Over the last five years, one of our favorite build-arounds printed was Oswald Fiddlebender. Having access to a Birthing Pod for artifacts is strong, and it’s fun to try to maximize the potent Gnome to its full extent.
Despite not making a ton of noise in Constructed for quite some time, the card has finally broken out in a big way. A full playset appeared in the winning decklist of a Magic Online Vintage Challenge, showcasing its versatility alongside Magic’s most broken cards. This deck has a lot going on, including a two-card infinite combo!
Building Around Oswald Fiddlebender
Oswald Fiddlebender is the main engine behind this archetype. In most formats, this card is pretty difficult to support. Plus, as a 2/2 without Haste, it’s vulnerable to removal spells.
In the context of Vintage, however, this card has a lot of appeal. First of all, it’s easy to play this card turn one thanks to the presence of Moxen, Mana Crypt, and other broken mana sources. There’s then way less kill spells to worry about, so there’s a good chance you’ll be able to start activating Oswald Fiddlebender in no time.
Oswald Fiddlebender provides a lot of flexibility. You can sacrifice Moxen to grab Mana Vault to have a big burst of mana and cast one of your four-mana artifacts from hand. You can find prison elements, such as Vexing Bauble or Void Mirror. There’s even removal to search for in the form of Dusk Rose Reliquary. However, what really sets Oswald Fiddlebender apart in this deck is the fact that you can use it to set up a simple two-card combo.
The combo is centered around Time Vault. Time Vault is a busted card. Alongside any effect that untaps it turn after turn, such as Manifold Key, you’re free to take infinite turns! Winning the game from there should be trivial.
This combo is super efficient. With Time Vault being restricted, though, you only have access to one copy. Fortunately, Oswald Fiddlebender threatens to get both artifacts into play quickly.
Time Vault also goes infinite with Tezzeret, Cruel Captain, a powerful Planeswalker from Edge of Eternities. Tezzeret appears as a four-of in this decklist.
Abusing Mishra’s Workshop
Besides Oswald Fiddlebender, the other elite card this deck is built to abuse that you can play four copies of is Mishra’s Workshop. Mishra’s Workshop leads to some of your most explosive draws. Alongside any cheap accelerant like a Mox, you’ll have the luxury of playing a four-mana artifact on turn one.
With this in mind, there’s a whopping eight four-mana artifacts in the maindeck! Unsurprisingly, a playset of The One Ring shows up. The One Ring is an insane source of card advantage, especially when it comes down early. It’s a great card to untap with Manifold Key, and with access to so many cheap mana sources and Mishra’s Workshop, you shouldn’t have a problem relishing all of that card advantage and pulling ahead.
In addition to The One Ring, you’ll notice a full playset of Sarevok’s Tome. Even without a ton of creatures, The Initiative is a broken mechanic. Add on the fact that this card doubles as a mana rock, and you’ve got a very strong engine in its own right.
Finally, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention Clown Car. Everyone’s favorite Unfinity vehicle goes hard with Mishra’s Workshop. The creature tokens it makes are convenient fodder for Oswald Fiddlebender, while the Car helps fight over the Initiative when applicable. Clown Car scales as the game goes along, too, making it one of the stronger payoffs when you have tons of mana already in play.
Difficult to Gameplan Against
With so many interweaving parts, presenting a successful gameplan against this deck isn’t easy. Oswald Fiddlebender is a card that demands removal on sight. Yet, if your Dimir opponent is stuck with multiple copies of Fatal Push in hand against one of your fast Mishra’s Workshop plus The One Ring draws that doesn’t feature Oswald Fiddlebender, the card may rot in their hand.
Your multitude of tutors makes Time Vault a constant concern for the opponent. Void Mirror and Vexing Bauble do a good job letting you resolve your broken artifacts through Force of Will, which only makes it more likely you’ll assemble your combo unscathed.
Where this deck runs into problems is in the face of specific hate cards. Clarion Conqueror out of mono-white Initiative is a real pain, for example, and you have no copies of Force of Will of your own to stop it from hitting the board. It singlehandedly shuts down Oswald Fiddlebender, Time Vault, The One Ring and all of your artifact mana sources. If that weren’t enough, it negates any advantage you’d gain from Sarevok’s Tome by simply attacking you and taking the Initiative.
Against hate cards like Clarion Conqueror or a well-timed Null Rod, your best bet is to use Tezzeret to grab Dusk Rose Reliquary. If you can’t, winning the game becomes difficult.
In spite of weaknesses to hate pieces, this archetype is proving its resiliency. Winning a Vintage Challenge is a tough feat, and Oswald Fiddlebender has what it takes to be the focal point of an archetype in Magic’s most powerful format.
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