This is an Izzet Ensoul Artifact list that plays heavily into the artifact synergies with Gleaming Geardrake while also adding a new wrinkle to the late-game in the form of The Royal Scions. The real goal of this deck is just to get your opponent down to 5 life and then shrapnel blast them for the win. This is pretty much always a viable path to victory as well since so many of our cards help dig through our deck to make sure we find a Shrapnel Blast eventually. I've elected to take Jegantha out of the sideboard since this deck never runs out of things to do with its mana, and also presenting Jegantha at the beginning of the game telegraphs to our opponent that we are on an aggressive red or green strategy which can impact their mulligan decisions.
Beating Aggro:
Our plan here is pretty simple - just out-race them! Luckily we have plenty of great chump blockers and our deck can already pretty reliably kill people on turn four, so all we have to do is bring in Anger of the Gods and Rending Volley to slow them down a bit. If they are a convoke deck spitting out loads of creatures, then Rampaging Ferocidon can come in on the play to punish them for it, but it's most likely too slow on the draw since their hand will already be on the field by the time we can cast it.
Beating Midrange:
Our plan here is to deal as much early damage as humanly possible so we can put them into burn range before they can mount a solid defense and turn the corner on us. Evasive threats are our friend here as well to peck in steady points of damage so that a shrapnel blast can finish them off down the line. The sideboard plan is really just whatever you think might be good in the matchup since most Midrange decks in the format also run off of some powerful engine that can potentially be disrupted. Stubborn Denial is probably always coming in as well just to deal with their answers that they'll board in. Don't sleep on The Akroan War as the best answer to Vein Ripper in the format.
Beating Control:
Our plan here is largely the same as for Midrange, just pummel them early until they are within burn range and then bait out all of their counterspells before Blasting their face. Legion Extruder and The Royal Scions allow us to grind a little harder against sweepers thankfully, but a well-placed Metallic Rebuke should be enough to finish them off as long as you play smart. The sideboard plan is also pretty much the same with picking your disruption of choice, but Stubborn Denial is a must in order to stop their early answers so that we can quickly close out the game before they take... control of it.
Beating Combo:
This could be a pretty difficult matchup since our deck is rather linear with not too much in the way of interaction. We'll just have to focus on our plan A and kill them before they can combo-off while being cognizant of which pieces are most important to them and hold up Metallic Rebuke for the spells that matter. Sideboarding gives us Rampaging Ferocidon for Amalia/Cat-Oven, Grafdigger's Cage for Amalia/Phoenix/Greasefang/Lotus Field, Magebane Lizard for Lotus Field/Phoenix, and any of the other disruptive spells that are important for the matchups. So take note of how the opponent is trying to win in game one and sideboard wisely!
