The Machine is a wildly fun deck revolving around Hell’s Caretaker and dancing robots. It’s a little less well-known than some other archetypes I’ve put together. And while it’s not a great deck by any means, usually fun trumps effectiveness, and it’s quite capable of holding its own against decks that aren’t overloaded with creature and artifact removal.

I started working on this one in part for a friend who likes reanimator decks and also likes black-green as a color combination, and most of the parts are cheap, so this seemed like a good candidate for the battle box, my collection of reasonably well-balanced decks for people to pick up and play at group meetings.

Alpha contained two reanimation spells, Animate Dead and Resurrection. Animate Dead is thematic as hell, making the reanimated creature weaker, and being subject to Dispel Magic (er, I mean, Disenchant). Resurrection, similar to its D&D counterpart, had no drawbacks but was much harder to cast. With Legends came a few more guests to the party, Hell’s Caretaker, Triassic Egg, and All Hallow’s Eve, and then Fallen Empires gave the oft-forgotten Soul Exchange.

Some of these choices are more interesting than others. Resurrection and Triassic Egg are interesting in that they put reanimation into colors that normally don’t have access to the effect, but realistically we’re looking to cheat, and four or more mana doesn’t help with that.

Animate Dead is the most efficient, which is why it sees the most play. It’s easiest to cast, and it requires no support except a dead creature in either player’s graveyard.

All Hallow’s Eve has the most dramatic effect, returning a bunch of creatures at once. It gives you a couple turns to set up before firing, but of course gives your opponent some extra time to kill you.

Hell’s Caretaker is by far the most interesting to me, letting you recur a creature every turn as long as you can keep making deals with the horror. We just need a way to break the symmetry, which is where The Machine comes into play. I decided to go Black/Green with this build, though there are plenty of other homes for the heart of the deck.

A Budget Starting Point

4 Birds of Paradise

4 Hypnotic Specter

4 Erhnam Djinn

3 Hell’s Caretaker

3 Triskelion

2 Tetravus

2 Elves of Deep Shadow

[Alt: 2 Onulet]

4 Terror

[Alt: 3 Hymn to Torach]

3 Animate Dead

1 Sylvan Library

1 Jalum Tome [Alt: 2 Jalum Jome]

1 Mind Twist

1 Ring of Renewal

1 Sol Ring

6 Forest

7 Swamp

4 City of Brass

4 Mishra’s Factory

1 Pendelhaven

1 Urborg

This is essentially the build as I have it currently sleeved up (most recent testing pile for scale):

EDIT: See the notes about Hymns in the “Other Cards” section, and see the last section for a build involving Thallids!

For those unfamiliar with The Machine, you can remove the counters from Tetravus at the beginning of the turn, then sacrifice the Tetravus itself to Hell’s Caretaker to bring back another creature from the graveyard. The next turn, you sacrifice a token to bring back the Tetravus. This gives you an extensive supply of 1/1 fliers, at least until your Hell’s Caretaker is killed. Alternatively, Tetravus by itself gives you four rebuys from the graveyard.

It might seem strange to indicate that the deck is based around a couple cards that the deck doesn’t play four of. It’s important to note that as built, this is a value deck, not a combo deck. It has some combo elements, but even the fastest hands aren’t completely wrecking the opponent with a reanimation target. If you want to all but end the game on the spot after resolving a reanimation spell, you’re probably looking for an All Hallow’s Eve deck.

Beyond the basic core, the rest of my version is a bit of disruption, distractions, and value.

The mana creatures serve their obvious purpose, but they’re also good fodder for the Caretakers when you just want more robots on the field.

Hypnotic Specter is one of the most dangerous things you can do on three mana in Old School, and it also provides a way to protect your more important pieces. They can’t hold their removal or they might be forced to discard it, but if they kill your Specter, they might not have removal for the Hell’s Caretaker, which is potentially much more dangerous given enough time. There aren’t that many decks running black as more than a light splash that don’t want these.

