Modern Horizons 3 brought many new , interesting and powerful cards to MTG Arena, although not all of them saw play because they were overshadowed by other , even stronger cards or because they lacked the right synergies. The best example is probably Nadu, Winged Wisdom, which in Modern was one of the absolute protagonists for a few months until it deserved the ban, while it was basically unplayed in any of the digital platform's formats due to the absence of Shuko.
Another card that generated a lot of hype during the spoilers, but then didn't live up to expectations, was the reprint of Kappa Cannoneer, which was already in Neon Dynasty Commander and therefore already played in Legacy.
Its power level, however, seems to be absolutely respectable, with a whole series of stats that would potentially make it in line with the Historic format, but where probably there aren't yet the right tools to support it. To find out if this is the case, today we'll try to find the most suitable home for it, brewing a full artifact version that will make it the protagonist!
Kappa Affinity
Let's kick off with Kappa Cannoneer which, as anticipated, is highlighted by this build that makes it a top player and its main finisher!
It’s basically a 5/5 (it will also trigger for itself), which continues to grow for every artifact that enters, but above all it attacks as unblockable every turn, so as to put a clock on the opponent and finish the game shortly thereafter.
However , unblockability is not its only major strength, as Ward 4 is also crucial and is almost equivalent to hexproof in the early / middle game, since some uncounterable removals exist but are not played (Void Rend surely could get the job done, but the best one is probably Rending Volley in response to its entry trigger).
All this for 6 mana that can be discounted thanks to Improvise, so it can be cast as early as turn 2, taking advantage of an environment made up of many small artifacts (it's potentially possible to cast it even on turn 1, but it's not very realistic... Especially with Mishra's Bauble banned in the format!).
As a result of playing so many cheap artifacts, your hand empties quickly and Thought Monitor is another payoff that goes on top of Kappa Cannoneer, to draw cards and refill your hand, taking advantage of its affinity with artifacts, further accentuated by the indestructible lands of the aforementioned type.
When talking about cheap artifacts, the first that comes to mind is undoubtedly Ornithopter, which is the only 0-mana artifact creature on MTG Arena, if you exclude X costs. It increases affinity, adds mana with Springleaf Drum from the first turn, turns into a threat with the offensive buff of Emporium Thopterist , and can be sacrificed for a 4/4 Construct, starting from turn 1, thanks to Retrofitter Foundry.
The latter is in fact a further win condition, generating a 4/4 army in a short time capable of overpowering the opponent, as well as being a cheap artifact in terms of mana and therefore immediately helping with affinity. It gives its best against midrange and control, acting as a mana sink and putting pieces in play and upgrading them from turn to turn, but in this version it's also very useful even just generating a 1/1 artifact token as soon as you have free mana, so as to shorten the arrival time of Thought Monitor and Kappa Cannoneer.
Emporium Thopterist is another artifact generator and our best play on turn 2, which if surviving will make everything easier by giving us a free Ornithopter per turn. It also buffs the entire Thopter army on its own, turning them from harmless blockers into 2/2 flying threats, but, for extra attack power, these can even be swapped out for 4/4s with Retrofitter Foundry.
Another way to make artifacts is by attacking with Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student. This way we'll create a Clue token per turn with the usual purpose of casting Thought Monitor and Kappa Cannoneer quickly, but which can then be sacrificed to draw as soon as it has done its job.
She is also easy to transform thanks to Thought Monitor, but unfortunately the second ability will not be usable, since here there is no instant or sorcery, at least in the maindeck. Her task will therefore be to weaken the enemy attackers, growing in the meantime, so as to achieve her ultimatum, which will make us draw half the deck and from there most likely win the game (especially with Kappa Cannoneer already on the ground).
With so many small artifacts around, Emry, Lurker of the Loch cannot be missing and, even if the text doesn't explicitly say so, it's another card with affinity with artifacts!
In fact, despite the mana value of 3, it can be cast already on turn 1 with:
- Ornithopter + Springleaf Drum;
- two zero-mana artifacts: 2x Ornithopter or Ornithopter + Mox Amber;
- Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student + Mox Amber + Springleaf Drum / Ornithopter.
It's a value engine that lets you play the milled cards, add artifacts to the board, and dig for Thought Monitor and Kappa Cannoneer. Even if you're tight on mana, it's still useful to bring Ornithopter back into play every turn, so you can sacrifice it every time with Retrofitter Foundry.
