Building a Tap and Untap Deck with Sami, Ship's Engineer

Too-Specific Top 10 - Artifact Tokens

Food and Fellowship - Precon Primer

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gimbal, Gremlin Prodigy" href="#" target="_blank">Gimbal, Gremlin Prodigy</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/fajareka">Fajareka Setiawan</a>)</h6>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hello all, I am Bert from the Scrap Trawlers, where we do EDH on a budget. Today we are going to be taking a look at the <em>Tinker Time</em> precon from <em>March of the Machine</em>. The star of the show this time around is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gimbal, Gremlin Prodigy" href="#" target="_blank">Gimbal, Gremlin Prodigy</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, putting us in the artifact wheel house. We'll go over how the deck plays, the strengths and weaknesses, and which new and reprinted cards are going to be worth looking at. Let’s get to it!</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Workshop Captain</span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Gimbal, Gremlin Prodigy"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So taking a look at our face commander again, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gimbal, Gremlin Prodigy" href="#" target="_blank">Gimbal, Gremlin Prodigy</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a five mana Temur commander that cares about artifacts, which is a first. He gives artifact creatures we control trample while also creating a Gremlin artifact creature token at our end step that cares about the number of differently named artifact tokens that we have! That second ability makes Gimbal really interesting as we'll get to run a bunch of different token creators; so be sure to have your game pieces ready! This deck also comes with some Planechase cards, but unless your playgroup wants to play, you may end up trading these away. Well with that in mind, let's take a look at the list.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Tinker Time Precon" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="&nbsp;
[Commander]
*1 Gimbal, Gremlin Prodigy
[/Commander]
&nbsp;
[Creatures]
*1 Academy Manufactor
*1 Cutthroat Negotiator
*1 Everquill Phoenix
*1 Feldon of the Third Path
*1 Gilded Goose
*1 Hedron Detonator
*1 Hellkite Igniter
*1 Junk Winder
*1 Master of Etherium
*1 Pain Distributor
*1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
*1 Rashmi and Ragavan
*1 Sandsteppe War Riders
*1 Schema Thief
*1 Sharding Sphinx
*1 Shimmer Dragon
*1 Thopter Assembly
*1 Tireless Provisioner
*1 Tireless Tracker
*1 Vedalken Humiliator
*1 Whirler Rogue
*1 Workshop Elders
[/Creatures]
&nbsp;
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Bloodforged Battle-Axe
*1 Combine Chrysalis
*1 Fractured Powerstone
*1 Gruul Signet
*1 Ichor Elixir
*1 Inspiring Statuary
*1 Izzet Signet
*1 Replicating Ring
*1 Simic Signet
*1 Skyclave Relic
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Spine of Ish Sah
[/Artifacts]
&nbsp;
[Sorceries]
*1 Brass&#039;s Bounty
*1 Crack Open
*1 Dance with Calamity
*1 Echo Storm
*1 Fiery Confluence
*1 Path of the Animist
*1 Reverse Engineer
*1 Rise and Shine
*1 Root Out
*1 Saheeli&#039;s Artistry
*1 Thoughtcast
[/Sorceries]
&nbsp;
[Instants]
*1 Chaos Warp
*1 Masterful Replication
*1 Perplexing Test
*1 Reality Shift
*1 Spell Swindle
*1 Stroke of Genius
*1 Struggle // Survive
*1 Vampires&#039; Vengeance
[/Instants]
&nbsp;
[Enchantments]
*1 Aid from the Cowl
*1 Curse of Opulence
*1 Ghirapur Aether Grid
*1 Imprisoned in the Moon
*1 Thopter Spy Network
*1 Weirding Wood
[/Enchantments]
&nbsp;
[Planeswalkers]
*1 Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
[/Planeswalkers]
&nbsp;
[Lands]
*1 Cinder Glade
*1 Command Tower
*1 Evolving Wilds
*1 Exotic Orchard
*7 Forest
*1 Frontier Bivouac
*1 Frostboil Snarl
*1 Game Trail
*8 Island
*8 Mountain
*1 Myriad Landscape
*1 Path of Ancestry
*1 Simic Growth Chamber
*1 Temple of Abandon
*1 Temple of Epiphany
*1 Temple of Mystery
*1 Terramorphic Expanse
*1 Vineglimmer Snarl
[/Lands]
&nbsp;"></span></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After taking a look at the deck, I believe we have a cohesive artifact deck that not only creates the tokens that Gimbal wants, but also has a bunch of different outlets to use them. This deck is definitely feeling more midrange where we can have a bit of control over the game so that we can get our more powerful creatures out. Let’s give a look to where our deck excels. </span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Workshop Dynamos and Workshop Woes</span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Shimmer Dragon"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Root Out"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bloodforged Battle-axe"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As a midrange deck we aim to control the board early so that we can get our value creatures on and continue to outpace our opponents. The problem is that the current iteration of the deck has a 3.84 average mana value, which makes it a bit hard to outpace anyoe. What this does is put a lot of our plays on the later part of the game, making it rough to keep up a healthy pace in the early game. However, to put this in a more positive light, the longer a game goes the more threats we will have. Setting up the board is very important and right now with such a high average mana value it makes it hard to do that.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Another issue with the deck is the lack of card draw sources to keep that hand full and able to continue dishing out threats. These are both things that we address in the precon upgrade guide, so be sure to check that out! </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Enough about what's wrong with the deck! This deck's removal package is amazing. Not only does it have cards for creatures and artifacts and enchantments, but it also possesses spells that care about Gimbal’s second ability. Cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Crack Open" href="#" target="_blank">Crack Open</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Root Out" href="#" target="_blank">Root Out</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> both destroy and create a relevant token for Gimbal. I wasn’t that high on <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vampires’ Vengeance" href="#" target="_blank">Vampires’ Vengeance</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, but it's almost somewhat of a board wipe and produces a Blood token for us.