Exquisite Invention (C18).

The Commanders

Exquisite Invention is an Izzet Commander deck built around artifact tokens and a single moment of overwhelming transformation. The deck generates dozens of small, seemingly inconsequential tokens (Treasure, Clue, Thopter, Myr), then at the start of combat Brudiclad converts every token you control into copies of your most powerful creature. A board of 20 Treasures becomes 20 copies of Myr Battlesphere. The table dies.

Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer costs {5}{U}{R} and is a 4/4 Phyrexian Artificer. At the beginning of combat on your turn, create a 2/1 blue Myr token, then you may choose a token you control, and each other token you control becomes a copy of the chosen token. Every combat creates a new 2/1, and every other token transforms into whatever you point at. The key is having one spectacular target token when Brudiclad triggers: a 16/16, a copy of an opponent's commander, a Dragon. Everything else becomes that card simultaneously.

Key Cards

Myr Battlesphere

The prime Brudiclad transform target. Myr Battlesphere enters with four 1/1 Myr tokens and attacks to tap Myr for damage. When Brudiclad transforms every token into Myr Battlesphere, you get an army of 4/7s, each entering with four more Myr tokens. Those new Myr tokens aren't transformed yet, so next combat Brudiclad transforms them too. The compounding is relentless: one Battlesphere transform creates more tokens that become more Battlespheres that create more tokens. A board of 10 copies deals 80+ combat damage and over 100 with Myr tap triggers.

Sharding Sphinx

Exponential Thopter generation. Whenever an artifact creature you control deals combat damage, create a 1/1 Thopter token with flying. In a deck full of artifact creatures attacking simultaneously, Sharding Sphinx triggers for each one that connects. A Brudiclad transform creating 15 Myr that all deal combat damage generates 15 new Thopter tokens on that attack alone. Those Thopters are now fuel for next combat's Brudiclad transformation. The deck scales to overwhelming token counts within two or three combat steps of Sharding Sphinx entering.

Loyal Apprentice

Early token generation that fuels Brudiclad. Loyal Apprentice creates a 1/1 Thopter with flying at the beginning of combat on your turn when you control Brudiclad. Over three turns, Loyal Apprentice produces three Thopters before Brudiclad has anything else to transform. Each Thopter is also an artifact creature that connects flying damage to trigger Sharding Sphinx. Loyal Apprentice costs two mana and generates reliable value every single turn for the rest of the game as long as Brudiclad is in play.

Saheeli, Sublime Artificer

Thopter generation from all nonartifact spell casts. Saheeli creates a 1/1 Thopter whenever you cast a noncreature spell, and her -2 makes a copy of an artifact you control until end of turn. The Thopter stream is massive in a deck that casts spells constantly. Her -2 creates a temporary copy of any artifact token, including Battlesphere: that temporary copy becomes a permanent copy if Brudiclad transforms other tokens into it before end of turn. Saheeli's -2 into Brudiclad's transform is the primary setup for explosive game-winning turns.

How to Play

The first four turns are about generating tokens cheaply: Loyal Apprentice, Saheeli, and any cheap treasure-generating spells. Brudiclad needs 10+ tokens before his transform matters. Play Brudiclad when you have at least one spectacular creature to transform into, or wait for Myr Battlesphere to be in play first. The kill turn: cast Myr Battlesphere (or get a copy), at the start of combat Brudiclad transforms every other token into Battlesphere copies, each entering with four new Myr. That combat attack ends the game. Protect Brudiclad; without him the deck is just a pile of small tokens. With him, the game ends in two attack steps.