[Standard] [BO1] RW Boros Powerstones Artifact Ramp

This deck is a homemade Artifact Powerstones synergy brew which has been outperforming for me in standard BO1 ranked ladder. I have tried out other variations for this archetype as well in different color combinations and believe that Red White is much better than other colors in the current meta.

[Standard] [BO1] Boros Powerstone Artifact Ramp Deck (mtggoldfish.com)

Deck

3 Powerstone Engineer (BRO) 20

3 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker (NEO) 141

3 Static Net (BRO) 27

2 Abrade (VOW) 139

2 Brotherhood's End (BRO) 128

3 Excavation Explosion (BRO) 132

1 Farewell (NEO) 13

2 Steel Seraph (BRO) 38

2 Combat Thresher (BRO) 35

2 Hall of Tagsin (BRO) 263

6 Plains (BRO) 269

1 Voltage Surge (NEO) 171

7 Mountain (BRO) 275

2 Cityscape Leveler (BRO) 233

3 Reckoner Bankbuster (NEO) 255

2 Destroy Evil (DMU) 17

4 Battlefield Forge (BRO) 257

2 Thran Spider (BRO) 254

1 Skitterbeam Battalion (BRO) 165

4 Sundown Pass (VOW) 266

2 The Wandering Emperor (NEO) 42

1 Portal to Phyrexia (BRO) 240

1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire (NEO) 268

1 Visions of Phyrexia (BRO) 156

PLAYSTYLE & WIN-CONDITIONS

This deck operates as a mix of control and ramp deck. Early game you seek to land a couple of [[Reckoner Bankbuster]] to start building card advantage or [[Powerstone Engineer]] to build ramp resources for your higher cost artifacts. You have a lot of removal options to keep board-control vs heavy creature decks.

Your win-condition is building immense card-advantage through 2-1ing the opponent or ramping into an unanswered game-ending threat such as [[Cityscape Leveler]], [[Portal to Phyrexia]], [[Skitterbeam Battalion]].

The skill in this deck comes from knowing when to use your removal and resolving late game bombs when you can ensure 2-1 or better.

MAJOR WEAKNESS

The biggest problem for this deck is if the other deck has a lot of card disruption such as Mono-Blue Tempo or can simply out control you vis-a-vis Esper Control. Even when against these archetypes you still would have a fighting chance if your opponent does not draw the right removal vs your threats. Unanswered [[Cityscape Leveler]] for just one turn would still end up winning you the game.

THOUGHT PROCESS BEHIND CARD SELECTION

Early Creatures:

  • [[Powerstone Engineer]] - A two drop which provides a decent body to block early aggression with a very useful death cry in the form of a powerstone for ramp usage.
  • [[Steel Seraph]] - A highly versatile card which can be an amazing 3 drop or a 6 drop which can come out early using your powerstones. A very common scenario would be dropping a [[Reckoner Bankbuster]] on turn 2 followed by the [[Steel Seraph]] on turn 3 for a 4-4 creature hitting the opponent and gaining lifesteal which would put you ahead of Aggro.
  • [[Combat Thresher]] - Another versatile card with a good stat line when dropped as a 7 drop or a blocker as a 3 drop against early aggression. It even draws a card for you which is very nice in this deck. Generally, you would want to use it as a 7 drop so the opponent uses his removal on it and might allow your [[Cityscape Leveler]] to survive next turn.
  • [[Thran Spider]] - A 3 cost 2-4 body with reach works wonders in the current meta as it dodges cut-down and is an excellent answer to the 3-2 drops such as [[Tenacious Underdog]] along with the variety of fliers carried by Angel's archetype. The fact that it generates a powerstone for you and the opponent is another positive as it is very likely that you can make use of the powerstone much better than the opponent. The 7-cost ability is an excellent resource sink in the late game as you have so many artifacts in the deck to draw from.

