Freejam Regent

A couple slots of Flex-slot nonsense that’s worse than a T1/T2 4/4 flyer that dodges Bolt and Push. Thoughtcast has the issue of never being able to draw you out of a bad Game 1 or digging for relevant threats against Control or Midrange, and decks only run 1-2 copies anyway which can easily be boarded.

It literally has Pseudo-Affinity “Totally not Convoke”, making it synergistic and functional.

I’m not saying it’s that great, but it’s not bad either. Just like all of the other jank “Affinity” crams into its flex slots to pretend it’s still an Affinity deck.

Being RR+ Tap free dudes you just played also helps Affinity dodge the W/R Prison/ Sun & Moon decks running around Modern now.

You seem to be greatly undervaluing the power of Convoke-style effects that ignore summoning sickness with 0-cost artifacts. On turns where Affinity just drops dudes and passes, now it could swing that into a 4/4 that represents a threat that has to be answered immediately or you win in a couple turns, ON TOP of Affinity already being able to abuse the creatures you used to cheat Freejam Regent into play and win THAT way. And the cherry on top being Inkmoth Nexus.

All I’m saying is, don’t be surprised if it shows up. 4/4 flyers on Turn 1/2 is nothing to laugh at, especially when the format is about to warp around a single Black mana Instant that kills everything small.

Imagine, instead of your Affinity opponent dropping Vault Skirge, they slam a Freejam Regent into play and just throw up two enormous middle fingers right in your face.

Also:

– Mox Opal can Improvise without Metalcraft, making Freejam Regent a playable threat when you get Vandalblasted or Scattering Spree’d or w/e mid/late game.

– Springleaf Drum and Cranial Plating can Improvise as well, meaning you have multiple ways to dump your entire hand onto the board and chain into Freejam Regent.

The important thing you’re missing here is that Freejam Regent in Affinity is never actually 6 mana to cast. You have so many artifacts and ways to abuse Improvise for free that Regent is actually a consistent Turn 3 play at the latest, with Turn 1 & 2 Regents not even being out of the realm of possibility in the slightest.

And even as late as turn 3, a 4/4 flyer that can single-handedly end the game is huge.

I wasn’t aware Swords to Plowshares was in Modern.

Also, “dies to removal” is my old joke and it doesn’t apply here.

You’re using Affinity’s pre-existing win condition, beat down, to cheat out a secondary win condition, alternate beat down, which either draws fire from your utility pieces, or just ends the game.

If you’re dumping your hand on T1 and they kill Freejam Regent…. oh darn? Like they weren’t going to have that Path to Exile and kill something else with it?

It’s a threat for Affinity that dodges Bolt, Helix, Fatal Push, Abrupt Decay, the list goes on, and it can be played for RR before Turn 4 reliably.

Like I said. I’m not saying it’s a thing, just that no one should be surprised if it shows up because it can fill a very specific niche for Affinity that’s likely to show up with the introduction of Fatal Push.

It’s the same concept, really. I think the Inventor might even be better.

Cheating out a huge threat on T1/2 seems to me like a good thing.

I think playing it early enough makes the Hexproof matter more than the evasion, but late game Flying can be a god-send for you to get through damage.

I mean, the deck already has aerial threats thanks to Thopters, Inkmoth, etc.

But honestly the more I think about it, really the only upside is how early you can play it.

In most cases I can imagine an Etched Champion feels to me like the better card, but Metalcraft can be turned off, Etched Champion could get walled off in the mirror, etc.

I think it’s worth trying out both of them, but only as 2 copies, 3 at the most, essentially replacing 2-3 Flex slots of the 4-5 that Affinity/Robots usually has free.

I think the biggest issue honestly is that neither are artifacts and can’t contribute to Metalcraft, Cranial Plating, etc. But they might be beefy enough to make up for it. I know playing them on Turn 1 certainly would.