Rebbec and Glacian (Help me Brew)

[Hawk]

Teenage Hawk loved the novel "The Thran", so I've been waiting almost 20 years for them to create cards for Rebbec, Architect of Ascension and Glacian, Powerstone Engineer. Commander Legends finally pays it off. Rebbec is spicy and cool, potentially getting us full protection. Glacian...kinda sucks (but then he is deadweight for most of the story). I know from an optimization standpoint, Rebbec is much more powerful if paired with Armix, Filigree Thrasher or Silas Renn, Seeker Adept - they are themselves artifacts and also they are creatures with saboteur abilities that she helps enable with her protection. But after 20 years, it would be wrong to have Rebbec not appear with her husband, right?

I'm trying to figure out a deck with the two of them. So far, here's what I have:

- Rebbec really wants ways to become one with the machine herself (ironic, given the point of the story). We will be running Liquimetal Coating and Thran Forge and possibly even Argent Mutation to that end. These will help protect Reb and Glacian, and double as a cheap way to turn opposing permanents into artifacts and then blow them up with Disenchant effects.
- Rebbec also empowers saboteurs. I think it's too narrow to include non-artifact-creature saboteurs, but she makes it very safe to swing out with Sharding Sphinx, Myr Battlesphere, Arcbound Slith, Bladegriff Prototype, Steel Hellkite, and (perhaps most notably), Geode Golem.
- Affinity is great for a Rebbec and Glacian deck since it lets us curve out faster and flood the board while getting higher CMCs onto the battlefield.
- Auras and equipment are really awkward with Rebbec in play; they can still go on non-artifact creatures but will fall off if you turn them into artifacts. That's some tough tension for an aggressive deck, where staples like Lightning Greaves become tougher to utilize. Ditto a token-based deck with Skullclamp.

And from there...I dunno, There's for sure a world where we just beatdown with some sort of aggressive Tempered Steel strategy. There's also a world where we try to set up Auriok Salvagers durdle-loops, which Glacian helps us dig to. There's a world where we are some sort of defensive toolbox deck using the Mages (Trinket Mage, Trophy Mage, Tribute Mage, and Treasure Mage) + Artificer's Intuition, Fabricate, and Glacian himself to find the "perfect answer" to any problem. There's a world where we go STAX-y (Glacian can dig to and then break the symmetry of Static Orb and Winter Orb) but I have zero interest in doing that. What else can we do with this dynamic duo?

[darrenhabib]

My first thoughts are that it would be nice to have ways to cast and/or search for artifacts at instant speed so that you can be reactive to your opponents in the face of removal or even blocking or attacking or whatever.
Arcum Dagsson and Whir of Invention can search at instant speed.
Master Transmuter can put an artifact into play from hand.
Shimmer Myr for casting artifacts at instant speed.

It's possible that you could have a Myr subtheme as it could fill in a few roles.
Myr Turbine allows you to go wide for Glacian, Powerstone Engineer, as well as potentially searching at instant speed.
Myr Battlesphere and Myr Propagator also go wide.
Myr Landshaper is able to make your lands artifacts which means they are protected from targeted removal like Strip Mine for example.
I also like Gold Myr, Silver Myr, Myr Retriever, Palladium Myr, Myr Welder, Myr Galvanizer and of course Shimmer Myr.
Also to fit into this Mirrodin Besieged to go wide or even combine with Glacian ability to dump artifacts into your graveyard to make opponents lose.
Having artifact creatures will enable Arcum Dagsson.

I like Acquire and Thada Adel, Acquisitor because they allow you to look at your opponents library to access what converted mana cost you might want to preemptively protect against and then you might even be able to get artifacts of cmc to fill those roles. Seems like more fun than usual.

Glacian, Powerstone Engineer specifically gets around draw restrictions that might be in place so Omen Machine, Spirit of the Labyrinth, Possessed Portal as ways to stop opponents card advantages but continue to get cards yourself.
Also Zur's Weirding is a card that can stop people from drawing too many relevant cards and Glacian can make sure you still get action.

Glacian also can dump tons of cards into your graveyard so it can't be understated that you should look to use your graveyard as a resource.
I play an Azorius reanimation deck with Niambi, Esteemed Speaker so I have suggestions at the ready.
Idol of Endurance, Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle, Emry, Lurker of the Loch, Loyal Retainers, Trove Warden, Karmic Guide, Sun Titan, Emeria Shepherd, Gate to the Afterlife, God-Pharaoh's Gift, Elspeth Conquers Death.
Further to your artifact theme and graveyard; Arcbound Reclaimer, Argivian Archaeologist, Buried Ruin, Sequestered Stash, Academy Ruins, Cavalier of Dawn, Dance of the Manse, Hanna, Ship's Navigator, Open the Vaults, Scarecrone, Scrap Trawler.

It might be a little bit hard to resist Mycosynth Lattice as it gives all your permanents protection and then you can look to go Karn, the Great Creator to lock down opponents mana sources.

