I'm a history enthusiast, but my passion is science. I would love to be a historian, but there are only two major jobs...teaching or working for the History Channel, neither of which is terribly exciting. However, when given the chance to dabble in history, be it politics, wars, dates, etc. I always find it very enjoyable. The premise of this article will encompass history and science, my two strong subjects. I hope to show both the history of Ravager Affinity and a scientific evolution of sort. Known to be one of the most hated decks in Standard and Mirrodin Block Constructed, players should, at the very least, tip their hats for an archetype that has withstood the sands of time, countless decks sporting uncanny amount of hatred, and constantly evolving to stay atop the food chain. You may learn historical or scientific terms and concepts in this article...or have recurring nightmares.

Prehistoric Times
Before there was ever the notion of Affinity for Artifacts, there was a concept in chemistry,"Electron Affinity." Simply put, Electron Affinity is the energy change when an atom gains an electron. Then comes along the plane we have come to love (or hate) called Mirrodin. The concept of"Electron Affinity" applies perfectly to"Affinity for Artifacts" in that a player who controls an artifact, with any card with affinity in his/her hand, gains more power by decreasing the overall cost to cast the card with Affinity for Artifacts. Mirrodin only boasted a handful of cards that had Affinity for Artifacts, such as Myr Enforcer, Somber Hoverguard, Frogmite, and Broodstar. There was; however, enough of a spark that would soon start an inferno. The first spark was in the Bait and Bludgeon deck. This introduced the concept of Affinity and was, at very best, a crude deck. Decks probably did not stray too far from Bait and Bludgeon's build.

The decklists were a bit crude, and while it may not have been built by every player, the deck attempted to maximize the usage Affinity for Artifacts and usage of artifacts for creatures like Lodestone Myr. Sticking to the main theme of Bait and Bludgeon, the decks stayed more toward an aggro-control, leaning a bit more towards control. But along with the control of Bait and Bludgeon, there was the sever beat down, the second spark, properly named Sacrificial Bam. The concept was to sacrifice artifacts to the revamped Atog and bigger brother, Megatog. Along with making huge Atogs, another staple of the Ravager Affinity combo, as we know it today, was born.

A concept and card so simple and innocent, it would soon lose that innocence and become half of the demon that fueled Ravager Affinity, Disciple of the Vault. The best way to describe Disciple of the Vault's effect is to let Wizards of the Coast explain themselves:

Perhaps the strongest card in the deck [Sacrificial Bam] is Disciple of the Vault, a simple 1/1 common card. Disciple of the Vault makes your opponent lose 1 life each time an artifact goes to any graveyard from play. With a deck full of ways to sacrifice artifacts, the Disciple can cause a world of hurt...Basically, if artifacts are being smashed, the Disciple is one unhappy guy. When the Disciple is unhappy, your opponent is unhappy. And that should make you very happy.

That is all it was, a"simple 1/1 common card." That is the innocence of Disciple of the Vault. However, little did R+D know that this"simple 1/1 common card" would turn into a demon and become more than just a simple common. What happens next is the equivalent of man making fire in cave. We arrive at Prehistoric Affinity deck that combines Affinity with a more beat down approach:

Prehistoric Affinity
Creatures (22)
4 Atog
4 Disciple of the Vault
4 Frogmite
4 Myr Enforcer
4 Myr Retriever
4 Steel Wall

Spells (18)
4 Shrapnel Blast
4 Thoughtcast
2 Thirst for Knowledge
2 Talisman of Indulgence
2 Talisman of Dominance
4 Pyrite Spellbomb

Lands (18)
4 Glimmervoid
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Great Furnace
4 Vault of Whispers
1 Swamp
1 Island

I want to point out that this is simply an Affinity build using Mirrodin cards only. That being the case, this in no way suggests that this is the ideal build or the best build. It is a simple Affinity deck meshing Bait and Bludgeon and Sacrificial Bam. Disregarding the aforementioned, it has the essential components that have stayed true to the majority of Affinity/Raffinity builds. Myr Enforcer and Frogmite, the two main Affinity cards, Disciple of the Vault, a"simple 1/1 common card," Thoughtcast, the ability to draw two cards for U, Artifact lands, for mana, to increase artifact count, and easy sacrificing, and an artifact sacrificing engine, in this case Atog. These were the dominant genes that would be passed down from generation to generation.

It was not until February 2004 when Affinity would evolve into a powerhouse.

Dark Ages of Affinity
Affinity can not only be treated genealogically, but can be treated like a society as well. In history, civilizations rise and civilizations crumble. There are great times of power and tyranny, and there are times of darkness and oppression. In February of 2004, Affinity would experience a time of power and tyranny, becoming the essence of power in Standard and Mirrodin Block Constructed formats. This can also be explained scientifically thanks to Sir Isaac Newton. Newton's Third Law of Motion reads:"For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." In this case the release of Darksteel seriously bolstered the strength of Affinity, while at the same time equally diminishing the strength of most every other deck in the formats of Standard and Mirrodin Block Constructed. This was not because Affinity was the only archetype to benefit from the new release. Rather Affinity was the only archetype to benefit greatly from the addition.

