I get bored of the meta late in the cycle and when a new set release is still a few weeks down the line, I often find myself digging the budget decks around the web to build and play in "artisan historic" for fun, or just with a friend on a rainy evening and spend some quality time. This is one of those decks.

I'm pretty sure this deck exists/existed before I came up with it, but this time around, I was trying to convince another friend of mine to try out ARTISAN. He at first didn't want to play with me, but he promised to try it out, if i was able to build one of his favorite archetypes and I think i kind of nailed it. This deck is not only strong, but also super fun to play and play against. One of my favorit decks thus far.

MAIN:

Instead of laying out the strategy, I'll be explaining a litte of experience I had while testing this deck.

4xBlood Artist, 4xCruel Celebrant, 4xBastion of Remembrance are your aristocrats. Thats 12 cards that drain life whenever something dies. You want as MANY AS YOU CAN on the field. 1 life point doesn't seem much, but holy smokes, does it add up, if you have 3 or more on the field.

4xHunted Witness, 4xOrzhov Enforcer and the tokens from Hidden Stockpile, Bastion of Remembrance and the previous mentioned creatures are your fodder. Use them to block attacking creatures if necessary, and then sacrifice them to Village Rites, Defiant Salvager or to the Hidden Stockpile in order soak up damage.

Defiant Salvager Is the only creature in Common/Uncommon that is a free sacrifice (in historic), without paying mana. Unfortunately as socery speed, but in all honesty, instant speed would make this deck even stronger to a point, where it wouldn't be fun anymore. Together with Hidden Stockpile these will be the sac-outlets.

CHEAT SHEET:

- 12 sources of each mana should give us 86% chance of turn 1 mana. It's not really that bad if we don't do anything T1.


KNOW THY STRENGTH:

Patience is key. This deck is not fast, it grinds, it survives and out-values. Don't worry too much about life totals the first few turns, if you play smart, you'll need 2 or maybe even 3 D20 dice at the table. At some point, there will be enough tokens to block all incoming attacks.
Against control decks, the tokens and cheap creatures should provide enough combat power on our side, to attack fairly early and later, the triggers will do the rest. Focus on the death triggers. Maybe add a Reassembling Skeleton to the Sideboard, that we can get it back from the grave for more resilience.

FUTURE SIGHT:
I will be building several flavorful 60 card artisan decks, with mechanics i deem strong enough to built around. Keep an eye out for the next one.