During Tarkir: Dragonstorm spoiler season, one card that garnered a lot of mixed opinions was United Battlefront. While the card definitely received a lot of hype as a neat reverse Collected Company, some were quick to write it off due to being a Sorcery that requires a high set-up cost.
However, over time, the card has started to pull its weight in multiple formats. The card started seeing Pioneer play in mono-white token control a couple weeks ago, and just recently began to make a major dent in Standard.
An Azorius Artifacts shell utilizing a playset of United Battlefront not only just won a Magic Online Standard Challenge, but a similar decklist currently boasts a 7-1 day one record at the Regional Championship in Europe. This surprise archetype is fully built to abuse United Battlefront like no other, and we expect this strategy to gain a lot more traction following these elite performances.
Azorius Artifacts Theme
Before we get into the United Battlefront package and why the Sorcery is such a massive upgrade for this deck, we first need to look at what this Azorius shell is looking to accomplish. The vast majority of cards present are Artifacts, many of which help stave off early pressure.
In the two-mana slot, Spring-Loaded Sawblades does a nice job removing early attackers out of mono-red or Izzet Prowess. At three mana, both Perilous Snare and Braided Net keep the opponent off-balance, targeting a wider range of permanents including Planeswalkers.
From there, Repurposing Bay can be used to grab additional pieces of interaction or win conditions. Being able to convert a copy of Spring-Loaded Sawblades or Clay-Fired Bricks that’s lying around into a Perilous Snare is a nice luxury to have. Similarly, once you use up your counters one Braided Net, sacrificing it to go grab Thousand Moons Smithy will pull you further ahead.
One thing you may notice is that this deck has a high density of three-drops. This is because the deck’s main win condition is Simulacrum Synthesizer. With such a high Artifact count, Simulacrum Synthesizer is bound to make enormous Constructs that are individually threatening.
A Massive Improvement
This Artifacts core isn’t exactly anything new to Standard. We’ve seen various Artifact configurations pop up in Aetherdrift Standard from time to time, but Artifact decks fell out of favor. This is largely because these decks had a number of weaknesses.
First, these decks tend to be on the slower side. You have some removal spells in Artifact form to prevent you from getting run over, but applying pressure is not one of this deck’s strong suits.
Another weakness which plays off of the first is that you’re very reliant on Simulacrum Synthesizer in order to generate pressure in the first place. Repurposing Bay was a nice addition that makes it easier to find the powerful Artifact, but doing so requires a big mana investment.
As it turns out, the inclusion of United Battlefront is a game changer that addresses both weaknesses at the same time. Alongside a playset of The Irencrag, you’ll be able to cast United Battlefront on turn three a lot of the time, and the reward is huge.
Digging seven cards deep gives you a lot of looks for Simulacrum Synthesizer. Assuming you hit another three-mana Artifact alongside it, you’ll be able to make a Construct right away.
Even if the opponent has a way to blow up Simulacrum Synthesizer when they untap, such as Loran of the Third Path, you at least got to add a big creature to the board. Big Constructs aren’t the easiest to kill since they dodge Go for the Throat, which is a huge boon. If you ever manage to hit two copies of Simulacrum Synthesizer at the same time, your opponent is in a world of trouble.
United Battlefront makes your gameplan more consistent while simultaneously giving you great card selection depending on the matchup. Sometimes, simply finding two ways to remove Creatures will stabilize the board versus aggro decks. Digging for a piece of graveyard hate or High Noon is essential against combo decks and Jeskai Oculus. United Battlefront delivers on all fronts.
Strengths and Weaknesses
In its current form, there’s a lot to like about Azorius Artifacts in the metagame. First and foremost, there isn’t a lot of Artifact removal running around. Outside of a couple copies of Abrade from Jeskai Oculus and red aggro decks or Loran of the Third Path from self-bounce strategies, your copies of Simulacrum Synthesizer or Perilous Snare will typically stick around long-term.
Between Repurposing Bay, United Battlefront, and Kayla’s Reconstruction, you have a lot of tools that excel in the grindy matchups. At the same time, you have enough removal to defend yourself versus red aggro.
That doesn’t mean this deck doesn’t have some areas for concern. For example, as a deck nearly entirely made up of noncreature spells, Spell Pierce is absolutely incredible against you. A Slickshot Show-Off or Abhorrent Oculus backed up by Spell Pierce may be tough to beat.
Because most of your interaction is Sorcery speed, you are vulnerable to Azorius Omniscience combo, too. Even if you can find graveyard hate, your clock usually isn’t the fastest, which gives your opponent the time necessary to churn through their library for an answer.
It’s hard to cover all of your bases, though. Azorius Artifacts is a well-positioned deck for the most part, and players were not prepared to play against the deck this weekend. Expect to see players adjust with additional hate moving forward.