Triskelion is another major threat. A Triskelion every turn or two is very bad news for most aggro decks, and it also has the neat ability of being able to protect itself from Swords to Plowshares by shooting itself with its last counter.

Onulet is a concession to the faster aggro matchups, which are challenging. Also, if you happen to get both of them, you can swap them in and out of the grave to gain life, which you can then pay to Sylvan Library to draw more cards.

I looked for a while for another reanimation target, and nothing really worked out, which is part of why this build moved toward a value deck instead. I eventually settled on Erhnam Djinn as my final creature, and it does a lot of decent work. First, it’s easy to cast and hits hard, which is why you see it in nearly every deck that runs green. Second, being green helps against White Weenie, which is a much more difficult matchup if all your creatures are black or can be disenchanted. I’ve gone back and forth on having four of them, but I think it’s the proper number.

The Jalum Tomes and Ring of Renewal help immensely with card quality, and without Bazaar of Bagdad (this is a budget build after all), they’re the main way to get Tetravus and Triskilion out of your hand early if you want to skip straight to the reanimation. You can toss dead situational cards before or after sideboarding. I think a deck like this is the real home for Ring of Renewal. You have the mana to cast and activate it, and there are times when its drawback is a benefit. The card is bonkers if you have time to activate it more than once. More than one is probably unworkable, but a singleton has been great so far.

For the mana base: Mishra’s Factory does its job protecting you early, and it’s Caretaker fodder when you have no other creatures. City of Brass is the usual necessary evil for two-color budget decks. The single Pendelhaven and Urborg are basically freebies. Pendelhaven is randomly useful since the deck has a lot of 1/1s. Urborg is less useful. The best targets for it, the Fallen Empires pump knights (Order of the Ebon Hand and Order of Leitbur), can just give themselves first strike more than once.

In the real world you probably want a couple Strip Mines, but I don’t always run them in Battle Box decks, and never as a four-of. The deck wants to hit four mana quickly and six mana late, but in the mid game I’m usually milling lands with the Jalum Tome or pushing them down with Sylvan Library. Since this is built for a budget environment, I don’t need to worry about Library of Alexandria, but it’s nice to be able to deal with a Mishra’s Factory with something other than my own Factory. The other concern with Strip Mine is that you do need to worry about your colored mana early in the game, so this is where budget concerns can come into play.

Some Matchup Analysis and Sideboarding Advice

I will again warn everyone that this is not a great deck, even among budget decks.

It does have a fighting chance, but if I ran the current version of the battlebox as a gauntlet, this one’s not taking home any prizes. Aggressive decks with a large amount of creature and artifact removal will make quick work of you, and the Titania’s Orb deck I posted earlier will pretty much always take game 1 due to The Machine’s high curve and lack of maindeck artifact removal. Merfolk is a little easier to handle, and budget black has a really rough time with the Caretaker engine if you get it online even if you can’t terror their creatures. I’ve gotten it to the point where it’s very close to 50% against White Weenie and Merfolk before sideboarding. I haven’t tested as much against Zoo, but it’s similar.

The good news is that these colors have some useful sideboarding options, including Gloom, Avoid Fate, and Crumble/Scavenger Folk, and possibly Sandstorm. With four birds and four Cities of Brass, you could even try splashing an off color hoser like Red Elemental Blast, Circle of Protection: Red, or Energy Flux. Believe it or not, Energy Flux works just fine despite the robots — just don’t plan to make a zillion Tetravites that you can’t pay for.

However you decide to build a sideboard, I’d try to decide whether you want to give up on certain aggressive matchups entirely and gun for beating slower decks, or try to shore up the aggressive matchups and put a select few tools against control (maybe just a couple Crumbles and Hymn to Torach).