Darksteel gave Affinity new tools and evolved into something even more fearful than Affinity - Raffinity. Darksteel gave Affinity tools such as Arcbound Worker, Arcbound Ravager, and, the crème de la crème, Skullclamp. If Raffinity were Macedonia, Skullclamp would be the chariots, Arcbound Worker, the phalanx, and Arcbound Ravager, Alexander the Great. These tools allowed Raffinity a new way to win. While Affinity could use Atog and Disciple of the Vault combo to decimate opponents, but the Atog had to attack that turn before the bonus of sacrificing the artifacts ended. Now, Raffinity could now win the majority of its games outside of the red zone, but still go into red zone if needed. While being able to cast huge threats out early in the game to stomp opponents, games could easily be one between the Arcbound Ravager and Disciple of the Vault.

This is a crucial role in Affinity's evolution. In essence Darksteel allowed Affinity to break away from the norm and create another win condition that is hard to match. The majority of decks in Standard and Mirrodin Block Constructed need to attack to beat an opponent. However, with an ability to draw 3+ cards a turn via Skullclamp, an artifact sacrificing engine that not only keeps the benefits of sacrificing artifacts, but if killed shares its spoils with another artifact creature, and the sheer speed of Raffinity, defeating an opponent became merely sacrificing artifacts while Disciple of the Vault was in play. In some matches Raffinity would never have to put up a very strong offense at all. A few attacks here and there, Shrapnel Blast there, and sacrifice all the artifacts to the Arcbound Ravager activating the Disciple of the Vault would spell doom. Decks were hard pressed to keep up. No matter how much artifact hate was pumped into a deck, Raffinity could easily offset any losses due to artifact hate. Furthermore, Raffinity became faster than a mono-Red beat down deck. Red is essentially the deck that wants to win and wants to win yesterday. However, the idea that a non-Red deck is faster than a mono-Red beat down deck is ludicrous.

Essentially every deck that faced Raffinity was almost assured defeat. Furthermore, Raffinity became so standardized that anyone could pilot the deck. As I stated earlier, there were"genes" passed down from each evolution. In Raffinity, there are still Myr Enforcers and Frogmites, artifact sacrificing engine, in this case Arcbound Ravager, drawing, in the form of Thoughtcast and Skullclamp, Disciple of the Vault, and Artifact Lands.

Raffinity: Rise to Power
Creatures (24)
4 Arcbound Worker
4 Myr Retriever
4 Frogmite
4 Myr Enforcer
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Disciple of the Vault

Spells (16)
4 Shrapnel Blast
4 Thoughtcast
4 Skullclamp
4 Chromatic Sphere

Land (20)
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Great Furnace
4 Vault of Whispers
4 Darksteel Citadels
2 Glimmervoid
2 Blinkmoth Nexus

Just like all great powers of the world, be it Rome, Macedonia, England, the Soviet Union, etc. there must come a time of weakness, this blow came on June 20^th, 2004. This was the time when Fifth Dawn would see the light of day and Skullclamp would be banished from Standard and Mirrodin Block Construction forever.

Raffinity: The Great Depression
Every civilization has a period when things could not be worse. Egypt was enslaved to the Romans, United States had the"Great Depression," Germany had the after effects of World War I and the Treaty of Versailles. On June 20^th, 2004 Raffinity experienced its fall from the top when Fifth Dawn was added to books, and Skullclamp was exorcised.

Fifth Dawn unleashed two new decks, Crystal Witness and Ironworks, and a reformatting of a once rouge archteype, Counter-Tooth. Red strengthened, gaining new burn spells like Beacon of Destruction and Magma Jet, which not only dealt two damage, but also (finally) gave Red a means to manipulate the library. Green also grew stronger with the addition of Tel-Jilad Justice. Similar to Magma Jet, Tel-Jilad Justice destroyed an artifact but also gave Green a way to manipulate the library.

However in this time of despair, Raffinity found a new equipment to replace Skullclamp and, in turn, evolved again. Replacing Skullclamp was Cranial Plating, which gave way to the new Raffinity. With the loss of card drawing, banking on the Arcbound Ravager / Disciple of the Vault combo weakened. Arcbound Ravagers were finding themselves Oxidized or served justice, Tel-Jilad style, in a heartbeat. Therefore, Raffinity, given the state of the Ravager/Vault Combo and the new equipment card of choice, had to create a strong offensive showing to win. Furthermore, Raffinity also needed another source of drawing cards. While Thirst for Knowledge is a solid card, there is almost always the potential to have to discard two non-artifact cards or one really good artifact. Fifth Dawn provided drawing of two cards at a relatively low price of two life. Night's Whisper soon filled that slot, the cost of only 1B and two life to draw two cards is a trade off most Raffinity players will take.

