Whir of Invention has consistently proven to be one of the most efficient and flexible tutors in Modern. An instant-speed tutor that has built-in cost reduction and can find some of the most unfair hate cards in the format? It's no wonder that there are multiple archetypes trying to find ways to take advantage of this one card. Most people are familiar with Lantern Control and some variants heavily featuring Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas and Tezzeret the Seeker. This build by Susurrus_MTG is none of those things, and instead focuses heavily on play as many lock pieces as possible:
Whir Toolbox- Modern | Susurrus_MTG, 5-0 Modern League
- Planeswalkers (1)
- 1 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
- Instants (4)
- 4 Whir of Invention
- Sorceries (1)
- 1 Merchant Scroll
- Artifacts (32)
- 1 Bottled Cloister
- 1 Crucible of Worlds
- 1 Damping Sphere
- 1 Jester's Cap
- 1 Pyrite Spellbomb
- 1 Tormod's Crypt
- 1 Witchbane Orb
- 2 Expedition Map
- 2 Sorcerous Spyglass
- 3 Chalice of the Void
- 3 Engineered Explosives
- 3 Welding Jar
- 4 Ensnaring Bridge
- 4 Mishra's Bauble
- 4 Mox Opal
This deck is all about maximizing the power of Whir of Invention and the silver bullets it can find. You've got Mox Opal and Mishra's Bauble to help you power out fast Whirs. Mox Opal even gives you the ability to power out a turn one Chalice of the Void, which can just end some games before it starts. These cheap artifacts make it easy for you to cast Whir of Invention early on for cards like Ensnaring Bridge and Damping Sphere. The idea here is that you can use your Welding Jars to protect these key lock pieces so that your opponent can't play the game.
The key to this deck is the versatility and power of the singletons. Crucible of Worlds teams up with cards like Tectonic Edge and Ghost Quarter to lock out decks that focus on non-basic lands. Sorcerous Spyglass can deal with any deck that relies too heavily on specific permanents, whether they are Arcbound Ravager, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, or Karn Liberated. Jester's Cap and Witchbane Orb can ruin the day of combo decks that rely on specific cards that target you.
One of the hidden strengths of this deck is how consistently it is able to protect these key cards. You have a ton of Welding Jars, plus Tolaria West to tutor for either Welding Jar or Academy Ruins. This combination means that it's much easier for you to protect your key artifacts than most other comparable decks.
The most interesting thing about this deck is how flexible it is. Depending on what you expect to see in your local metagame, you can tweak the numbers and singletons to optimize your matchup against those strategies. Lots of graveyard decks? Add some Nihil Spellbombs or Scrabbling Claws. Pithing Needle, Grafdigger's Cage, and even Brittle Effigy are all options depending on what kinds of cards you expect to have to beat. The only limit on Whir of Invention appears to be your imagination, and this shell leaves plenty of room for you to leverage your imagination.