Other Cards Worth Considering

There are some really obvious cards that could go in if the budget isn’t a concern: Juzam Djinn (though I think Erhnam is still the better call for that slot because of pro-black creatures), Bazaar of Bagdad, dual lands, Moxes, etc. This list is some of the more interesting cards I either tested or considered that weren’t mentioned in the introduction.

It’s possible that one or two Avoid Fate should be maindeck. In a more combo-oriented build, I’d be more interested. Here it means leaving up an extra green mana for whatever you want to protect, which isn’t feasible in a deck that’s tapping out most early turns.

Demonic Tutor: You can still find beat-up copies for under $30, which is generally my cutoff for a budget card, but it’s getting tougher all the time. Since it serves a similar purpose, it would replace a Sylvan Library or Jalum Tome, or possibly one of the “combo” pieces. If your budget is really tight and you have to choose between Demonic Tutor and a single Sylvan Library, Sylvan Library seems to be slightly more important overall in this build. The reason is that many of the cards do the same thing (just at different mana costs), so seeing three cards turn after turn and possibly drawing a couple extra trumps being able to get something specific.

Hymn to Torach: In the same way that Hypnotic Specter is among the most dangerous things you can do on three mana, Hymn is one of the most dangerous cards at two mana. The main reason it’s not in the deck is mostly a matter of space and the double black mana cost. If the deck had Moxes and dual lands, Elves of Deep Shadow could get benched, and that’s an easy slot for a pair of Hymns. I could easily see cutting a Jalum Tome or Terror for a third. I’m not sure I’d go up to four, though. There’s a corner case where in a pinch you can Hymn yourself to get a robot in the graveyard, too. My current thought is that at least a couple belong in some version of the sideboard, possibly along with Nevinyrral’s Disk, for a sideboard that wants to move toward control for the second game. Without dual lands, though, the casting cost is tricky. Edit: I’ve also been testing a slightly different build with 3 Hymns in place of the two Onulets and one of the Jalum Tomes, just to increase the overall impact of each individual card (to make up for the fact that half the deck is mana).

Lord of the Pit and Breeding Pit: The little kid in me wants to try to make it work, and there might be enough reanimation in the deck to get Lord of the Pit on the table, but feeding him is another matter altogether, and that’s where Breeding Pit comes in. Breeding Pit itself isn’t a terrible way to stall, either, but if you’re blocking with the token you aren’t feeding it to the lord. That at the fact that you might kill yourself with City of Brass paying the upkeep cost is really what sealed it for me. I could see this being part of a mono-black version with Soul Exchange, though.

Maze of Ith: Since this deck is interested in stalling (even in the late game, when you’re creating 1/1 fliers for fun and profit), Maze of Ith is a great choice for handling the creatures you can’t terror. This is another situation where budgetary concerns limit some of the possibilities: Since it’s a land, it sets you back a turn, and you really want to hit four mana as soon as possible. It also doesn’t actually kill a creature, so there’s no reanimation fun to be had.

Mishra’s Workshop: I think a single copy is probably the right call if you own it. I’d also probably remove one of the Erhnams for another Tetravus in that case. Playing more than one would require some rethinking about the creatures in the deck, but being able to cast Triskelion or Tetravus three turns early is enticing. Since this takes the deck squarely out of budget range, I did not test this except to turn a land around backwards for a game or two.

Meekstone and Icy Manipulator: Without Erhnam Djinn in the deck, Meekstone and Icy Manipulator can solve a host of problems. One of the major problems this deck can have is when White Weenie gets a Crusade and a couple creatures out just before you can play a Triskelion. Meekstone locks down most creatures in White Weenie while a Crusade is out, and Icy Manipulator can protect you from pro-black or large black and artifact creatures immune to terror. Unfortunately, the decks that care about Meekstone can usually disenchant it, and Icy Manipulator doesn’t do enough on its own against decks that put out a lot of creatures against you. You also need multiple copies of each, so where are you going to find room for them?

