[Modern] Tempered Steel
A primer for untapped greatness.
Hawkward. Brown Aggro. Tempered Steel. Call it what you will. I call it Tempered Steel: The Unstoppable Wrecking Machine.
The history of Tempered Steel, (hereafter will be called TS, the Deck, the Deck That Stops All, The One True Deck, and Sir Opponant Concedington), began the day it was spoiled, when thousands of artifact control and aggro builders alike scrambled the Standard and Extended card lists, looking for a viable means of utilizing the awesome power the +2/+2 can bring. It wasn't until almost a year later that it had any real impact on a format, with a huge splash at the first 2011 Grand Prix. Inconsistency and poor mulliganing choices seemed
to be the biggest issue in giving the One True Deck it's due. Later in the year, the cards Jace, the Mind Sculpter and Stoneforge Mystic were banned in Standard, nerfing the infamous Caw-Blade decks, and completely opening up the format. That's when TS began making a huge impact on the format.
Adding a bigger card pool for Modern, a few have had great success with the Deck. Though the true potential of the deck is untapped, waiting for the right day to once again become a dominant deck, it is hardly a sleeping monster.
Using both Metalcraft and Affinity power the Deck to levels unheard of by most mortal men. Keep reading, and you may become privvy to this discustingly powerful beast, and may even learn to weild it to do your commands.
Your Objective: destroy your opponant's life total as fast, and ruthlessly efficient as possible. You do this with the many little low-no cost creatures the deck can run.
Typically,
these are the creatures running the Machine that Topples All;
(These are based off of the standard mono white or white/blue builds)
Memnite. A zero drop 1/1 artifact creature that fuels Metalcraft and Affinity, gets the Tempered Steel bump, and is a 1/1 artifact creature for zero.
Ornithopter: the basic reasoning applies to this as it did to Memnite. Though it is a 0/2, the evasiveness in flying is what makes this creature an auto include.
Vault Skirge: if it's before turn four, I typically see this as a 1/1 flying lifelink for one colorless. Paying life with the Phyrexian mana means little to nothing when in two turn without other bumps, you've already gained it back. Mid-late game, if and when you have some mana wiggle room, using a Mox Opal or in some cases, [card]Springleaf Drum[/
card] can provide that black mana needed to cast it. As with most other creatures the Deck can run, it is also fuel for Metalcraft and Affinity. With a TS bump, this becomes an early game 3/3 flying lifelink. Need I say more?
Frogmite: often times, this is a 2/2 for 0-1 mana without any type of drawback. It's a steady beater, feeds in to the Deck's mechanics, and gets the TS bumps.
Signal Pest: Signal Pest's evasive attacking ability with the Battlecry it gives, allows you to be more punishing, more quickly. Feeding into Metalcraft, Affinity and getting the TS bump while pumping up other attacking creatures makes this a strong addition to an already strong creature base. In instances where multiple copies are on the field, this card can be downright brutal.
Archbound Ravager: muahahahahaha! Looking at the card, it is hard argue it's validity in a deck like this. Budget builders may cringe at
this as a four of, but don't worry budget builders, the Deck caters to all who weild it's power.
There are plenty of other creatures that can make the cut for the Deck as well. Here are only a few, and should be considered depending on budget, meta and personal preference.
Porcelain Legionnaire: using the same princable as Vault Skirge concerning Phyrexian mana costs, this is a heck of a two drop. 3/1 first strike, feeds the Machine, and gets TS bumps. First Strike is crittical in smashing other creatures, and especially important during slugfests.
Steel Overseer: takes bumps, gives permanant bumps, and feeds into the Machine. When this card was in Standard, it was a common lynchpin for the Deck.
Glint Hawk: for a brief time, this deck was called Hawkward, because of the awkward yet effective use of the Hawk. Though it doesn't feed the Machine, it allows neat use of Mox Opal if Metalcraft is active.
Playing the Hawk with activated Opal, returning the Opal to hand, then playing an untapped Opal again was a common site on first turn when this was is Type 2. Also considering it is a 2/2 flyer for one white, it may be a go-to option for some players.
Etched Champion: a 2/2 for three colorless may seem nuts in this deck, but when Metalcraft is active and this guy is swinging, he's very hard to mess with. Plus, who doesn't like this artwork?
Master of Etherium: Power and Toughness equal to the number of artifacts you control, bumping other creatures, feeding the Machine and getting TS bumps. This card is great, but not very reliable in white-land only builds.
Etherium Sculpter: playing into Metalcraft, Affinity, artifact bump, and cheapening any artifact you have in hand, this card is a very effective play for UW builds. Like with the Master right above this, it's probably not the wisest decision for mono
white players.
Myr Retriever: That's right. A card that plays into the Deck with the extra ability to return an artifact back to your hand. At two cost, this is a perfect fit.
Broodstar: even with the flying and a possibility to cost one less, I believe this card to be weaker than the Master of Etherium in many ways. Still, if a player has the mana production to cast it, Broodstar can be a nice bomb usually seen mid-late game.
Creatures aren't the only thing that oils the Machine. Here are the support cards usually seen in [Modern] builds:
Tempered Steel: The namesake of the deck. +2/+2 to all artifact creatures you control. Swing big as soon as this drops and you're able. You. Will. Win.
Path to Exile: one of the greatest creature removal spells of all time. No restrictions, and the "drawback" is usually not so bad. At one white, this spell is easily played
against pesky beaters.
Dispatch: like it's cousin Path, this can be one heck of a creature removal spell. However, the drawback can be critically underwelming if Metalcraft isn't active. This is great for the side, and a nice budget choice for the main.
