Magic: The Gathering – How to BEAT an Affinity Deck | CBR – CBR – Comic Book Resources

Magic's Affinity decks are aggro artifact decks that win fast, but they can be taken down with the right sideboard cards and strategies.

In the Modern format of Magic: The Gathering, one of the earliest and most reputable decks is Affinity, an artifact aggro deck capable of explosive early-game plays. To newcomers, these aggressive robots may seem unstoppable, with 8/1 lifelink fliers on turn three or a board of artifacts pumped up with +1/+1 counters and an Infect plan B on top of that. But even Affinity has weaknesses to exploit.

Sideboarding against an Affinity deck means knowing what sort of cards it contains and how those cards are used. Affinity decks are not only proactive aggro decks, but they also make heavy use of activated abilities, especially since these dump their entire hand on the board early on before they run out of gas. Cranial Plating is a powerful Equipment, and Arcbound Ravager and Steel Overseer have useful abilities as well, along with the manlands Inkmoth Nexus and Blinkmoth Nexus.

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Anti-affinity cards can disable these activated abilities, destroy artifacts, destroy lands and counter certain artifact spells. White mana is well-equipped to face Affinity, such as with the enchantment Stony Silence. Costing just 1W, Stony Silence disables the activated abilities of all artifacts, making Steel Overseer, Mox Opal, Arcbound Ravager and Cranial Plating practically useless. Of course, this means Stony Silence's caster must be ready for their own artifacts to lose access to their abilities.

White man also offers Kataki, War's Wage, a cheap Spirit that gives all artifacts "At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice this artifact unless you pay {1}." Affinity decks won't be able to pay for all of their artifacts, and they'll spend a lot of mana keepingthose that remain.

Blue gives access to Hurkyl's Recall, a in instant costing 1U that returns all artifacts a player controls to their hand. This is a temporary measure, but it can buy the caster some time, especially if Snapcaster Mage targets it a turn or two later. Havea way to capitalize on this bought time, such as attacking back on an empty board or digging for more permanent answers.

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Blue also offers Steel Sabotage, a cheap counterspell costing just U that can bounce an artifact or counter an artifact spell. Similarly, Ceremonious Rejection can counter any colorless spell for just U. Spell Snare counters any spell with a CMC of 2, in this case Arcbound Ravager, Vault Skirge, Cranial Plating, Spellskite and Steel Overseer.

Black mana has relatively few options for fighting Affinity, but it does have Fatal Push, which is a great sideboard card for use against aggro decks like Affinity and Burn.

Red is known for destroying artifacts, and it has many options against Affinity, though some are better than others. Ancient Grudge is usually the right call,as it's Shatter with an upside: having Flashback for just G. One card destroying two artifacts is an excellent deal, and it's worth splashing green for if needed. Red cards also include Shattering Spree, a red-heavy card with Replicate that allows the caster to destroy as many artifacts as they have red mana. The Amonkhet set includes By Force, which is slow (it's a sorcery), but it scales up well. It costs XR and can destroy X target artifacts, allowing it to net massive card advantage against Affinity if the caster can survive that long.

Green can pay for Ancient Grudge's Flashback cost, but it also includes Nature's Claim, which can destroy an artifact for just G and give that artifact's controller four life. If it means destroying Cranial Plating and buying some time, then that four life may be worth it.

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Multicolor options against Affinity start with Kolaghan's Command, an instant costing 1BR that is known for its flexibility and potential for card advantage. Against Affinity, it can destroy an artifact and deal two damage to a target. This means it could damage a target like Vault Skirge and destroy an activated Inkmoth Nexus. If the Affinity deck has Spellskite out, be ready for it to redirect the "two damage" clause to itself. Adjust by targeting the player or choosing other modes on the card instead of the "two damage" mode. Destructive Revelry costs RG and destroys and artifact or enchantment and deals two damage to the target's controller.

Finally, colorless options against Affinity exist, such as Ghost Quarter. This land does more than slow down Tron; it can hit Inkmoth Nexus or Blinkmoth Nexus to remove a creature and mana source at the same time. The Affinity deck won't always have a basic land to fetch for. Alpine Moon and Blood Moon can convert Affinity's many nonbasic lands into ordinary Mountains, eliminating them as threats.

Phyrexian Revoker and Pithing Needle may name Cranial Plating, Steel Overseer, Arcbound Ravager, Inkmoth Nexus or Blinkmoth Nexus, depending on which one the caster can't handle by other means. Chalice of the Void can also do some work, especially if played with zero charge counters on turn one on the play. Thus, the Chalice can counter zero-drop spells like Mox Opal and Memnite, or it can be cast on two to stop a variety of threats. Of course, Chalice's caster should adjust their own deck via sideboarding to minimize the collateral damage.

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Magic: The Gathering - How to BEAT an Affinity Deck | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources