(Urza, Chief Artificer | Art by Bartlomiej Gawel)

Hello all! This is Bert, coming from the Scrap Trawlers channel where we do EDH on a budget. Last time I was here we were looking at the Urza’s Iron Alliance precon from the new The Brothers' War set, giving you an idea on what the deck plays like straight out of the box. Well today, we’re going to be taking you through some amazing upgrades that you can add to your deck to increase function and those all-important synergies. Let’s get into it.

Here is the original decklist:

Urza's Alliance

View on Archidekt

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Commander (1) 1 Urza, Chief Artificer Creatures (36) 1 Alela, Artful Provocateur 1 Angel of the Ruins 1 Armix, Filigree Thrasher 1 Baleful Strix 1 Bronze Guardian 1 Chief of the Foundry 1 Chrome Courier 1 Darksteel Juggernaut 1 Digsite Engineer 1 Etched Champion 1 Etherium Sculptor 1 Ethersworn Adjudicator 1 Filigree Attendant 1 Hexavus 1 Indomitable Archangel 1 Losheel, Clockwork Scholar 1 Marionette Master 1 Master of Etherium 1 Myr Battlesphere 1 Noxious Gearhulk 1 Sai, Master Thopterist 1 Sanwell, Avenger Ace 1 Scholar of New Horizons 1 Sharding Sphinx 1 Sharuum the Hegemon 1 Shimmer Dragon 1 Solemn Simulacrum 1 Steel Hellkite 1 Steel Overseer 1 Tawnos, Solemn Survivor 1 Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle 1 Thought Monitor 1 Vedalken Humiliator 1 Whirler Rogue 1 Wire Surgeons 1 Wreck Hunter Lands (36) 1 Ancient Den 1 Arcane Sanctum 1 Ash Barrens 1 Azorius Chancery 1 Bojuka Bog 1 Command Tower 1 Darksteel Citadel 1 Dimir Aqueduct 1 Evolving Wilds 1 Exotic Orchard 1 Goldmire Bridge 4 Island 1 Mistvault Bridge 1 Orzhov Basilica 1 Path of Ancestry 4 Plains 1 Prairie Stream 1 Razortide Bridge 1 River of Tears 1 Seat of the Synod 1 Skycloud Expanse 1 Spire of Industry 1 Sunken Hollow 3 Swamp 1 Temple of Deceit 1 Temple of Enlightenment 1 Temple of Silence 1 Vault of Whispers Artifacts (14) 1 Arcane Signet 1 Azorius Signet 1 Bident of Thassa 1 Cranial Plating 1 Dimir Signet 1 Kayla's Music Box 1 Liquimetal Torque 1 Orzhov Signet 1 Relic of Progenitus 1 Skullclamp 1 Sol Ring 1 Swiftfoot Boots 1 Thopter Shop 1 Thought Vessel Sorceries (7) 1 Austere Command 1 March of Progress 1 One with the Machine 1 Phyrexian Rebirth 1 Preordain 1 Urza's Ruinous Blast 1 Vindicate Instants (4) 1 Despark 1 Sphinx's Revelation 1 Swords to Plowshares 1 Unbreakable Formation Enchantments (2) 1 Tempered Steel 1 Thopter Spy Network

Fresh off the Assembly Line

Our face commander is Urza, Chief Artificer, whose abilities really want us to focus on artifact creatures and having artifacts on the battlefield. There are a good bit of cards in the deck that will help us out with this strategy; even our secondary commander, Tawnos, Solemn Survivor, can do some sweet things when it comes to copying our "Karn-structs", Thopters and Myrs. So there's really no reason to remove them straight out of the gate this time around.

So what is the deck missing? What can make our gears mesh better? Well in my time playing the deck there were no obvious shortcomings. With that being said, we will just be shoring up our deck so that it flows a bit better, adding in recursion, a bit of card draw or card advantage, a bit of removal, and just some cards to add to the deck's overall theme.

With any additions there have to be cuts so we will be removing cards that don't quite offer as much power or utility as the ones that we'll be adding. Our goal is to add cards that will fortify our strategy of aggressive artifact creatures. Let’s take a look at the additions!

Customizing Our Robo

First we'll be adding some cards that will help out our card draw. Brother Mishra’s deck actually came with it, so let's add Thoughtcast so we can take advantage of the Affinity for artifacts here. On that same vein with the high number of artifacts that we have, running Thirst for Knowledge seems like another good fit as well. Barely counting as card draw, Padeem Consul of Innovation gives us some amazing protection as well as giving us a possible card every turn. While I don’t expect for us to be drawing too often from our tokens and other miscellaneous artifacts, its just good for a possible upside. The Reality Chip provides us with a bit of card advantage and gets powered up just like all our other artifact creatures. Saving this duo for last, Research Thief and Canoptek Spyder both have card draw effects, one on damage and the other on ETB.

Next I have some cards to just add to the overall flow of the deck. Starting off, Mirrodin Besieged adds some possible token creation so we can power up our board, remembering that they get menace from Urza and any other buffs that our artifacts convey. Our namesake Scrap Trawler adds some much needed recursion to the deck so that we can continually cause problems for our opponents. In that same vein one of my favorite cards is Dance of the Manse, which enables you to pick up some much needed artifacts from the yard and breathe life into them once more. Buried Ruin is just a good utility land that gives us options for the late game. And to have a backup play just in case we get jealous of our opponents' creatures, we can Phyrexian Metamorph to get in on that good creature action while making it an artifact so that we can power it up. This little gem The Flesh is Weak was included in the Warhammer decks and is really cheap at the moment, and it just seems to scream the same theme of what this deck wants to do.

Scrapped from the Yard

Now that we have talked about the additions its time to go over what has to be thrown in the scrapyard.