Removal:

  • [[Static Net]] - An excellent removal card tailor made for this deck. It takes out important threats, gives you a powerstone for ramping AND provides two life which could be the difference between stabilizing vs Mono-Red or burning out. Do not hesitate to use it on curve if you don't have better options to play. Sometimes, removing the opponent's [[Tenacious Underdog]] or [[Reckoner Bankbuster]] or [[Wedding Announcement]] to deny card draw engines is an excellent use for this card.
  • [[Abrade]] - Standard versatile removal against 3 toughness creatures or opponents' artifacts such as [[Reckoner Bankbuster]].
  • [[Excavation Explosion]] - Another removal card tailor made for this deck. It is very versatile as it can answer opponents planewalkers or even hit face for that last bit of damage vs control. It is almost a 2-1 if it resolves as it provides a powerstone which is basically another land in this deck.
  • [[Voltage Surge]] - A one-off copy of this card for basic removal which can somewhat scale in late game as you would have a lot of artifacts by that point to sacrifice.
  • [[Destroy Evil]] - A must have card in the current meta due to abundance of game winning creatures with 4+ toughness such as [[Sheoldred, the Apocalypse]], [[Serra Paragon]] etc. Using it against enchantments such as [[Wedding Announcement]] or [[Fable of the Mirror-Breaker]] is another use case for this card.
  • [[Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire]] - One-off copy which you will mostly use as a land resource if early and a 4-damage creature removal if late game.

Board-wipes:

  • [[Brotherhood's End]] - Excellent board wipe against soldiers or aggro creatures or even planeswalkers. Another use case is removing multiple opponent low-cost artifacts such as [[Reckoner Bankbuster]]. You would rarely use it to remove artifacts as we ourselves have a bunch of them. Having a copy of this in mulligan would determine your early game plan by building your own sticky resources and casting this on turn-3 to reset the board state. Sometimes, it will simply win you the game if the opponent overplays their early game creatures into you while you are holding this card.
  • [[Farewell]] - A one-off copy which would sometimes win you the game on its own. Do not be afraid to use it to simply deny opponents their graveyards or to simply completely reset the game board as you have a lot of late game resources. Sometimes, I would cast it just for the graveyard hate which would completely shut down some decks which use [[Repair and Recharge]] as an example.

Planeswalkers:

  • [[The Wandering Emperor]] - Arguably the best planeswalker in the current meta due to it being a 4 cost with incredibly versatile use case. You would almost always want to resolve on the opponent's turn to either remove a tapped creature, buff your blocker or simply create a 2-2 with vigilance when against control.

Late-game Bombs:

  • [[Cityscape Leveler]] - Very expensive card which fits like a glove in this deck. Simply avoid creature card disruption when against Esper or Mono-Blue and it would win you the game. The great thing about this card is if it resolves, it will always be a 2-1 at the minimum. But if they choose to destroy it instead of exiling it, then it becomes a 3-1 at the minimum when you unearth it next turn. Sometimes the stars will align, and you would get to use it on turn 4 or 5 with your ramp resources at which point the opponent would simply surrender. An amazing card and what makes this deck possible.
  • [[Portal to Phyrexia]] - An incredible threat which has to be answered or the opponent will lose. Only a one-off copy as even with all the ramp resources this deck has, it is almost too expensive and prone to more disruption unlike the expensive creature [[Cityscape Leveler]]. Consideration can be made to replace the one-off copy with another [[Cityscape Leveler]] but sometimes having more variety in your late game threats is better especially as this card can act as an expensive board clear as well vs Angels.
  • [[Skitterbeam Battalion]] - A card which I was hesitant to include but has actually exceeded my expectations. It is incredible as a powerful 9 drop surprise finisher against control heavy decks and certain midrange decks OR to provide three bodies to block vs aggro or soldier decks in mid-game.

