Sydri Infinite-Combos EDH

[NehebTheUnworthy]

Sydri Infinite-Combos EDH

Hello! I'm posting this Sydri-Combo Deck to ask for help in making it more focused and efficient in finding and executing the combos.

The main card it revolves around is Salvaging Station which creates value or is the main combo piece (with Flayer Husk etc).

Other essential cards are Myr Retriever, Krark-Clan Ironworks, Scrap Trawler etc.

By reading my list, what part of it would you cut and would you bring more forward?
Also, would you go for another commander like Sharuum, or Silas Renn+White (like Ishai)?

Please, keep the suggestions budget friendly also.
Thanks in advance!

[Slyvester12]

I'm confused. What exactly is your combo? You seem to have a few loops with no payoff cards.

Also, wouldn't a different commander do more for your deck? One of the partner combinations or something like Alela to generate value?

[NehebTheUnworthy]

That's the issue I'm trying to figure out actually.

The pay offs are mainly Staff of Domination or Goblin Cannon that win via the infinite mana loops (and also Steel Hellkite), or Disciple of the Vault who also ends game.

I find though that the card that really gets things going is Bolas's Citadel (which also ends games with Aetherflux Reservoir).

The decks and the loops that you mention are truly unfocused though, and the assembly of the combos feels coincidental.

[Slyvester12]

The decks and the loops that you mention are truly unfocused though, and the assembly of the combos feels coincidental.

What? Are you calling the partner commanders and Alela "truly unfocused?" I also didn't mention any alternate loops. I'm confused again, so I'm just going to make suggestions.

I was saying that partner combos or Alela would be better because Sydri doesn't really offer anything. You usually don't want your artifacts to be creatures, and giving them lifelink and deathtouch is practically useless.

Partner combos like Silas Renn, Seeker Adept and Rebbec, Architect of Ascension would protect combo pieces, give you recursion, and still allow esper combo routes like Urza Foundry (or just use KCI, since you're already running it).

Alela keeps you in esper and turns all of your artifacts into faeries which can chump block or get sacrificed to an Ashnod's Altar or another engine to generate fast value.

As for combos, I would include more routes for infinite mana and outlets that are useful outside of combo turn. You're running five mana rocks and all of your tutors are only for artifacts, not to mention no counters. It might be easy for your opponents to disrupt your combo.

Outlets like Memnarch can be used in the midgame to disrupt your opponents and win with infinite mana, Blue Sun's Zenith can draw cards or deck an opponent, and something like Lux Cannon can provide repeated removal while winning the game with infinite untaps.

[NehebTheUnworthy]

The decks and the loops that you mention are truly unfocused though, and the assembly of the combos feels coincidental.

What? Are you calling the partner commanders and Alela "truly unfocused?" I also didn't mention any alternate loops. I'm confused again, so I'm just going to make suggestions.

I was referring to my list when I said "truly unfocused".
Also the thinking behind Sydri was the fact that she is a piece herself of the following combos:
-Sydri+Voltaic Construct+3 mana dork= Infnite mana
-Sydri+Seat of the Synod+Salvaging Station=Infinite ETBs (utilised either with Disciple of the Vault for the win or with Krark-Clan Ironworks for infinite mana).
-Sydri+Liquimetal coating=Land destruction (it could also be dangerous with the previous combo +Dross Scorpion)
-Sydri+Caltrops
And in general I was thinking that the ability could offer some good defense by just making good blockers out of disposable artifacts. Now that I think about it though, Alela might be better in this regard.

If I did focus on the infinite mana aspect, what could be some budget payoffs?

Also, would anyone recommend cutting white from this list (and going with a Silas Renn pairing)?

[Aetherium Slinky]

Before you remove any colours I think you should focus on getting the deck into a stable state. You've got far too few lands and I don't think it can handle the high CMC cards without additional ramp. I would look into getting up to ~37 lands and adding the Talisman cycle, Arcane Signet and Fellwar Stone as well.

[NehebTheUnworthy]

The high CMC cards are often cheated into play, although a couple more lands would be beneficial. Maybe adding 3-4 more would help.

[Aetherium Slinky]

The high CMC cards are often cheated into play, although a couple more lands would be beneficial. Maybe adding 3-4 more would help.

