SixSix | Art by Andrew Mar

Greetings and salutations, my dear brewers, and welcome to the second article in the Inside Out series, where I take a classic brewing theme and try building a deck using its least played colors.

As usual, allow me to bow down to the fantastic Philomène Gatien, who kindly allowed me to take over from her Do Your Worst series. If you haven't, go check out her articles, they're amazing.

Fun fact: back in the day, Mono- was already the least played color for artifacts-centric builds. This hasn't changed. To this day, there are only a puny 535 green decks in this category, much below the 3.1K for mono-.

Two-color pairs follow a similar trend, with lying flat at the bottom, with 694, while Orzhov () comes second to last with 1.3K. Jund () would have been a most excellent candidate as well, with 680 decks.

I suppose four-color would also have been interesting, since any combination with green has less than 300 decks to its name.

In the end though, I settled for Mono-, as I found the challenge more interesting to tackle.

The Hunt for the Perfect Commander

This has been no meager task. There is a fine edge to building a deck while not falling into the Treasures, Tokens, Food or Counters pitfall. I wanted to build something that was truly centered on artifacts, and have them play a major role in the strategy.

Oviya, Automech ArtisanOviya, Automech Artisan was my first pick, with a build centered around big mean stuff to cheat into play. But there wouldn't have been much difference between choosing big green beaters and artifacts for this build. The Vehicle route could have been an interesting one too, but it felt a bit lackluster.

Ich-Tekik, Salvage SplicerIch-Tekik, Salvage Splicer was most seductive... Before realizing quickly that it had been Philomene's as well. So that was a no-go.

Old GnawboneOld Gnawbone was tempting, but focused on Treasures rather than artifacts.

In the end though, I found an underplayed commander that really spoke to me. Meet SixSix.

This is a most excellent outlet to have in the command zone. And with only 24 artifacts decks to its name, I felt like it was the perfect underdog.

What Makes SixSix the Perfect Candidate?

Before diving into the build proper, I'd like to address the general strategy this brew follows

To make it simple, SixSix allows you to cast stuff from your graveyard, at the puny cost of discarding a land. In a way, it's not too dissimilar to good old Muldrotha, the GravetideMuldrotha, the Gravetide, but with two upsides:

• It's much, much cheaper to cast and even to recast.
• Retrace suffers no limitations whatsoever.

From there, I started to think how artifacts could help. Many of those have a triggered ability upon entering the battlefield or the graveyard, usually in the form of ramp or card draw. What if you could leverage those artifacts to churn through your deck while filling your bin with lands, before getting them all back to the battlefield? What if the big finishers could pop over and over and over?

This was the basic idea, now to set that in motion.

First Brick – Lands and Trinkets

Let's begin with the fundamentals.

I'll get lands out of the way immediately. This is going to require a lot of fodder to discard to the bin, so I didn't want to be skimpy on the land count. Since you will need to be able to both play your land for turn and ideally discard one to SixSix for more value, I feel like playing less than 45 is going to hamper dramatically your chances to pull it off.

These are made of 43 basic Forests, a Scavenger GroundsScavenger Grounds as a panic button, and a Reliquary TowerReliquary Tower, to help with a specific card I'll cover later.

Trinkets-wise, I've settled mostly for very cheap outlets that can be recurred ad nauseamad nauseam. These are what I consider the MVPs:

• Urza's BaubleUrza's Bauble and Mishra's BaubleMishra's Bauble: I don't really care about their effects. But being able to play them over and over to draw a bunch of cards on the next upkeep is a way to dig deep.
• Lotus PetalLotus Petal: I wouldn't fault you for not playing this one. At close to $40, it's disgustingly expensive for what it does. Yet, with your commander, it basically says "Discard a Land: make a mana of any color".
• Chromatic SphereChromatic Sphere, Chromatic StarChromatic Star and Conjurer's BaubleConjurer's Bauble: Cheap ways to draw a card, over and over and over.

There's a bunch of such trinkets in the deck, and all aim at doing one thing: help you fill your graveyard and dig through your deck.

The Ramp Trinkets play a similar role. Mycosynth WellspringMycosynth Wellspring, Solemn SimulacrumSolemn Simulacrum and Wayfarer's BaubleWayfarer's Bauble all help with the ramp while being easy to recur. I made an exception for Sakura-Tribe ElderSakura-Tribe Elder, as it's a fantastic target to retrace as well.

