Vintage is a crazy format where all manner of cards considered absolutely unplayable in other Constructed formats can find their time in the sun. For example, cards like Slash Panther, Razia, Boros Archangel, Ingot Chewer, and Petrified Field have seen substantial play in the format. This week, BlackLotust1 continues the tradition of finding the oddest of cards to break open a format. Let’s take a look at this exciting version of Workshops.

Affinity ? Vintage | BlackLotust1, 3-1 Vintage Daily Event

• Creatures (24)
• 1 Phyrexian Metamorph
• 2 Steel Overseer
• 2 Vault Skirge
• 3 Frogmite
• 4 Arcbound Ravager
• 4 Memnite
• 4 Phyrexian Revoker
• 4 Signal Pest

• Spells (19)
• 1 Black Lotus
• 1 Cranial Plating
• 1 Mana Crypt
• 1 Mox Jet
• 1 Mox Pearl
• 1 Mox Sapphire
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Umezawa's Jitte
• 2 Crucible of Worlds
• 2 Skullclamp
• 3 Genesis Chamber
• 4 Tangle Wire

• Lands (17)
• 1 Strip Mine
• 1 Tolarian Academy
• 3 Mishra's Factory
• 4 Ancient Tomb
• 4 Mishra's Workshop
• 4 Wasteland

• Sideboard] 3 Grafdigger's Cage 1 Karakas 3 Leyline of Sanctity 4 Leyline of the Void 4 Thorn of Amethyst [/Sideboard (3)
• 3 Grafdigger's Cage 1 Karakas 3 Leyline of Sanctity 4 Leyline of the Void 4 Thorn of Amethyst [/Sideboard]

Buy This Deck

Right now, Vintage is all about Workshops. The restriction of Chalice of the Void has done little to slow the dominance of Lodestone Golem and company, which goes a long way toward discouraging people from playing Blue decks without Monastery Mentor. Of course, a problem with the Workshop decks is they can often have a hard time closing out games through opposing Swords to Plowshares and Ancient Grudges, even if it is very proficient at preventing the game from progressing.

This week, BlackLotust1 asks an interesting question. What happens if we forget the disruptive artifacts like Sphere of Resistance? What happens if we actually just cut Lodestone Golem instead of leaning on it as a primary win condition? Is it possible to use Mishra's Workshop to power out a blisteringly fast aggro start backed by the highest impact lock pieces like Tangle Wire? It turns out the answer may be yes.

The key to this strategy is Genesis Chamber. Your goal in this deck is to lead off with Genesis Chamber and then dump a bunch of cheap artifact creatures onto the board to generate a bunch of Myr tokens. These Myr do a number of powerful things in this shell, such as powering up Signal Pest, Steel Overseer, and Cranial Plating, giving Arcbound Ravager ample artifacts to eat, and giving you plenty of Skullclamp fodder to stay ahead on cards. This gives you the potential for some enormously explosive draws in the same vein as Modern Affinity.

Unlike Modern Affinity, however, this deck isn’t fully dependent on an aggressive start to close out the game. If the pieces don’t quite come together, you still have the more traditional mana denial plan, utilizing Wasteland, Strip Mine, and Tangle Wire to buy time until you can resolve a Crucible of Worlds to complete the lock. All told, this is a fascinating take on Mishra's Workshop, and taking a fast, low to the ground approach may give you just the edge you need in Workshop mirrors without giving up the advantages of the Workshop decks against Blue.