Tawnos’s Coffin appears fairly often in The Machine. The coffin allows you to continuously grow a single Triskelion or Tetravus, or reuse them every turn. However, it requires a large investment both in terms of mana and money. More than one is questionable, so it’s probably better suited to a version that can cast Transmute Artifact (and hence also has counterspells to protect it from Disenchant). I also don’t like that the creature returns tapped; Hell’s Caretaker lets you play a little more defensively.

The Hive: Eventually I will figure out the right home for this card, but this deck isn’t it. The Hive gives you tokens to sacrifice to the Caretaker, but it’s not a creature itself, and even a single Tetravus creates tokens faster for only a single more mana invested.

Thallid and Thorn Thallid: I considered Thallid in place of Elves of Deep Shadow. They don’t do the same thing (obviously), but they would fill the same spot in the curve, and Thallid has a good interaction with Hell’s Caretaker, creating a token at just about the same point you untap with Caretaker. Ultimately I decided that mana fixing was more vital, and Thallid doesn’t really solve any problems. Thorn Thallid does solve a few problems, though. At three mana you don’t really expect something to pass the bolt test, but it’s solid against Order of Leitbur or Order of the Ebon Hand and doesn’t die to Icatian Javilineers. However, three turns is an eternity, and since it occupies the same slot as Onulet, it just didn’t do enough. Edit: I have revised my thinking about these critters. See below!

Winter Orb: I pretty much always test this card in a deck that’s looking to stall. Despite the excessive casting costs of the cards, the large number of mana critters would give a bit of an advantage. And Icy Manipulator isn’t an unreasonable support card, either. Ultimately it just doesn’t solve the right problems, so I’ve ditched the idea.

Alternative Builds

I’ve posted a Green/Black build in part because the color combination is unusual in Old School, but since the core of the deck is artifacts and a creature with only a single B in its mana cost, there’s plenty of flexibility.

A mono-black version is certainly workable, and probably much cheaper to build. The changes are pretty simple, with Dark Rituals replacing the Birds, Hymn and Strip Mine definitely appearing in the 60, and a few good choices for other creatures to play. This becomes less of a value deck and more beatdown. This might be an interesting alternative to the typical mono-black deck. Just remember that you lose sideboard options for handling artifacts and enchantments.

White would give you better removal, such as Balance, Wrath, and Disenchant; Land Tax for mana fixing; and good sideboard cards against some of the worst matchups. The main issues have been finding enough creatures to feed the Caretaker.

Red brings some neat things to the table. Rukh Egg is great fodder for Hell’s Caretaker, and two of them can create an army of 4/4 fliers, making them a cool alternative to Tetravus. Lightning Bolt solves the deck’s problems with black creatures and pro-black creatures alike. You also have access to Blood Moon, which is clearly a beating in the format. You trade this for some vulnerability to Circle of Protection: Red, which is a common sideboard card.

Blue gives you ways to protect your pieces, and some fun interactions like using Control Magic to take their creature and sacrifice it to Hell’s Caretaker. Overall, though, I think this is the worst splash if you’re not playing Power. If you are, you might check out this or this (for a controlling variant) or this (for a more combo-oriented approach).

Another wacky idea might be to try a nearly-mono-brown Tron build. This would require a drastic rebuild, but you can use cards like Brass Man for early defense and Caretaker fodder, Fellwar Stone and Mana Vault for mana acceleration, and just “splash” Caretaker. I’m not a fan of the Urza lands in a format where Strip Mine is unrestricted, but maybe someone can get it to work.

A Thallid-y Update: 7/12/18

I’ve gotten a good number of games under my belt with this deck, and I wanted to post an updated list and some additional thoughts. For quite some time I’ve been running a list with Hymn to Torach, under the assumption that the deck desperately needed the card advantage. I finally realized just how often I’d cast it and the opposing deck just wouldn’t be bothered — you lose two cards, but The Machine wasn’t putting enough pressure on you to take advantage of it. Discard works best either as a dedicated strategy or as a way to ding someone while you’re pounding them with fast creatures.