Counter Packages: WU builds have the ability to run counterspells of varying sorts. Generally, these spells include Mana Leak, Spell Pierce, and Dispell. Varient builds and sideboard cards typically include Stoic Rebuttal, Remand, Cancel and Negate.
Drawing: Who said all the good draw in [Modern] is banned? With cards like [card]Serum Visions[card], Telling Time, [card]Tezzeret's Gambit[/card], and Thoughtcast at your disposal, it's easy to
make the argument against this popular misconception about [Modern].
Mana, mana, mana, mana!
(Mana!)
Most builds run less than twenty mana. So mana is typically tight. Have no fear though, because [Modern] has plenty of options for fixation.
Plains: typically the easiest way to put one white mana in your mana pool. Having two white is critical to the Deck.
Mox Opal: if Metalcraft is easily achieved, (keep in mind the Opal itself counts as one of the three), this is probably the best nonland mana source for the Deck. Watch out though! This kitten is legendary, so multiple copies in hand is lame. If one os already on the field, you can pretty much rack an Opal pull as a dead draw.
Inkmoth Nexus: an uncounterable 1/1 flying infect man-land that feeds into Affinity, Metalcraft, and gets all the bumps your artifact creatures get. Oh, and it can tap for one colorless.
[card:
3hyiqeon]Darksteel Citadel[/card]: while only producing one colorless, this card helps feed the Machine by being the only nonbanned artifact land from Mirrodin.
Springleaf Drum: Varient splash builds and WU both greatly benefit from having the one of any color this can produce. Sometimes I think this slows builds down not running a lot of colored spells, but it still gets plenty of action across the board.
Hallowed Fountain: the end all be all mana fixation in Modern resolves solely around the Shocklands. Using up two points of life for that early game colored mana needed is often meaningless.
Seachrome Coast: sometimes better than Hallowed Fountain itself for WU builds, this card can tap for either white or blue in the early game without any drawback. The drawback is after the fourth turn, no way that baby is coming in play untapped unless there's a problem or you've already been able to play
out your hand through Affinity and low cost stuff.
Glacial Fortress: Hallowed Fountains and Glacial Fortresses can almost guarantee the mana fixation WU builds need. Slight drawback, but no better or worse than the Coast throughout the game.
Island: in some heavy blue builds, this is often needed. Two blue cost spells are everywhere and often useful. This is an easy and cheap way to achieve this if needed.
Other WU lands, and Varient Splashing: the [Modern] cardpool is literally loaded with the mana allowing you to play virtually any way you choose. Any budget has options from the Zendikar refuge lands, to the Kamigawa come into play tapped lands, to anny several of the modern manlands available. If you look, you will find the mana you need.
Sideboard Options: since builds of the deck can pretty much run any cheap spell, the sideboard for Tempered Steel varies wildly. Along with. The counter, draw, and some creatures mentioned before,
these cards are mainstays.
Spellskite: a cheap costing target sponge that gets artifact bumps, and can survive most cheap burn spells. This card is great against decks with a lot of spot removal and general creature hate.
Glint Hawk Idol: potentially a 2/2 flyer that avoids most board wipes. If you see a lot of Day of Judgement type of effects, this may be a sound option to MD.
Gitaxian Probe: knowing what is in your opponants hand is usually information worth having. At the cost of one blue or two life, and the extra draw, this card is often seen in many nonblue using builds.
Whipflare: any TS deck that runs any means to produce any colored mana should be running these. Against heavy aggro meta, there is little better option. Two damage to all but your own creatures is more awesome than I can convey in this primer.
[card]Gutshot[/
card]: I know. "Again with the Phyrexian Mana?", but still, this card is great even for mono white sides.
Bounce Spells: Modern not only has the mana fixation for just about anything, but it offers plenty of options in bounce control. Vapor Snag and Unsummon are some common examples that bounce mean creatures, while cards like Ocard]Echoing Truth[/card] and Into the Roil can bounce any nonlands and then add something a little extra to the mix.
Mono White Decks: mono white leaves room for the slew of great protection and fog-like spells. Cards like Etheral Haze see play from the side to stall other heavy aggro builds. Spot removal in cards like Oblivian Ring can pinpoint that pesky source of your problem.
Equipment Builds! I've seen some equipment builds, utilizing the enemy color Swords and cheap little equipment ranging from [
card]Lightning Greeves[/card] to Paradise Mantle. These builds usually side more of whatever sword they can get the best use of.
My Deck: (32-6 at local events)
As you can see my side is versatile against many decks commonly seen in competetive play. This is a common WU build, often seen. I find the splash of U for the soft counter and draw really pushes this Deck to it's full [Modern] potential.
Mono White Build
You can see here how having so many creatures makes the Deck a breeze to sideboard into. (More varients coming soon!)
The Matchups:
Against Tempo and Heavy Aggro:
The only aggro deck with as much evasion as TS is Faeries, and they lack the raw power of TS, (but usually have us on control). The easiest means to victory is to simply outrace your opponant. Against the slight control some tempo builds offer, the Machine usually outraces the control before it can make a differnce, (provided the deck is playing out as it
is intended).
Against Control: again, the key is outracing your opponants. This is easy when you swing frfor death on turn 3-4.
Combo: you have a 3-4 turn clock aga[inst combo decks. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Splashing U utter shuts down combo if played smart. If Scapeshift gets faster, I may need to consider adding Tectonic Edge. If landbase combos are plentiful in your meta, you may want consider running these as MD or side cards if you can't afford the mana switching.
[Notes]
I will be adding these as I learn new things that may be relavent.
Well, there you have it. I hope my primer has been informative and enjoyable. Please feel free to tell me something I may have missed, was inaccurate about, or could help the primer in any way. This was my first primer, so thanks a bunch for reading.