Overview thus far
Thus far we have seen the beginning of the Affinity mechanic and crude deck builds. We have experienced the raw, unforgiving power of Raffinity the rise to power and its tyranny. We have witnessed Affinity's plummet from the top. However Raffinity was merely adapting to its new environment, going through phases until it would emerge as a contender, strong as ever.

We have also witnessed the diversity of Affinity/Raffinity's ability to decimate opponents. Prehistorically it was a pseudo-beat down deck. Affinity would evolve into Raffinity, handing opponents losses outside of the red zone. After Raffinity suffered a tragic loss due to the number of decks that packed many cards that simply read"Destroy target artifact," it had evolved and changed into a beat down deck. Raffinity would essentially rely less on Arcbound Ravager and Disciple of the Vault combo, opting for creatures with evasion, such as Somber Hoverguard or Ornithopter, equipped with Cranial Plating. However, the recurring theme of this article occurred one more time. See, you are getting a great education for next to nothing.

Renaissance of Raffinity
The Renaissance happened in Italy, starting around the 14^th century B.C.E (A.D). For those who do not know, 14^th century equates to the 1300's. During this time, the people of Europe began to question the powers that be. Essentially, the Roman Catholic Church lost its grip of power on the people and the people of Europe began to experiment and learn things that had been shunned by the Church for much of the Dark Ages. This is why this era in history, the Renaissance, gets its name, because it was a"rebirth" of not only humanism and academia, but it allowed Europe to essentially become a very technologically advanced area, if not the most advanced area in the world. This would eventually lead to the Age of Exploration and Europe's"World Power" status as the most advanced civilization in the world.

What does that have to do with Raffinity? After the banning of Skullclamp, Raffinity essentially lost its spot as the number one archetype. Raffinity fell to decks that ran Green as a main color and the majority of decks that ran artifact hate, including Big Red decks that ran cards like Detonate, Shatter, and Electrostatic Bolt.

As the saying goes"It is always darkest before dawn."

After evolving one final time, we arrive at the present. We arrive at what is dubbed"Vial Affinity." Just as the Prehistoric build and Raffinity builds, Vial Affinity kept the"genes" that have been passed down. Those"genes" being Affinity creatures, Artifact lands, an artifact sacrificing engine, and drawing.

After experiencing certain toxins and pesticides over a period of time, insects' offspring begin to develop resistance to those poisons and possibly benefiting from them as well."Vial Affinity" took that concept to heart. Constant artifact hate played the role of the pesticides, so Raffinity had to adapt."Vial Affinity" uses Aether Vial to put more threats out at instant speed. Furthermore, these"Vial Affinity" decks are using Atog in conjunction with Arcbound Ravager in order to have a sacrificing engine that cannot succumb to artifact hate. If that was not enough, Moriok Rigger has found a home in some sideboards and possible maindecks to benefit from not only the artifact hate, but the sacrificing of one's own artifacts as well. In fact, some decks have devoted the vast majority of their side board, as Osyp Lebedowicz did at Grand Prix Orlando, to running its own artifact hate with Oxidize, Viridian Shaman, and Tree of Tales, but a few of the options available.

Renaissance Affinity
Vial Affinity
Creatures (24)
4 Myr Enforcer
4 Frogmite
4 Disciple of the Vault
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Arcbound Worker
2 Atog
2 Myr Retriever

Spells (16)
4 Cranial Plating
4 Thoughtcast
4 Aether Vial
4 Chromatic Sphere

Lands (20)
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
4 Vault of Whispers
3 Darksteel Citadel
3 Great Furnace
2 Glimmervoid

Depending upon the side board, Moriok Rigger could find a home if artifact hate was strong in a match. Some may opt to replace the Myr Retriever with a pair of Riggers. The bottom line is that with all of the hate, Affinity experienced a"rebirth" and reclaimed its spot at the top archetype. This Renaissance of Affinity is ever present by the statistics of Grand Prix: New Jersey. This was posted by Ted Knutson on August 18, 2004:

Hopefully this article answered that question, in part because it shows how Affinity, be it Affinity, Raffinity, or Vial Affinity, continues to stay atop other archetypes. If you do not like any of the Affinity versions - I beseech you - at least give credit where credit is due. Affinity has proven to be a strong archetype, not simply because of its combo with Arcbound Ravager and Disciple of the Vault or the sheer speed of Skullclamp, but because it has adapted to changes in the environment and is able to adjust to those changes. If I wanted to stick my neck out really far, could Affinity be one of the elite decks that are able to adjust to a change and maintain its strength in the process.

What many players either dismiss and/or do not take into account is Affinity's ability to evolve and adjust to the changes in a given format, be it Standard or Mirrodin Block Constructed. Hopefully everyone will have walked away with something, be it a newfound respect for Affinity, a historical concept, a scientific concept, or revisiting the countless number of days spent in class. The bottom line is that Affinity, whether you love or hate it, deserves, at the very least, respect.

Later

-Stephen Gnidovec