Other Cards:

  • [[Fable of the Mirror-Breaker]] - What can be said about this card which hasn't been said before. It is almost aways a 2-1 which we love in this deck, it provides ramp resources for your expensive cards, provides card selection which this deck lacks and will win you the game if you get to use the reflection a couple times on your expensive cards. One of the major reasons to play red.
  • [[Hall of Tagsin]] - As you have a lot of colorless cards in this deck, the downside is not that big of deal and you can use it to create more powerstones when against control decks and lacking cards to use. Can be removed for life-gain, creature removal or cycling lands if you feel like you are facing more aggro or midrange decks.
  • [[Reckoner Bankbuster]] - Another amazing two-drop which almost all decks want in the current meta and this deck is no exception. It actually works much better in this deck due to the abundance of powerstones you would be generating and provides much needed card draw which this deck otherwise lacks. Case could be made for having for all four of these instead of just three.
  • [[Visions of Phyrexia]] - I am considering including another copy of this card if I didn't believe it would slow this deck down too much versus aggro. It generates a powerstone when it lands and lets you draw two cards every turn. If the meta shifts towards less aggro and more midrange and control heavy, then I can see including another copy of this card.

MULLIGANS

Seek to have at least two to three lands in your starting hand. Two lands are a playable start IF you have a [[Reckoner Bankbuster]] in hand to drop on turn 2 followed by drawing a card and hopefully getting your third land next turn. Make sure to mulligan if you end up having 3 late game expensive cards in hand otherwise you would be card dead for the majority of the game and would probably lose. Most iterations of starting hand are playable in my experience.

Depending upon if you get any mass removal cards in hand would decide your game plan. If you end up with a copy of [[Brotherhood's End]], you might seek to hold back on early creatures and let the opponent play into it to ensure a 2-1 or better right at the start. Otherwise, seek to build and control the board and create ramp resources for your game win cards.

MATCHUPS

  • Mono-Black - This is a highly favored match-up for you. You have efficient removal for all their creatures and planeswalkers. You out grind them hard in value with your bombs. In addition, with the majority of your creatures being higher then 5 combined power & toughness ALONG with being artifacts makes their premium removal such as [[Cut Down]] and [[Go for the Throat]] completely useless.

  • Grixis - This is also a favored match-up for you if slightly less favored then Mono-Black. The addition of red and blue gives them access to artifact removal for your [[Reckoner Bankbuster]] and card disruption for your late game threats. On the flip side, you also have a lot of efficient removal for their threats and can generally out control them and win the game as long as you can dodge their card disruption. Make sure that you always have another creature in play when you cast your [[Cityscape Leveler]] to dodge [[Invoke Despair]]. Generally, they won't have any answer for your [[Portal to Phyrexia]] if it resolves and it would win you the game there and then.

  • Mono-White Soldiers - This is a favored match-up as you have enough board removal and wipes to answer all their creature heavy threats. As long as you can survive till turn 5, you should have the game well in hand. The only problem I see is if you end up not getting any decent removal in hand for some reason. Save your removal for their premium threats and don't waste on other creatures even if it means you lose some life.

  • Angels/Mardu Angels - This is a more favored match-up then Mono-white soldiers. You destroy mid-range decks such as these due to the efficient suite of removal and bombs that you carry. Make sure you don't overplay into their [[Farewell]] or [[Depopulate]] and you will do just fine.

  • Mono-Blue Tempo/Esper Control - Unfavored matchup. They have a lot of card disruption which can mess up your curve. One [[Dissipate]] against your [[Cityscape Leveler]] means you probably lose the game. Be very careful when casting your late game threats unless you are sure they do not have card disruption in hand or are not carrying [[Farewell]]. IF you can remove their threats without being disrupted when casting removal, then it is likely that you can win. [[Reckoner Bankbuster]], [[Fable of the Mirror-breaker]] and [[Thran Spider]] are your friends with these matchups.

CONCLUSION

Try out this deck. It is very fun, and the opponent has no clue what you are going to do next as this deck is still undiscovered. It performs really well versus the current meta and just some tweaks to it would let it perform better versus card disruption if that if what you are mostly facing.