Salvaging Tezzerator (Modern)

This is a fun budget combo deck that builds on the foundation of the original Tezzerator deck played by Kenny Oberg at Pro Tour Berlin in 2008.

It uses the synergy between Lotus Bloom and Salvaging Station to generate huge amounts of mana which can be used with the suite of other artifacts and planeswalkers in the deck. Early game you want to spot control and clear the board to slow the game down, before dropping some big plays in the form of Tezzeret and Salvaging Station to carry you to victory.

If you want to play the deck here is an explanation of the card choices:

Trinket Mage - the toolbox enabler, Trinket Mage can fetch every artifact in your arsenal besides Salvaging Station giving you access to your bag of tricks. He can also soak up damage as a blocker or go on the offensive if needed.

Auriok Salvagers - give you additional methods of recursion to keep bringing artifacts back into the game. A solid 2/4 body means he can block well and doesn't die to Lightning Bolt.

Tezzeret the Seeker - is central to the deck, he acts as a toolbox tutor to find what you need (he can also get a Lotus Bloom into play for free!) as a combo piece he helps untap your Salvaging Stations to allow more recursion and multiple uses of the spellbomb's or blooms, and he can also be a win condition with his Planeswalker ultimate ability and a handful of artifacts on the board. There is a reason the deck is named after big Tezz.

Ral Zarek - an additional method of "untapping" stuff on your side of the board and can be useful to tap down a blocker on your opponents side, although not common as you're not an aggressive deck. His second ability can be good spot removal in the mid game however Ral is not an essential part of the deck and could easily be swapped out.

Thirst for Knowledge - an absolute no brainer in a deck with this many artifacts, "Draw 3, discard 1" at instant speed = value. Allows you to churn through the deck to dig up Tezzeret and Salvaging Station, in the mid to late game it also lets you drop Lotus Bloom's directly into graveyard to reanimate.

Academy Ruins - give you another method of artifact recursion that isn't impacted by creature removal. Also able to bring back a Salvaging Station from the bin which can make or break some games. (watch out for Tectonic Edge though).

Various Spellbomb's - gives you a toolbox of tricks which can do everything from kill creatures, deal damage to your opponent, slow tempo, gain life, create tokens and draw cards. I'll write a breakdown of these in future.

Adding money to the deck:

If you want to boost the deck to make it more competitive here is a few ideas.

Laaaaaand. Fetches and shock lands most importantly if money is no object, or you can use Tri-Lands with a mix of other sources for a budget alternative to fix your mana.

Improving the design, you can take the existing shell and add some control elements to it. Anything to boost your longevity and give you more control of the game until later when you can start to go off and win. Turns 3 - 5 are quite important to this deck as it is where you're at your weakest, so this is where you will want to make the most gains. Board sweepers, spot removal and tempo control are your best weapons to counter this.

Some ideas; Lightning Bolt, Supreme Verdict, (more) Engineered Explosives, Cryptic Command, Ensnaring Bridge and Trinisphere all present good options.