[Hawk]

Alright awesome - I hadn't considered reanimator, but I think Glacian can dig so much and Rebbec can keep us safe for so long that it's easy enough to find "just" Open the Vaults, Dance of the Manse, and maybe Triumphant Reckoning (although probably not) as our big table flippers especially since the deck can also grind value out of Salvagers, Hannah, Scarecrone, and Reclaimer. Also love the "plan B" of winning with Mirrodin Besieged. Also crucial, if we mill or spend a flipper early we can use Codex Shredder (possibly recycled ad nauseum) to keep rebuying them.

Here's what I'm thinking:

The Return of the Thran

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

Commanders: 2

1 Rebbec, Architect of Ascension

1 Glacian, Powerstone Engineer

Powering the Engine (Ramp): 13

1 Sol Ring

1 Wayfarer's Bauble

1 Arcane Signet

1 Azorius Signet

1 Etherium Sculptor

1 Gold Myr

1 Mind Stone

1 Silver Myr

1 Talisman of Progress

1 Commander's Sphere

1 Palladium Myr

1 Thran Dynamo

1 Mycosynth Golem

Research and Development (Draw and Tutors): 8

1 Careful Study

1 Witching Well

1 Thirst for Knowledge

1 Trinket Mage

1 Rhystic Study

1 Fact or Fiction

1 Thoughtcast

1 Whir of Invention

A Solution for Every Problem (Answers): 11

1 Aether Spellbomb

1 Dispeller's Capsule

1 Pithing Needle

1 Soul-guide Lantern

1 Engineered Explosives

1 Dispatch

1 Swords to Plowshares

1 Disenchant

1 Cyclonic Rift

1 Scourglass

1 Duplicant

Every Part in its Place (Utility and Defense): 16

1 Ashnod's Tramsogrant

1 Merchant Dockhand

1 Ethersworn Canonist

1 Liquimetal Coating

1 Smuggler's Copter

1 Spellskite

1 Myr Propagator

1 Myr Galvanizer

1 Shimmer Myr

1 Sculpting Steel

1 Myr Welder

1 Thran Forge

1 Thopter Spy Network

1 Bladegriff Prototype

1 Geode Golem

1 Myr Turbine

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (Reanimation Engines): 6

1 Codex Shredder

1 Myr Retriever

1 Emry, Lurker of the Loch

1 Scrap Trawler

1 Arcbound Reclaimer

1 Auriok Salvagers

The Endgame (Threats and Finishers): 8

1 Mirrodin Besieged

1 Sharding Sphinx

1 Steel Hellkite

1 Sun Titan

1 Myr Battle Sphere

1 Akroma's Memorial

1 Dance of the Manse

1 Open the Vaults

Land: 36

1 Seat of the Synod

1 Darksteel Citadel

1 Ancient Den

1 Buried Ruins

1 Glacial Fortress

1 Prairie Stream

1 Hallowed Fountain

1 Irrigated Farmland

1 Flooded Strand

1 Azorius Chancery

1 Temple of Enlightenment

13 Island

12 Plains

Approximate Total Cost:

[darrenhabib]

Here is a really solid game plan. It is based around using Mystic Sanctuary to put Dance of the Manse, Open the Vaults, Triumphant Reckoning back on top of library to cast.
The idea is that if you get a really big "mill" engine (not mill but you know what I mean) then there will be a large chance that you put one of these big reanimation spells into your graveyard as well.
Now fetchlands for Islands are kind of necessary to this plan, Polluted Delta, Scalding Tarn, Misty Rainforest, Flooded Strand.

Now what if Mystic Sanctuary gets milled? Crucible of Worlds is your ticket here. Then all this is backed up with Buried Ruin, Sequestered Stash, Academy Ruins as lands so that you can put Crucible of Worlds back on top as well. Glacian can dig for Crucible pretty well.

Expedition Map and Tolaria West can search for Mystic Sanctuary as well.

It might be that you do a medium sized Mystic Sanctuary into reanimation spell during the game, but you want to do another one later on.
This is where Azorius Chancery can bounce the Mystic Sanctuary for further use.

I would personally try and make the deck more lean with artifact costs so that you can tap Glacian for higher numbers potentially. Now there is a ton of "cEDH" cards I can rattle off but I see your not in for spikiness so I'll give you some legit options;
Mishra's Bauble, Urza's Bauble, Sensei's Divining Top, Arcum's Astrolabe (if you have Snow-Covered Basics).

Walking Atlas is always a card I like to try and run.

Bident of Thassa is an option as actually forcing an opponent to attack could be quite tricky with your protection plan as often you'll have a solid defense, so it just depends if the other players also have good blockers. Then of course you have the draw.

Sai, Master Thopterist seems like a must. With the Dance of the Manse/Open the Vaults plan you can even feel good about sacrificing for the draw early on in the game if necessary.

Urza, Lord High Artificer is normally associated with spikiness but you've established that you are not playing the Winter Orb, Trinisphere, Static Orb type game anyway, so he just represents good value imo for your deck.

[onering]

I feel like Urza is a must simply because he gets Glacans spark