With what? If your cheat engine costs more than 4 mana you need ramp in order to get to it.

In general you want 10-15 pieces of low end ramp. I count 8. In general you want 36-38 lands. I count 30. Your deck is just not going to run smoothly, you'll be missing a lot of land drops, you won't be ramping at the same pace as others and it's going to be a waiting game for you.

Your draw spells aren't up to the par either; I count 6 spells that actually draw you cards. You'll want more like 10+ so that you don't run out of gas late game. You've got spells that offer you better card selection but those should never count towards your draw spell total. You should actually treat those more like tutors albeit poor ones since they usually look at the top X cards of your library.

Perhaps this resource will help you find more cards that can help with your problem areas:
https://deckstats.net/decks/93006/1730357-every-esper-edh-deck-ever

[NehebTheUnworthy]

Your draw spells aren't up to the par either; I count 6 spells that actually draw you cards. You'll want more like 10+ so that you don't run out of gas late game. You've got spells that offer you better card selection but those should never count towards your draw spell total. You should actually treat those more like tutors albeit poor ones since they usually look at the top X cards of your library.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll be looking to cut some of the "fat" to increase my land count because it is often a problem indeed.

I want to ask a general question about card draw though. When people suggest 10+ card draw spells do they also consider cards that draw 1 or 2 cards or they mostly refer to burst card draw (like draw 3-4-5, X spells)?
I know that I cannot for example consider Brainstorm and Preordain a card draw, as it is mostly card filtering. But can cards like Ichor Wellspring be considered? Or to put it more simply and generally: Does Elvish Visionary count as draw in your decks?

[Aetherium Slinky]

If it puts more than a card into your hand then it's a draw spell. Rhystic Study is draw, Night's Whisper is draw, Preordain is not. Elvish Visionary can be if you have Yarok, the Desecrated out or you can recur it somehow.

Both draw engines (Consecrated Sphinx) and burst draw (Painful Truths) have their place. I personally think burst draw is underrated. A classic example is Phyrexian Arena that is a great card in your opening hand but a dead draw on turn 8. I tend to prefer burst draw these days but it really depends on your meta - specifically how fast it is - whether you want to prefer engines or burst.

EDIT: So you want 10 draw spells of the kind I just outlined whether it's engines or burst. In addition to those Brainstorm, Ponder, Preordain and Serum Visions can provide some extra filtering both early and late game. Early on you can make sure you get enough lands or don't flood and later you get to pick spells you want to cast. They're not bad but anything over one mana is probably going to get the axe. Opt is borderline, Anticipate is probably bad. The good thing about them is that they occupy one drop slot and later they won't disrupt your plans later by costing very little yet they still provide some good filtering.

The case of Brainstorm is curious - I actually think it's a late game spell when you're desperate for answers. It's also a good spell with fetches and other cards that force shuffles because you get to dump useless cards into your deck. But a turn one Brainstorm with no shuffle is just bad.

[NehebTheUnworthy]

EDIT: So you want 10 draw spells of the kind I just outlined whether it's engines or burst. In addition to those Brainstorm, Ponder, Preordain and Serum Visions can provide some extra filtering both early and late game. Early on you can make sure you get enough lands or don't flood and later you get to pick spells you want to cast. They're not bad but anything over one mana is probably going to get the axe. Opt is borderline, Anticipate is probably bad. The good thing about them is that they occupy one drop slot and later they won't disrupt your plans later by costing very little yet they still provide some good filtering.

The case of Brainstorm is curious - I actually think it's a late game spell when you're desperate for answers. It's also a good spell with fetches and other cards that force shuffles because you get to dump useless cards into your deck. But a turn one Brainstorm with no shuffle is just bad.

Thanks for the answer!

I have to also say that the reason I chose to run spells like Brainstorm, Anticipate, Telling Time etc in the deck is that I realised that they work really well with Bolas's Citadel, which is the artifact that I always look for to win the game and flood the floor with many many pieces that at some point go infinite. So, these cheap spells really help me rearrange the top of my library and keep on going and going (Bolas's Citadel + Aetherflux Reservoir= Win, if not for some streak of terrible luck).