UR Welder

One of the funny things about the Urza Block was the reception of its creatures. Despite introducing several of the games’ strongest 1-drops, they went largely unnoticed because of the OTHER cards in the set. Among those creatures was a little gem called Goblin Welder.  Sure, he could be used to counteract Tinker.. but he could also be used to enable his own combos and win you the game. Today we’re going to explore a deck that does just that! Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to introduce UR Welder.

I’ve never been a fan of decks that rely on a single card to win you the game; they just seem too fragile to me. As a result, I often focus on synergy when creating decks that incorporate such win conditions. If the deck can win without it, then adding in a card that does powerful things is just icing on the cake. A lot of welder decks can be pretty narrow, as they often focus on the Welder combo in order to beat down the opponent. So how do you create a deck with lots of artifacts, that doesn’t focus on being an artifact deck? That’s where it can get tricky.

Focus. The deck has a few areas that it tries to focus on. Getting out big threats is certainly one of them, but finding the right pieces and protecting them once they’re in play are equally important (if not more so). With its emphasis on artifacts, I decided to incorporate the colour most often associated with them – Blue. Intuition and Brainstorm both allow you to find these pieces, with the latter also working with Welder to get your expensive artifacts into the graveyard/play. The 1-of Masticore also helps, as its low CMC means you can get it out and working pretty early on.

The mana base. This was actually harder than you might think. How do you balance a deck that plays 2 colours, while including Sol lands to help power out its many artifacts. The short answer is: thank goodness for fetch lands. The combination of Sol lands into the deck allows many cards to be played early in the game. This isn’t just true when it comes to artifacts either, as Intuition can be played on T2 thanks to Tomb/City. Combine that with a T1 Welder and you’ve got yourself a game. They have the added bonus of allowing your own cards to be played with a Sphere or two in play.

Defense. I decided to add Sphere of Resistance for a few reasons – not only does it provide some defense in the form of slowing down your opponents, but it also acts as a cheap source of artifact-ness for your Welder. Mage’s Guile.. need a second to check that up? I don’t blame you. Believe it or not, it actually came down to a decision between Guile and Mana Leak. I ended up choosing Guile because a) you mostly want either of them to protect your creatures, b) it’s not conditional protection and c) it can be cycled for cheap if you want to dig.

So what are you defending? The creatures of course! Goblin Welder should be your go-to for getting creatures into play, but the deck also contains 4 Metalworkers as well. These 2 creatures allow you to play the very high CMC threats of the deck very early on. I decided to go with some variety in which threats I put into the deck, as Welder + graveyard = toolbox (sort of). If you want more consistency however, then it’s definitely worth taking a look at other options. Happy Brewing!

UR Welder

4 Volcanic Island

1 Mountain

1 Island

7 Fetch lands

4 Ancient Tomb

4 City of Traitors

4 Wasteland

Total: 25

4 Goblin Welder

4 Metalworker

2 Phyrexian Colossus

1 Colossus of Sardia

1 Masticore

2 Triskelion

1 Tetravus

Total: 15

4 Intuition

4 Sphere of Resistance

1 Voltaic Key

2 Smokestack

1 Tangle Wire

4 Brainstorm

4 Mage’s Guile

Total: 20

Sideboard

4 Tormod’s Crypt

3 Pyroblast

2 Red Elemental Blast

2 Chain of Vapor

4 Force of Will