1 Arcbound Bruiser
2 Arcbound Crusher
1 Arcbound Overseer
2 Arcbound Ravager
1 Bosh, Iron Golem
1 Broodstar
4 Coretapper
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Darksteel Gargoyle
1 Pentavus
1 Reiver Demon
2 Triskelion
4 AEther Vial
3 Dismantle
4 Power Conduit
4 Serum Tank
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Island
4 Mountain
3 Blinkmoth Nexus
4 Mirrodin's Core
4 Great Furnace
4 Seat of the Synod |
  Vial
Friends.
Description of deck by it's author
(quoted):
That's when you see sparks. (If you got that reference, and you're a
single woman in your 20s, call me up and we'll get married.) Mirrodin
introduced a theme of charge counters that power up certain artifacts.
Before that set, charge counters had mainly been seen on mana-producing
artifacts like Red Mana Battery, Blue Mana Battery, or, I don't know,
Green Mana Battery. But Mirrodin made charge counters into a thing, and
Darksteel expanded on the topic. When Brian David-Marshall previewed
Darksteel Reactor, the card was dissed. “Twenty counters?!” the
naysayers gasped. “That'll take twenty turns! Pass.” The savvy
deckbuilders mentioned Power Conduit (which just keeps getting better
and better as the block continues), but stopped there—because there was
nothing else to mention. No one had seen Coretapper. No one had seen
Dismantle. (Odd fact: If you target your Darksteel Reactor with
Dismantle, it'll just double the number of charge counters on it…) As it
turns out, winning via the Reactor strategy isn't completely nuts. But
I'm not going to build that deck. If I did, this column would have a
theme of alternate win conditions (yes, the third deck has one too). But
since this is a themeless week, we can't have that!
Instead, I'm more intrigued by Aether Vial. This is no Mercadian Lift,
folks. No winch counters here. There's an all-uncommon core of a charge
counter deck that can lead you in a few different directions. Start with
the aforementioned Vial, Coretapper, Conduit, and Dismantle. Add in
Serum Tank, Thirst for Knowledge, and possibly Sun Droplet, and the
charge counters will dance at your fingertips. You can craft a Lite deck
(no rares) that pops creatures into play. You can head straight for 11
and go all Darksteel Colossus all the time. You can fool around with
Riptide Replicator. I'm personally amused by a smorgasbord of creatures
of varying mana costs, from 2 through 11, that can be Vialed into play.
Dial the Vial up and down depending on what you need, and remember that
the best way for a Conduit to siphon off a charge counter is to add a
+1/+1 counter to an Arcbound creature.
And yes, it would be just fine to drop a Darksteel Reactor right into
that deck.
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