Artifact Onslaught by DJGonz

Format: Commander

Commander: Sai, Master Thopterist

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 44

Deck overview

This mono-blue artifact deck is commanded by Sai, Master Thopterist, focusing on generating massive board presence through Thopter tokens, rapid card draw, and decisive go-wide combat finishers. The early game establishes mana velocity through low-cost mana rocks and cost reducers like Etherium Sculptor and Sol Ring. Once Sai enters the battlefield on Turn 3, every subsequent artifact spell produces flying Thopter tokens, which fuel card-advantage engines like Skullclamp, Shimmer Dragon, and Bident of Thassa. The midgame expands this mechanical advantage with token multipliers like Simulacrum Synthesizer and Stridehangar Automaton. Critical onset occurs around Turn 5 when mass-animation or power-boosting spells—such as Cyberdrive Awakener, Rise and Shine, or Graaz, Unstoppable Juggernaut—convert utility artifacts and Thopters into lethal flying armies. The deck protects its board with selective counterspells, flash enablers, and asymmetric resets like Cyclonic Rift, closing out games within two combat rotations.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Academy Ruins
  • 1 Adaptive Omnitool
  • 1 All Is Dust
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Archway of Innovation
  • 1 Bident of Thassa
  • 1 Buried Ruin
  • 1 Clock of Omens
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Cyberdrive Awakener
  • 1 Cyclonic Rift
  • 1 Darksteel Citadel
  • 1 Desynchronization
  • 1 Etherium Sculptor
  • 1 Fabricate
  • 1 Forensic Gadgeteer
  • 1 Forsaken Monument
  • 1 Foundry Inspector
  • 1 Graaz, Unstoppable Juggernaut
  • 1 Grand Architect
  • 1 Hangarback Walker
  • 1 Idol of Oblivion
  • 1 Iron Spider, Stark Upgrade
  • 26 Island
  • 1 Kappa Cannoneer
  • 1 Leonardo da Vinci
  • 1 Liberator, Urza's Battlethopter
  • 1 Master Transmuter
  • 1 Master of Etherium
  • 1 Mechanized Production
  • 1 Metallic Rebuke
  • 1 Mind Stone
  • 1 Moonsilver Key
  • 1 Moonsnare Prototype
  • 1 Myr Battlesphere
  • 1 Myr Retriever
  • 1 Mystic Forge
  • 1 Negate
  • 1 Nettlecyst
  • 1 Ornithopter of Paradise
  • 1 Padeem, Consul of Innovation
  • 1 Palladium Myr
  • 1 Pongify
  • 1 Rapid Hybridization
  • 1 Reality Shift
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Resculpt
  • 1 Research Thief
  • 1 Retrofitter Foundry
  • 1 Rise and Shine
  • 1 Sai, Master Thopterist
  • 1 Seat of the Synod
  • 1 Shimmer Dragon
  • 1 Shimmer Myr
  • 1 Shuri, Wakandan Inventor
  • 1 Silver Myr
  • 1 Simulacrum Synthesizer
  • 1 Skullclamp
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Steel Overseer
  • 1 Stoic Rebuttal
  • 1 Stridehangar Automaton
  • 1 Tezzeret, Artifice Master
  • 1 Tezzeret, Cruel Captain
  • 1 Thirst for Knowledge
  • 1 Thopter Spy Network
  • 1 Thought Monitor
  • 1 Thought Vessel
  • 1 Thoughtcast
  • 1 Throne of the God-Pharaoh
  • 1 Unstoppable Plan
  • 1 Vedalken Archmage
  • 1 War Room
  • 1 Whir of Invention
  • 1 Whirler Rogue