I'm not going to cover each and every toy here, but bear in mind that most of them serve one of two purposes: being easy to return from the graveyard, or help you build an increasingly bigger land base.

Second Brick – From the Grave to the Front Porch

This one is rather straightforward. Now that your graveyard has been filled with lands, say between six to ten, it's time to reap the benefits. This is what the digging has been about, at least partly: grab one of the five massive recursion pieces and put it into your hand.

Play Aftermath AnalystAftermath Analyst, World ShaperWorld Shaper, Summon: TitanSummon: Titan, Will of the SultaiWill of the Sultai or Lumra, Bellow of the WoodsLumra, Bellow of the Woods, and suddenly you earn a massive influx of lands to the battlefield, enough for you to start hard-casting your deadly beaters – more on that in a minute.

The beauty of this process is that it's repeatable, and incremental. Play Lumra, get eight lands back to the battlefield. Play more recursive stuff on the next turn, double up. Mana is never going to be an issue anymore. Especially if you decide to include/proxy Amulet of VigorAmulet of Vigor, which I removed due to its sky-high price (I can't believe this is $50).

And if said outlets get removed, well... Six can just bring them back once more. An implacable march of doom.

Third Brick – Winning Game Pieces

Now that you've accrued a decent array of mana producers, it's time to bring out the big guns.

I've chosen mostly artifact beaters to stick to the theme, but also for their ability to leave something behind when they die.

Ancient Stone IdolAncient Stone Idol makes a 6/12 when departing, Triplicate TitanTriplicate Titan and Phyrexian TriniformPhyrexian Triniform both leave a bunch of tokens, Su-Chi Cave GuardSu-Chi Cave Guard makes eight colorless mana...

Incidentally I think the original Su-ChiSu-Chi would have made for a great addition, were it not for its $100 price tag.

There are two exceptions to this general outline:

• Multani, Yavimaya's AvatarMultani, Yavimaya's Avatar: This is going to be a massive beater, and one that, barring exile, will be extremely difficult to get rid of.
• Platinum EmperionPlatinum Emperion: It's already a pain when it's on the battlefield. It's a nightmare when you can recur it every turn.

Oh, and if you have the cash to spare, I would definitely consider Portal to PhyrexiaPortal to Phyrexia in this category.

All these should make quick work of your foes.

Final Brick – Odd Bits and Pieces

Finally, let's address the weird thingies I've decided to play in here.

First, let's talk about the sacrifice outlets:

• Krark-Clan IronworksKrark-Clan Ironworks not only allows you to trash your trinkets ad libitum, it also nets you a significant amount of mana in the process, which you can then use to rinse and repeat, as long as you have lands to spare.
• Arcbound RavagerArcbound Ravager is a classic, and can grow absolutely monstrous in no time. And Radiant LotusRadiant Lotus can generate 15-21 mana surprisingly easily.

Second, the removal suite:

• Ezuri's PredationEzuri's Predation can often signal a game over.
• The ability to recur Nevinyrral's DiskNevinyrral's Disk over and over is going to be a pain to deal with.

Third, the fun draw outlets:

• I absolutely adore RecycleRecycle here. Play anything from anywhere, draw a card. And the final clause, while annoying, can be voided by playing a Reliquary TowerReliquary Tower or a Thought VesselThought Vessel after Recycle hits the field, thanks to rules on timing.
• AbundanceAbundance will make sure you never run out of lands to retrace your stuff. Combined with a 0 mana artifact, this basically reads "Dump all your lands in the bin".
• Greater GoodGreater Good is a most excellent way to sacrifice the big boys to trigger their death effect and draw a bunch of cards in the process.

Finally, the weird thingies:

• Fangren MarauderFangren Marauder can skyrocket your life total to the heavens with the proper setup. With Lotus PetalLotus Petal and AbundanceAbundance out, this will net you at least 150 life.
• Syr Ginger, the Meal EnderSyr Ginger, the Meal Ender provides a most helpful scry, and will grow rather fast into a big boy.

All of this leads to...

The Deck List

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this somewhat different take. It's a bit pricier than what I'm used to building around here, but I believe it can make for some fun plays.

Now I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this brew. Opinions? Ideas? Hidden gems?

Let me know below, and I'll see you in a month with a new Inside Out!