commander · Breya, Etherium Shaper
Invent Superiority (C16).
A four-color artifact combo deck from Commander 2016, led by Breya, Etherium Shaper — generate thopter tokens, sacrifice artifacts to Breya's abilities, and assemble the combo kills that make this deck one of the most powerful C16 precons.
The Commander
Invent Superiority is Commander 2016's artifact deck, and Breya is one of the most combo-friendly commanders ever printed in a precon. She enters and creates two 1/1 thopter tokens. Then, by sacrificing two artifacts, she triggers one of three modes: deal three damage to a player, gain five life, or give target artifact or creature -4/-4 until end of turn. The tokens she creates are themselves artifacts, so she sacrifices her own thopters to activate repeatedly. Breya is a self-contained engine in the command zone.
Breya, Etherium Shaper also supports Partner commanders. Akiri, Line-Slinger rewards you for having artifacts in play with first strike power boosts. Silas Renn returns artifacts from your graveyard to play whenever he deals combat damage.
Key Cards
Sharuum the Hegemon
Sharuum enters and returns any artifact card from a graveyard to the battlefield. In a deck that sacrifices artifacts constantly to Breya, Sharuum converts the graveyard into a second hand full of free permanents. Return Breya, return a combo piece, return the best value artifact in play. Sharuum also enables a classic loop with itself and a sacrifice outlet — get two Sharuums into play and you can sacrifice loop as many times as you have mana.
Whir of Invention
Improvise counts artifacts you tap as mana for this spell. In a deck with multiple artifacts in play at any time, Whir of Invention finds any artifact in your library and puts it directly into play. Need a combo piece? Whir finds it. Need Ashnod's Altar for a sacrifice engine? Whir finds it. Casting it at instant speed means you can respond to interactions or set up combo pieces on opponents' end steps.
Akiri, Line-Slinger
Akiri gains +1/+0 for each artifact you control and has first strike and vigilance. In a board with five artifacts, Akiri attacks as a 6/3 first striker that can also block on the same turn. As a Partner commander, Akiri provides early pressure that doesn't require the artifact combo to be assembled. She rewards you for the same artifact accumulation that Breya's sacrifice engine depends on — both pay off the same board state.
Silas Renn, Seeker Adept
Silas Renn has deathtouch and returns an artifact from your graveyard to play whenever he deals combat damage to a player. Deathtouch makes him hard to block profitably. Unblocked, he recurs your best artifact from the graveyard every turn — Breya herself, a key combo piece, or a powerful artifact that was removed. As a Partner commander, Silas Renn keeps the artifact supply flowing when the primary combo line gets disrupted.
Tymna the Weaver
Pay life equal to the number of opponents who were dealt combat damage this turn, draw that many cards. In a deck that attacks with multiple small tokens and artifacts, Tymna frequently draws two or three cards per turn for a minimal life cost. As a Partner commander in this deck, Tymna turns the thopter tokens Breya generates into a card draw engine. Every attack with a thopter that gets through pays for another card.
How to Play
Get Breya onto the battlefield as early as possible — she generates two artifacts the moment she enters. Sacrifice those thopters to her activated ability to apply pressure or remove threats while building the artifact board. Mid-game, use Sharuum to return Breya or key artifacts from your graveyard after sacrifice loops. Whir of Invention finds any missing combo piece at instant speed. The deck's win conditions are flexible: drain each opponent for three damage a dozen times by sacrificing artifact tokens to Breya, or assemble a sacrifice loop with a second Sharuum and Ashnod's Altar for infinite mana. Opponents who don't interact with Breya in the first few turns often find the artifact loop assembled by turn six.