Existing Archetypes

Urza Thopter Sword

Following list was used in the latest MTGO MCQ and just came short, falling in the finals:

As we can see this list plays 《Batterskull》 and 《Sword of the Meek》 as targets for 《Stoneforge Mystic》. 《Sword of the Meek》 is weak on its own, but combining 《Sword of the Meek》, 《Thopter Foundry》 and 《Urza, Lord High Artificer》 one can have infinite mana, life and tokens. Depending on the situation and match-up, your 《Stoneforge Mystic》 is able to tutor you part of the combo or to provide you with a creature to stabilize. 《Stoneforge Mystic》 is by no means too unfair in this deck, as you very rarely will be able to combo before turn 4, but it is nice to have a backup plan in 《Batterskull》 in case the combo is too far away or too slow.

Affinity

Next on my list is an old classic that people tend to forget about, but somehow it always is present:

How good is 《Cranial Plating》 in Affinity? Usually it is very strong and can end games in just a few turns, so being able to tutor it with 《Stoneforge Mystic》 should give Affinity a boost and make it a very playable deck again. In case you do not need or want 《Cranial Plating》, you still can get 《Batterskull》.

Those two above shown decks are examples of how 《Stoneforge Mystic》 can help already existing strategies, while providing a Plan B, in case something goes wrong. There are also entirely new decks though, thanks to 《Stoneforge Mystic》.

New Archetypes

GW Eldrazi

Here is a different flavor of Eldrazi, which is not as colorless as the usual version we are used to:

This list uses 《Stoneforge Mystic》 for pure value. Between 《Path to Exile》, protection from certain colors and 《Eldrazi Displacer》 your opponent will have a very hard time blocking. Your 《Sword of Feast and Famine》 can provide value by letting your opponent discard and getting extra mana, which in return can be used for more 《Eldrazi Displacer》 activations or 《Karn, the Great Creator》 and your 《Sword of Fire and Ice》 will draw you additional cards, in case you would like to find some additional power.

UW Stoneblade

How could I even dare to end this article, without even showing you the nostalgic UW Stoneblade. Some might remember how this deck ruled Standard back than, but how does it look like in Modern?

There are plenty of options on how to build UW while playing 《Stoneforge Mystic》, but what most of those decks have in common is playing 《Force of Negation》 to protect 《Stoneforge Mystic》 for at least a turn. The above shown list is basically a control deck that can win either with 《Stoneforge Mystic》 or by doing its control thing.

As playing 《Path to Exile》 on your opponent’s 《Stoneforge Mystic》 turn 2 is not that great, I personally would prefer to add a third color, for example red to play 《Lightning Bolt》. By adding red, you can try to be more aggressive, as the next list will show.

Jeskai Tempo

This list does not play 《Force of Negation》 main-board, instead it has 《Giver of Runes》 for protection purposes, more creatures and more burn spells to tempo out the opponent. 《Spell Queller》 and 《Teferi, Time Raveler》 is a nice combination, as a spell stolen by 《Spell Queller》 will not return if you have 《Teferi, Time Raveler》 in play.

Conclusion

As you might guess, there are plenty of options to build 《Stoneforge Mystic》 decks and we surely have not seen all of them yet. Maybe Bant or Esper are the right color combinations for 《Stoneforge Mystic》? Right now there are not too many decks trying to break the golden rule of winning before turn 4 in Modern, so there is a lot of time to do stuff and explore new strategies (with 《Stoneforge Mystic》).

What is your 《Stoneforge Mystic》 deck – or do you even bother building one and instead just go over the top of it? Modern has not been as fun as it is right now for a long time, so let’s enjoy it while it lasts!

Immanuel (Twitter)