









Overview:
This Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage deck focuses on artifact/legendary synergy with flash-enabled threats and graveyard recursion. While it has strong value engines and midrange artifact payoffs, it lacks explosive combos, free interaction, and consistent win acceleration, positioning it as a focused casual build.
Primer:
Core Strategy: Leverage Raff's historic flash ability to deploy sagas/artifacts/legends at instant speed while using recursion engines (Emry, Hanna, Dance of the Manse) to grind value. Win through artifact beaters (Triplicate Titan, Wurmcoil Engine), saga-driven tempo (Kiora Bests the Sea God), or token swarms (Thopter Shop, The Antiquities War).
Key Lines:
- Flash Sagas: Cast The Antiquities War or Kiora Bests the Sea God during opponents' turns to maximize impact.
- Artifact Loops: Sacrifice Myr Retriever to Scrap Trawler/Oswald Fiddlebender for recursive value.
- Reanimation Payoff: Cast Dance of the Manse X=6+ to turn artifacts into 4/4 beaters.
Mulligan Priorities:
- Keep hands with 3 lands + artifact ramp (Sol Ring, Talisman of Progress).
- Prioritize early enablers like Emry or Oswald Fiddlebender.
- Avoid hands without blue sources or graveyard setup.
Critical Interactions:
- Unwinding Clock + Empowered Autogenerator for exponential mana.
- Voltaic Servant untapping Thran Dynamo/Shorikai.
- Teshar reviving small creatures from historic spell casts.
Weak Matchups:
- Fast combo decks outpacing midrange value.
- Graveyard hate (Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void).
- Stax pieces limiting artifact recursion (Null Rod).
Weaknesses:
Critical:
- No infinite combos or deterministic finishers
- Graveyard dependency with limited protection
Moderate:
- Slow board development (avg. 6+ mana threats)
- Minimal free interaction for combo disruption
Minor:
- Weak to flying swarms (only Dispatch for fliers)
Most Important Cards:
- Dance of the Manse
- Emry, Lurker of the Loch
- Scrap Trawler
- The Antiquities War
- Mechanized Production
- Oswald Fiddlebender
- Unwinding Clock
- Kiora Bests the Sea God
- Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle
- Shorikai, Genesis Engine
Attribute Ratings:
Speed: 5/10
- Earliest impactful plays T3-4 (Emry/Oswald), win attempts T8-10
- No mana-positive rocks or fast combo enablers
Resilience: 6/10
- Multiple recursion engines (3+ graveyard retrievers)
- Vulnerable to graveyard exile and counter-heavy metas
Consistency: 6/10
- 8 tutors for artifacts/recursion
- Redundant historic payoffs but no combo redundancy
Interaction: 5/10
- 7 targeted removal spells (Swords, Path)
- Minimal counterspells/stax beyond Reidane
Rating Justification:
This deck exceeds precon power (rubric 4.0) with synergistic recursion and flash threats but lacks the speed (T8-10 wins vs T7-8 expected at 6.0) and protection of optimized builds. Its artifact value engine aligns with 5.0-5.5 ("Optimized Casual"), but the absence of infinite mana/damage loops and reliance on combat damage prevent higher tiers.
Power level: 5.0 - 5.5
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