There's been a slow drip of sweet artifact cards into Historic.

First there were a few of the Historic Anthologies, then Kaladesh Remastered - good, but not quite enough for a good artifact deck. Then there was a surprising number of cool artifacts in Adventures of the Forgotten Realms, but the big payoffs weren't really there yet. Historic Horizons however, was the tipping point.

Thought Monitor is seeing play in all formats and is the perfect new affinity card, providing card draw, a threat, and most importantly being an artifact itself. It was even one of my Top 8 Favorite Cards of 2021! Nettlecyst however is perhaps the most important card, as it provides the huge threat the deck was lacking without something like Arcbound Ravager or Cranial Plating. And lastly Esper Sentinel has proven its worth in Modern and is just as good in Historic, providing a body and annoying card draw.

Put it all together and you've got a strangely interactive but still very powerful Affinity variant!

Time Stamps:

03:10 - Match 1

21:41 - Match 2

31:25 - Match 3

46:40 - Match 4

Improvised Affinity | Historic | Jim Davis

• Creatures (15)
• 1 Stonecoil Serpent
• 2 Ornithopter
• 4 Esper Sentinel
• 4 Ingenious Smith
• 4 Thought Monitor

• Instants (4)
• 4 Metallic Rebuke

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Reverse Engineer

• Artifacts (15)
• 2 Shadowspear
• 2 The Blackstaff of Waterdeep
• 3 Tormod's Crypt
• 4 Nettlecyst
• 4 Portable Hole

• Lands (22)
• 2 Island
• 2 Plains
• 2 Deserted Beach
• 4 Hallowed Fountain
• 4 Hengegate Pathway
• 4 Spire of Industry
• 4 Treasure Vault

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Grafdigger's Cage
• 2 Aether Gust
• 3 Mystical Dispute
• 1 Rest in Peace
• 3 Archon of Absolution
• 4 Glass Casket

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Pretty sweet run too!

The mixture of synergy and proactiveness with a surprising amount of maindeck interaction that still jives with the deck is the name of the game here, as most heavy artifact synergy decks don't have room for interaction. This deck can kill stuff, draw cards, but also attack for 10 on turn four!

If you're looking to get your artifact on in Historic, this is a great way to do it!