At this point you would need Mox Opal to accelerate mana and make affinity, but unfortunately it's not present on MTG Arena, or at least not as a card, since it's possible to conjure it with Quicksilver Lapidary. So all that remains is to make it at home, taking advantage of the fact that both Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student and Emry, Lurker of the Loch are legendary creatures and therefore using Mox Amber occasionally as Mox Sapphire!
While it doesn't cost 0 mana like a Mox, Springleaf Drum is just as good an accelerator, capable of fixing mana and useful not only in the early turns, but also in the later stages of the game.
It's Ornithopter's best friend because it allows you to add mana on the first turn and get back what you spent (also possible with Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student + Mox Amber), but even during the game that extra mana will always be welcome for the value of Thought Monitor and Emry, Lurker of the Loch, but above all for Retrofitter Foundry which is mana hungry and will also provide tokens to tap.
Thanks also to the mana fixed by Springleaf Drum, we can afford to get out of Mono Blue and go get decent removal spells in white! Interacting with the opposing threats in the early turns is unfortunately fundamental in this format and Portable Hole does this job very well: removing any permanent in the early game, counting as an artifact for affinity and being able to be brought back into play with Emry, Lurker of the Loch if destroyed or milled.
With the white splash for Portable Hole, it's automatic to also add Esper Sentinel which: counts as an artifact, taps for Springleaf Drum, slows down the opponent and above all could give you some cards, which is particularly useful since you empty your hand quickly.
Like Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student, it's a 1-drop that calls removal on itself, thus increasing the survivability of Emry, Lurker of the Loch and Emporium Thopterist.
Sideboard
Stone of Erech synergizes perfectly with the artifact theme and is one of the best cards that can be found in the sideboard at the current state of Historic, as it completely shuts down two tier 1 decks of the format: Mardu Sacrifice and 4C Samwise Combo! Any triggered ability of a creature that dies doesn't work, as well as Marionette Apprentice's life loss, Ajani, Nacatl Pariah's transformation into a planeswalker, and the A-Cauldron Familiar loop.
Furthermore, it can be cycled for 2 mana, exiling the opponent's graveyard, thus bypassing the fact that it's legendary and being usable even against graveyard-based decks, like Woodland Combo.
In this specific case, however, Soul-Guide Lantern is more suitable, allowing you to develop your gameplan without worrying about remaining mana open and being caught off guard.
As with Stone of Erech, it can be replayed with Emry, Lurker of the Loch from the graveyard more than once and can therefore become a card advantage tool for the late game.
As if that wasn't enough, Pithing Needle also hits Shifting Woodland, but it's also here mostly for: Goblin Bombardment, Bartolomé del Presidio, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Karn, the Great Creator , and Goblin Charbelcher.
Fragment Reality is another cheap 1-mana removal spell to pair with Portable Hole. It's for aggressive, fast-pressing decks, which is pretty much the vast majority of top decks right now, and it's great for all the 1-drops in the format, like: A-Symmetry Sage, Giver of Runes, Utopia Sprawl, A-Guide of Souls, A-Cauldron Familiar, or Unlucky Witness, but it's not particularly good against 2-drops, which is why I play it in only 2 copies.
Glass Casket fills this gap, unfortunately costing 1 more mana, but enjoying all the advantages (and disadvantages) of Portable Hole: it has affinity and can be recovered with Emry, Lurker of the Loch.
Finally, let's make room for the most performing counter of an artifact deck: Metallic Rebuke! Here it's almost Mana Leak at 1 mana and its main task is to counter the mass removals of the Control decks, especially Divine Purge, which is obviously devastating against Affinity, also taking away the indestructible artifact lands.
In many cases Metallic Rebuke is already played in the maindeck, but personally I prefer to be more proactive and give more space to synergy in the first instance and then try to surprise the opponent with the counter at the right time in post-sideboard matches.
That's all for today! This was my Affinity version with Kappa Cannoneer! Is it better than the classic one, more low to the ground and with Ingenious Smith? Probably not, but in both cases Affinity is not the deck I would recommend to overperform in Historic at the moment , and Kappa Cannoneer adds a bit of novelty and spiciness without missing anything on power, because it will still prove to be strong... Scoring points like a real cannoneer!