critter is called"Ultimate War Myr-chince" at the local store, and although the name was just given because a couple of the staff are obsessed with the idea of Myr as comic book heroes, it's not a terrible name. This guys is the backbone creature of the deck. A 4/4 that can be dropped from turn 3 onwards is pretty good. It's a total nuisance for MBC and difficult for Goblins to get past, alongside being a fast clock for every other deck to deal with. Play four.

Broodstar
While Frogmite and Myr Enforcer provide the fast ground force, Broodstar is the real game-ender. It's a huge threat for a low cost, with one drawback (or advantage): it's not an artifact so it can be destroyed by Terror, but it can't be destroyed by Shatter and co. The most prohibitive thing is the casting cost; 8UU even with affinity is still troublesome, the double blue in particular can be a problem. It's possible to play any number of these, but three seems to be the most common number used. Go with three or four.

Lodestone Myr
The last"core" creature is more of an optional choice. The power of the Lodestone Myr is unquestionable - it is always a huge trampler and a superb finisher. The real question is the casting cost. Four mana is a little prohibitive in some match-ups, in particular it is difficult to play the Myr with counterspell protection. Four is not practical without a higher land count, but three?

The Core Spells
Thoughtcast
No other spell in recent times has come close to duplicating Ancestral Recall. In this deck, it seems to read U: Draw Two Cards. Play four, it's too good not to.

Thirst for Knowledge
If anything, this card is more powerful than Thoughtcast. The higher cost is an issue but it's balanced by the ability to dig an extra card deeper at instant speed. Still, in the outright speed vs. power stakes, Thoughtcast is the better card because occasionally the discard can hit you very hard. Three copies are acceptable, but four can be used.

Counter Magic
There are four spells to choose from here: They are Mana Leak, Dispersal Shield, Override, and Assert Authority. Each spell has advantages and disadvantages over the rest. Mana Leak is your most powerful counterspell in the early game. From turns 1 to 7 it works very much like a hard counterspell, but in long match-ups, its usefulness drops considerably.

Dispersal Shield costs the same as Mana Leak and is very effective when there is an Affinity creature on the table (Myr Enforcer and Broodstar make this able to counter almost any spell cast), but it's not so great when used as an early counterspell. Additionally, its usefulness is completely dependent on your permanents, meaning unless there is a Myr Enforcer or a Broodstar on the table, it cannot counter Akroma's Vengeance. That can be a serious issue, as being caught unable to counter a Vengeance is not a nice place to be

Override costs 2U, so is slightly slower than Mana Leak - but in the Affinity deck it may as well read"Counter Target Spell." Unfortunately, sometimes that extra point of mana can cause complications. Mana sources are never that numerous in this deck, and keeping three sources open can sometimes be tricky. This is most noticeable when it's desirable to cast two counters in a turn against U/W.

Last of all is Assert Authority. The huge mana cost on this card seems daunting, but in this deck that drawback is pretty much ignored. The real issue is the UU in the cost. The blue sources are never quite numerous enough to guarantee that UU when needed. A higher count of blue mana would be required if a player wanted to use four of these.

As for total counterspells in the deck, no less than six but no more than eight should be enough. Mana Leak is the strongest of the counters to use due to the fast game plan of Affinity, and should be present in a full complement. The other two to four are optional, but make sure you choose the correct spells for the build.

The Artifacts:
The last core spells are the artifacts. It is simpler to look at them in converted mana costs starting with the free ones and moving up the costs.

Zero:
Here there are two potential cards: Chrome Mox and Welding Jar. Chrome Mox is a virtual land in the early game and an Affinity booster in the late game. It also allows for surprisingly fast recovery against Akroma's Vengeance. To me, it's a very situational card to use, and often you are better served holding this in your hand and only playing it when required.

Welding Jar is different because it's best played onto the table as soon as you can. In hand it does nothing, so it's no help there at all. On the table is where it does its business - it doesn't provide the speed boost that Chrome Mox gives, but it does have a lot more presence once the game gets going. Not only does it provide protection for permanents against various removal effects, but it also makes trading in combat problematic for the opponent. On the flip side, that's just about all it does. It's an artifact for Affinity and protection for more useful permanents, but by itself it's not much use at all.

One:
Chromatic Sphere:
Chromatic Sphere is a mana fixer at heart, it's best-used when the player wishes to support multiple spells with double colored mana in the casting cost. Second Sunrise and Assert Authority are prime candidates. The problem it has is it takes up the slots that could be used by the next card on this list...

Spellbombs:
There are just two Spellbombs worth considering: Pyrite Spellbomb, and Aether Spellbomb. Which ones are used and how many is a personal choice, but at least four could seem prudent. Not only do they provide bounce or direct damage but they also provide card drawing. The flexibility of these two cards is what makes them so potent.

Neurok Hoversail:
The first piece of equipment to make the list is the one suggested by Kai. It seems to have one main use: Making Atogs evasive. But if Atog is not in the build, then ignore this card. It's not very impressive on either Myr or Frogmites.

Two:
Talismans:
A Talisman count somewhere between three and five seems to be the right number. If the deck allows it, then three to four of the U/x Talismans are good, but if required a three U/x and two R/x split can be used. They accelerate the deck, smooth out mana problems, and contribute to Affinity counts.

Lightning Greaves:
Lightning Greaves are a dual purpose card in Affinity. First of all, the potential to swing with any creature as it is cast is huge. One of these on the table can result in the opposing player having to play a more defensive game then they'd like too. The other use is making creatures untargetable. A Broodstar with Lightning Greaves on is bad news for MBC, as is an Atog or Lodestone Myr appearing out of nowhere to attack for a lot of unexpected damage. Of the two pieces of equipment here Lightning Greaves is the better choice.

Here's the potential numbers in list form:

Affinity Core:
4 Frogmite
4 Myr Enforcer
0 - 3 Lodestone Myr
3 - 4 Broodstar
4 Thoughtcast
3 - 4 Thirst for knowledge
0 - 4 Chrome Mox
0 - 4 Welding Jar
0 - 4 Chromatic Sphere
0 - 8 Spellbombs
0 - 4 Mana Leak
0 - 4 Override/Assert Authority/Dispersal Shield
0 - 2 Neurok Hoversail
4 - 5 Talismans (Either 4 of the same color or a 3/2 split)
0 - 2 Lightning Greaves

There's still a lot of space and variation of cards here, but several sample builds will be provided at the end of the article.

The Other Colors:

Red
Red is here first because it is the best choice of color to link with Blue, as not only does it provide mana for the damaging side of Pyrite Spellbomb (which is splashable anyway), but it also has several other cards that should be carefully considered. These are Atog, Shrapnel Blast, Shatter, and Pyroclasm.

I've already talked about Atog, and on the whole it's not that impressive. The next two are sideboard cards. Shatter is not as effective a choice as Annul - it is capable of dealing with problem cards after they hit the table, but it does not stop enchantments. There are not a lot of enchantments that are problematic for Affinity so the decision is very much a personal one.

Shrapnel Blast works quite well as a finishing card, and is particularly brutal if you are playing the Atog-Grab the Reins hybrid deck that many view as an offshoot of traditional Affinity builds.

White
White provides three possible cards: Wrath of God, Second Sunrise, and Circle of Protection: Red. Wrath is a more powerful, more expensive version of Pyroclasm. It has strengths and weaknesses when compared to the Red spell. First of all, it can kill creatures with more than two toughness, but on the whole this isn't that much of an advantage - there are only a few creatures being played right now with more than two toughness. Shrapnel Blast and Aether Spellbomb can deal with most of problem creatures. You should only choose to play Wrath of God if you're not playing Red.

Second Sunrise is a lot more than a White counterspell. It's best used in conjunction with plenty of sacrifice effects (like Spellbombs, Atog and Chromatic Sphere), where you can get multiple effects and then return all those permanents right after. Combined with Atog it provides an increase in the speed of the kill and of course it is a superb spell to cast right after an Akroma's Vengeance or Wrath.

As for Circle of Protection: Red, it's obviously an anti-Red card. Against other beatdown decks, Affinity takes the role of the control player and lets its superior creatures do the work. Being able to sit with a Circle on the table allows you to shorten the time of the game by being more aggressive.

Black
Black provides several options, most of them in the removal and discard categories. The cards that seem to provide the most flexibility for Affinity are Dark Banishing, Persecute, and Cabal Interrogator.

Dark Banishing is a much stronger choice than Terror in the current format. It may seem that the extra point of mana is a bit prohibitive, but the ability to destroy artifact creatures is a potent one in the post-Mirrodin environment. Terror is the other option, but should only be played if the local metagame does not include many artifact creatures.

Persecute and Cabal Interrogator provide the same thing - discard when facing control decks. Persecute has a huge single turn swing effect where as the Interrogator is more fragile, but easier to cast. Of the two, Interrogator seems the better choice but both should be considered.

Green
Of all the colors, Green appears to provide the least help to Affinity. However, Green is the color of choice if there are a lot of other people playing Affinity in the local area. Green is the strongest anti-artifact color right now. Green gives the options of Naturalize, Viridian Shaman, and Deconstruct as tempo artifact removal. Viridian Shaman feels superior to Deconstruct as it provides a 2/2 body after doing its job, but Deconstruct does give you three mana to play with, allowing for Deconstruct and something else to be played in a single turn.

Lands
The lands are simple to pick: Twelve artifact lands in the colors used, plus three to four Glimmervoid and two to three City of Brass should do the job in any build. Sixteen lands are the minimum recommended, but eighteen is safer.

Sideboard
Last of all, I'll take a quick look at the sideboard. Now there are only a few individual cards that can cause Affinity problems. These cards are Decree of Justice, Akroma's Vengeance, March of the Machines, Molder Slug, and Hum of the Radix. Affinity can counter most of these with a variety of spells, but Decree of Justice needs special attention. Regardless of what U/W players may say, Akroma's Vengeance is not the scary card for you to face. Affinity can survive it, and can even win after it resolves. No, for my money, Decree of Justice is the bad card. A large amount of 1/1s appearing at the end of turn is horrific, so this is where Stifle comes into its own. The card is potent vs. a lot of cards used in Standard, but as noted, it is particularly helpful in the U/W match-up.

Look below here for examples of various sideboards and choose what feels best. Above all else look at everything other people use and do well with... Take what seems right from each article and ignore whatever seems wrong.

U/R/w Affinity:
4 Frogmite
4 Myr Enforcer
3 Atog
3 Broodstar
4 Thoughtcast
3 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Chrome Mox
3 Pyrite Spellbomb
2 Aether Spellbomb
4 Mana Leak
3 Talisman of Progress
3 Shrapnel Blast
2 Lightning Greaves
4 Ancient Den
4 Great Furnace
4 Seat of Synod
3 Glimmervoid
3 City of Brass

Sideboard:
4 Annul
4 Stifle
4 Pyroclasm
3 Circle of Protection: Red