{"ops":[{"insert":"\"Be true to yourself, unless you'd rather be a "},{"insert":{"card-link":"God-Pharaoh's Statue"}},{"insert":" ...\"\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true,"bold":true},"insert":"Why did I build this mess?"},{"insert":"\n\nThis deck was designed to maximize the potential to win games with my favorite pet card: God-Pharaoh's Statue. I fell in love with that big dumb artifact playing it in WAR limited for its ability to let games go long, allowing me to do more sweet dumb stuff, while also providing some inevitability. But, for some reason, the COWARDS of the Coast made the thing Legendary. The nerve! How can I win games with this hunk of rock if I can only have 1 of them?\n\nEnter one of my other favorite cards: "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Helm of the Host"}},{"insert":" . I don't think I need to explain to people reading this description how fun and powerful Helm can be. Making a token copy of a creature each turn and removing Legendary can get out of hand quickly. I played a lot of a "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Tatyova, Benthic Druid"}},{"insert":" in Brawl when it first came out, and getting to make a ton of Tatyovas that would let you effectively draw your deck was a ton of fun.\n\nWith the goal in mind to find a way to duplicate GPS, lock out games, and win matches while losing friends, I started looking at commanders that would help make that dream come true. And "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Absorbing Man"}},{"insert":" does all that and more! That card is the glue that holds the deck together. In the early game, you can use it to ramp (copying lands or Sol Ring) or disrupt (copying Stax pieces). Plus, a 4/4 dissuades a bit of aggression from the table. Mid game, it can help set up for more explosive combos and finishers. Want more token power this turn? Why not grab an extra Parallel Lives? Lots of lands in hand and need to ramp? Copy an Exploration Broodship or a Tatyova and go to town. Late game, it's the most consistent way to get our combo started by becoming a God-Pharaoh's Statue. Or copy a "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Dark Depths"}},{"insert":" and immediately make a Marit Lage (that hopefully you can copy a few times).\n\nFrom there, I tried to build a deck that could slow opponents down early, build up a combo of some sort, and overwhelm the table with value / salt. I'll discuss some card packages and specific combos below. I also tried to keep this Bracket 3, which meant cutting some true standouts like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"The One Ring"}},{"insert":" and win conditions like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Biovisionary"}},{"insert":" . It currently is classified as bracket 2, but with the ability to disrupt games early with Stax pieces, this really has to be in a higher bracket.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true,"bold":true},"insert":"Taking things slowly..."},{"insert":"\nTo be able to get to a point where I can create a full on statue garden, I need to buy time. There are plenty of ways to do that in Magic, but Stax pieces work really well with Absorbing Man. He can become a "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sphere of Resistance"}},{"insert":" or a "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Lodestone Golem"}},{"insert":" for a spin around the table, then turn into something else on your turn so you don't have to get double taxed. Likewise, duplicating "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Mana Breach"}},{"insert":" will really slow things down (and also get you hate). Even better when you can turn into an Exploration Broodship the next turn and catch back up. We're not planning on doing a lot of attacking, so "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Meekstone"}},{"insert":" also helps slow things down - just be careful of playing it, then tapping Absorbing Man for mana as a land. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Ensnaring Bridge"}},{"insert":" is a fetchable stax pieces to further pump the breaks on aggressive decks. Absent the bridge, Propaganda also makes attacking costly. \n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true,"bold":true},"insert":"Before we Ramp things up!"},{"insert":"\nWhile slowing opponents down is nice, we still need to get to 6+ mana to do our own thing. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sol Ring"}},{"insert":" , "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Arcane Signet"}},{"insert":" , and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Basalt Monolith"}},{"insert":" are our three Absorbing Man copyable mana rocks of choice. Since Absorbing Man stops being whatever it is at the start of your next turn, feel free to be a Basalt Monolith for a turn as you'll get to untap the next turn regardless. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Delighted Halfling"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Fanatic of Rhonas"}},{"insert":" are the mana dorks of choice, one helping to get through countermagic and the other usually tapping for 4 green mana. You can also really ramp if you turn Fanatic into an artifact with "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Liquimetal Torque"}},{"insert":" then copy it with Absorbing Man.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true,"bold":true},"insert":"Twice is nice"},{"insert":"\nClones, copies, and especially token makers are key to winning with this deck, and I might have gone a bit over with them in this build. Given a lot of the targets we want to copy are legendary, we need to find ways around that pesky legend rule (which Absorbing Man already does to an extent). "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sakashima of a Thousand Faces"}},{"insert":" is an easy include, as is "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Vesuvan Duplimancy"}},{"insert":" and"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Spark Double"}},{"insert":", along with the aforementioned Helm of the Host. