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.
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
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