Scholar of New Horizons is a fine card in its own right, It even puts a counter on itself so that you can activate it once on its own. If we had more counter synergies in our shell I would definitely leave it as it doesn't even say basic, meaning we could go fetch up those all important shock lands.

We added in the hexproof variant of Indomitable Archangel which means we don't have to wait for three artifacts to be out to be able to protect our things. It seems like a good cut if I've ever seen one. Ethersworn Adjudicator is a cool card but is pretty clunky and just isn't what we want to see overall. Thopter Shop and Kayla’s Music box are both newly printed cards but don't seem to offer much when it comes to utility. Possibly in a color combination that doesn't have as many options then they would be able to thrive.

Preordain is a powerful card but not so much here where we aren't really influencing the top of our deck at all. So we are better off adding one of the draw spells mentioned earlier to take its place. Phyrexian Rebirth is a board wipe with upside, but the deck already has a couple, so I just cut the weakest one. Chrome Courier is just another card we can replace with a draw spell and call it a day, but if you want something in your deck that can count as the little engine that could, this would be it. Etched Champion is another low impact artifact creature that can give itself protection from all colors but on its own its just a 2/2 so we are looking for something with more to offer. Our last three cards are going to be Whirler Rogue, Armix, Filigree Thrasher, Alela, Artful Provocateur. Whirler Rogue is an outlet to use our artifacts to make another unblockable, but feels like a bit overkill since we already have giant constructs with menace. Armix is just a clunky bit of removal so we definitely can find an easy replacement for it. Alela is a really sweet include but doesn't jam with our theme on every level. If she made artifact creatures she would be perfect.

Treasure your Artifacts

Each article we always suggest some high dollar cards you can add to your deck if that is the kind of thing that you are going for. Shock lands are always a good start, in this case Hallowed Fountain, Godless Shrine , and Watery Grave are all solid includes that will take your mana base to the next level.

Next I just have a couple of cards to add some extra steel to your constructs. Wurmcoil Engine adds a power house to our deck while giving us a bit of insurance if it dies. Another iteration of Urza in that of Urza, Lord High Artificer not only gives us another "Karn-struct," but also gives our artifacts the ability to tap for a blue. Lastly another card that's spicy in price is Mycosynth Golem, which has Affinity for artifacts and gives our other artifact creature spells Aaffinity as well!

So here is a look at the upgraded deck list

Urza's Alliance

View on Archidekt

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Commander (1) 1 Urza, Chief Artificer Lands (37) 1 Ancient Den 1 Arcane Sanctum 1 Ash Barrens 1 Azorius Chancery 1 Bojuka Bog 1 Buried Ruin 1 Command Tower 1 Darksteel Citadel 1 Dimir Aqueduct 1 Evolving Wilds 1 Exotic Orchard 1 Goldmire Bridge 4 Island 1 Mistvault Bridge 1 Orzhov Basilica 1 Path of Ancestry 4 Plains 1 Prairie Stream 1 Razortide Bridge 1 River of Tears 1 Seat of the Synod 1 Skycloud Expanse 1 Spire of Industry 1 Sunken Hollow 3 Swamp 1 Temple of Deceit 1 Temple of Enlightenment 1 Temple of Silence 1 Vault of Whispers Creatures (34) 1 Angel of the Ruins 1 Baleful Strix 1 Bronze Guardian 1 Canoptek Spyder 1 Chief of the Foundry 1 Darksteel Juggernaut 1 Digsite Engineer 1 Etherium Sculptor 1 Filigree Attendant 1 Hexavus 1 Losheel, Clockwork Scholar 1 Marionette Master 1 Master of Etherium 1 Myr Battlesphere 1 Noxious Gearhulk 1 Padeem, Consul of Innovation 1 Phyrexian Metamorph 1 Research Thief 1 Sai, Master Thopterist 1 Sanwell, Avenger Ace 1 Scrap Trawler 1 Sharding Sphinx 1 Sharuum the Hegemon 1 Shimmer Dragon 1 Solemn Simulacrum 1 Steel Hellkite 1 Steel Overseer 1 Tawnos, Solemn Survivor 1 Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle 1 The Reality Chip 1 Thought Monitor 1 Vedalken Humiliator 1 Wire Surgeons 1 Wreck Hunter Artifacts (12) 1 Arcane Signet 1 Azorius Signet 1 Bident of Thassa 1 Cranial Plating 1 Dimir Signet 1 Liquimetal Torque 1 Orzhov Signet 1 Relic of Progenitus 1 Skullclamp 1 Sol Ring 1 Swiftfoot Boots 1 Thought Vessel Sorceries (7) 1 Austere Command 1 Dance of the Manse 1 March of Progress 1 One with the Machine 1 Thoughtcast 1 Urza's Ruinous Blast 1 Vindicate Instants (5) 1 Despark 1 Sphinx's Revelation 1 Swords to Plowshares 1 Thirst for Knowledge 1 Unbreakable Formation Enchantments (4) 1 Mirrodin Besieged 1 Tempered Steel 1 The Flesh Is Weak 1 Thopter Spy Network

Well I for one had a ton of fun building this list and finding ways to increase our robot army. From here its up to you to come up with upgrades and synergies. Were there any that I missed? Please let me know in the comments.

Hit us up on Twitter, or find our other content on YouTube and Twitch. Make sure to keep your eyes peeled for more precon content from my fellow Scrap Trawlers right here on EDHREC.

Scrap Trawlers

Scrap Trawlers is a Magic: The Gathering budget EDH streaming and video group, with gameplay, deck techs, chats, and more. Catch our videos at youtube.com/scraptrawlers. Andy, Lenny, and Bert.