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The value cards are also present, with a reprint to another one of my favorite cards, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shimmer Dragon" href="#" target="_blank">Shimmer Dragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which gives us something to do with excess artifact tokens. The rest of the reprints are lackluster but provide good synergies for the deck. Looking at <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bloodforged Battle-axe" href="#" target="_blank">Bloodforged Battle-axe</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Combine Chrysalis" href="#" target="_blank">Combine Chrysalis</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sharding Sphinx" href="#" target="_blank">Sharding Sphinx</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. They've all played a vital role in their respective strategies before now, and I think that they'll also provide some power to this deck as well.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The deck's main focus of creating copies of both token and nontoken permanants is something that it does well, using cards like the new <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Schema Thief" href="#" target="_blank">Schema Thief</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and a card that I have been pretty high on for a while, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Saheeli&#039;s Artistry" href="#" target="_blank">Saheeli&#039;s Artistry</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">New Inventions</span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rashmi and Ragavan"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Schema Thief"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sandsteppe War Riders"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">New cards that make an appearance in this deck are <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sandsteppe War Riders" href="#" target="_blank">Sandsteppe War Riders</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dance with Calamity" href="#" target="_blank">Dance with Calamity</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cutthroat Negotiator" href="#" target="_blank">Cutthroat Negotiator</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pain Distributor" href="#" target="_blank">Pain Distributor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Schema Thief" href="#" target="_blank">Schema Thief</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and our alternate commander <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rashmi and Ragavan" href="#" target="_blank">Rashmi and Ragavan</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. I am expecting Schema Thief to be an absolute house, making copies of, at worst, mana rocks which the deck will love so that it can make stronger gremlins. Sandsteppe War riders will be interesting to see how much you can get it to Bolster for, but the other cards I am indifferent on in this deck . For example, Pain Distributor is going to do some work in playgroups that are worried about Treasures, but for us we'll just be pinging our opponent for one damage sometimes and I am not quite sure that it's worth it here. Dance with Calamity is a nine mana spell that truly does high-mana spell things, but I don't know if it's at its best here. I am excited to see if any of them make a true splash in the format. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cutthroat Negotiator" href="#" target="_blank">Cutthroat Negotiator</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will probably have a better home in a dedicated Pirate deck but the additional Treasure it can provide gives us some good value. Last but not least, our alternate commander <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rashmi and Ragavan" href="#" target="_blank">Rashmi and Ragavan</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an interesting pair to say the least. They still care about artifacts just as Gimbal does, just in a different way. It has the thievery of Ragavan and the first spell clause of Rashmi! Those effects together make for an interesting and powerful combination. </span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Final thoughts</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The <em>Tinker Time</em> precon is definitely one worth picking up. Temur artifacts is an interesting take on the color grouping, and this precon is very cohesive and synergistic. Sometimes precons are lacking in a bunch of different areas, but this one in particular doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses. It just needs some parts that can help it pop off a bit more. Come back next time so we can go over some upgrades for the deck!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Make sure to check back for more precon guides from us Scrap Trawlers. You can also check out our budget content over on </span><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/scraptrawlers"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Twitch</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/scraptrawlers"><span style="font-weight: 400;">YouTube</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and follow us on </span><a href="https://twitter.com/scraptrawlers"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Twitter</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Don’t forget to upgrade your Precon on a budget!</span></p>


artifact token

Building a Tap and Untap Deck with Sami, Ship's Engineer

Too-Specific Top 10 - Artifact Tokens

Food and Fellowship - Precon Primer

Tinker Time - Precon Primer