The biggest problem was that the deck would regularly lose to its own mana base. I often wanted G on the first turn and BB on the second turn. This is a recipe for disaster even if all the mana critters can produce B.

Other problems were that the deck regularly got run over by aggressive decks, but also didn’t have a prayer against the Titania’s Orb deck. I wanted to increase its chances against other creature decks, especially the White Weenie deck.

I reassessed what the deck should really be doing. I was going in too many directions with the discard and the recursion. The focus should be on dropping bombs and removing the opposition, and with a late game in the form of Hell’s Caretaker.

First, I decided to give the Thallids a second chance. Before I was testing them in place of the Elves of Deep Shadow (for instance), but it turns out I simply wanted them as more one-drops, something for the deck to do in the early turns. I was particularly worried about how the card matches up against White Weenie, but if they’re killing my Birds, they aren’t killing my Thallids, and I’m going to get an extra creature. If they’re killing my Thallids, then they aren’t killing my mana creatures, and I’m going to drop a big creature sooner.

With Thallid in the deck, I had an extra source of tokens to sacrifice and could remove what’s ultimately the worst creature in the deck: Sadly, it’s one of the robots, Tetravus. Unlike Triskellion, it can’t protect itself from Swords to Plowshares, Disenchant is a true feel-bad moment, and it’s quite possibly the worst thing in the deck to have control magic cast on. I almost cut the last one for a fourth Triskellion, but I just don’t have the heart.

We have some more creatures and token generators. But we lost a little beef and a little air defense, so we’ll have to make up for that.

One card I really missed in my assessment was Derelor. Erhnam is great, but I had too many games where he would get removed and I’d have no follow up. The problem with adding Derelor before was that I was already losing to my mana base regularly. But now that I was taking out Hymn to Torach, Hypnotic Specter wasn’t doing enough, and he was uncastable if I drew him after a Derelor anyway. I feel almost silly suggesting that Hypnotic Specter is wrong in a deck that can cast it, but that’s where I’ve ended up. I even decided to cut Mind Twist, which is a hugely unfun card anyway. Derelor is quite splashable, and most of the other black cards in the deck get cast before he hits the table or in the late game anyway.

I wanted a little more removal, but not only is castable removal in short supply, but adding it dilutes the deck a little and makes it less likely for Hell’s Caretaker to work his magic. I settled on Thorn Thallids, Thallid Devourer, and Royal Assassin.

Thorn Thallid doesn’t offer the life gain that Onulet does, but he can help break up some stalls, and he will randomly snipe weenie creatures and several utility creatures in the format. The Devourer is just an extra way to make tokens and will randomly get gigantic (or at least big enough to eat a White Knight while crusade is out).

Royal Assassin requires double black, but I wanted at least one out for black and artifact creatures. It doesn’t kill White Knight, which has proven to be probably the most dangerous thing for this deck to see, but we can’t have everything. Plus I have an unlimited one that I got by mistake. (I ordered a Revised copy and got a pleasant surprise!)

I needed to trim one more card; it ended up being an Animate Dead. The Hell’s Caretakers are more important, and Animate Dead sat in my hand once too often, but it was often randomly great in the mid to late game.

The deck is obviously much heavier green now than it used to be; my last move was to readjust the number of forests and swamps.

I haven’t 100% settled on the list, but here’s a summary of the changes to the list posted above for the current version under test: -4 Hypnotic Specter, -1 Onulet, -1 Animate Dead, -1 Mind Twist, -1 Jalum Tome, -1 Tetravus, +4 Thallid, +1 Thorn Thallid, +1 Thallid Devourer, +2 Derelor, +1 Royal Assassin.

The deck has a glut in the 4-slot, but overall the curve is ever so slightly lower (since Mind Twist is rarely cast for less than 4 mana).

Hopefully this has inspired you to build your own machine!