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Mirror Box"}},{"insert":" makes the cut to enable some of our copy effects that can hit a certain 6 mana legendary artifact that isn't a creature, such as "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Flash Photography"}},{"insert":" or "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Court of Vantress"}},{"insert":" . "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Iron Man, Bleeding Edge"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"The Sixth Doctor"}},{"insert":" help us create token copies of our key cards.\n\n "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Shuri, Wakandan Inventor"}},{"insert":" both ramps us and lets create non-legendary versions of our artifacts to clone. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Impossible Man"}},{"insert":" can do a lot of things, like becoming a token maker or temporary disruption piece, but he also serves as an expensive way to trade with big creature threats. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Waxen Shapethief"}},{"insert":" helps us replace our key artifacts and creatures targeted by single target removal, and can dig early to find key cards. And "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Mirrorform"}},{"insert":" ? Just be sure not to cast it on a statue expecting that Mirror Box will keep you around. It's mostly here for some edge value, like copying token makers on end step or the like. But if you have a non-legendary copy of a statue sitting around (thanks to Shuri or Duplimancy, or to a lesser extent Helm or Sakashima), this is a great card to close out the game.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true,"bold":true},"insert":"The more the merrier"},{"insert":"\nNow that we have a way to make clones, many of which are tokens, it made sense to support with a bit of duplication. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Adrix and Nev, Twincasters"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Parallel Lives"}},{"insert":" both have the potential for exponential token growth given the right board state. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Worldwalker Helm"}},{"insert":" only gets going once you have other tokens, but can help lock out games or combo with "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Urza, Lord High Artificer"}},{"insert":" with infinite mana and cards in the lategame.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true,"bold":true},"insert":"A trip down to value town"},{"insert":"\nIn order to actually get the pieces I need to go off, we have to have some draw support. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Silent Hallcreeper"}},{"insert":" ,"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Overlord of the Floodpits"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Overlord of the Hauntwoods"}},{"insert":" are fantastic to copy with Absorbing Man for value. With Hallcreeper, I believe it's treated as a new copy each time so you can always draw, but even if not, it's an evasive 4/4 that can grow and draw. Both Overlords will likely only be cast for their Impending cost, but then Absorbing Man takes the wheel and gets in there. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Consult the Star Charts"}},{"insert":" I'm not entirely sold on, but it does help find what we need and improves over the course of the game.\n\nI also run a small tutor package: "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Treasure Mage"}},{"insert":" (for GPS), "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Trophy Mage"}},{"insert":" (for stax pieces, Mirror Box and Mirage Mirror), and a pair of Tezzerets ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Tezzeret, Cruel Captain"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Tezzeret the Seeker"}},{"insert":" ). Little Tez is mostly there to fetch key 1 mana artifacts, like Sol Ring, Meekstone, or Exploration Broodship, but can also get "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Synthesizer Labship"}},{"insert":" if I just need a way to animate an artifact to go off. Big Tez can find a Helm of the Host or Lodestone Golem immediately or ramp for a bit before grabbing a more expensive combo piece. \n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true,"bold":true},"insert":"Don't touch my stuff!"},{"insert":"\nLastly, a bit of reactive protection to make sure our combo sticks. I chose "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Defend the Rider"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Tamiyo's Safekeeping"}},{"insert":" specifically because they both also trigger "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Vesuvan Duplimancy"}},{"insert":" . Veil of Summer is further help with countermagic, and Heroic Intervention helps when we go wide that we don't just get wiped.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Arcane Denial"}},{"insert":" also helps us stay alive while helping us draw into wincons, while "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Three Steps Ahead"}},{"insert":" is half counter and half token maker. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Beast Within"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Archdruid's Charm"}},{"insert":" both help clean up problem permanents, with the later also letting us grab important creatures in a pinch.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Chain of Vapor"}},{"insert":" does help protect us if absolutely necessary, but is better used to combo with "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Vesuvan Duplimancy"}},{"insert":" . For example, if Absorbing Man becomes a Vesuvan Duplimancy, you can then target Absorbing Man with Chain of Vapor to make a token copy of it, then copy chain of vapor to make two more copies, then copy again for 4 more.\n\n"}]}