Legacy: Cam Painter Combo - Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide

Greetings, Legacy community! All good? Great, but lower your voice: we're being watched! Sewer-veillance Cam was expected to do a lot in Legacy, and now that it is here, we can say for certain it definitely lived up to our expectations. The way it interacts with Goblin Welder is incredibly strong: it can end the game on the spot if you pair it with the right artifact as well.

This card immediately started seeing play in many Painter's Servant lists because this deck already plays Goblin Welder. Nonetheless, a few players are already leaving this combo behind for good and only focusing on Cam. As this Painter-less version is still very new and rough, today we'll only explore the regular version, with the Goblin.

Once again we'll use a list created by sakuragi21722749, who won a Challenge 32 on Magic Online with it. The Painter combo base (activating Grindstone with Painter's Servant in play to mill the opponent's deck all at once) is still the same: Painter's Servant, Grindstone, Urza's Saga, Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, Goblin Welder, Goblin Engineer, and Pyroblast. This list also plays a versatile artifact kit that you can find and bring back from the graveyard: Chaos Defiler, Phyrexian Dragon Engine, Agatha's Soul Cauldron, and Ensnaring Bridge.

The difference between this list and others is that, because it plays Sewer-veillance Cam, we need to find ways to take advantage of its ability, which activates Goblin Welder an infinite number of times. The best card to do that is Melded Moxite, which can set off an infinite combo already on turn 2: all you have to do is play Goblin Welder on turn 1 and Moxite on turn 2, discarding Sewer-veillance Cam. Then, activate and swap Moxite for Cam as many times as you want. You can draw/discard Cam through your deck until you find and discard Legion Extruder. If you reuse this card infinitely, then it's a way to end the game.

Besides Moxite, Sewer-veillance Cam and Goblin Welder also interact really well with Mox Opal/Great Furnace, as together they create infinite mana. When you swap one of these cards for Cam, they come into play untapped, so you can get one mana from them each time you activate them.

Like so, this deck now has two ways to win. Now, an answer that was efficient against the other version (like Null Rod) might not be enough to stop it.

Finally, this deck plays another Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles card: Skateboard, which has been popular in Urza's Saga lists as a replacement for Lavaspur Boots. Everyone who has played this land even once knows you'll often win with it in another way: by simply creating Construct tokens and attacking with them. Skateboard makes this plan a lot faster because it adds haste to the mixture and removes a blocker.

Painter lists are always popular, but they depend on the meta. One thing that was pushing this deck to the sidelines was how popular Show and Tell lists were because winning with Grindstone over Emrakul, the Aeons Torn's triggered ability was no easy task. Now, you can just ignore that and win.

Furthermore, now an untapped Goblin Welder is a constant threat that can end the game on the spot. Before, it acted more as a value engine: it was dangerous, of course, but not necessarily lethal.

Finally, Pyroblast in the main deck is no longer dead against non-blue lists, which is a huge advantage.

Usually, combo decks always follow the same rule when it comes to mulligans: if you're playing combo, mulligan after your combo. Cam Painter is a bit different because, as it has lots of ways to win and tutor cards, you can keep hands that are a bit less objective if they come with a plan, no matter how small. Of course, you might just get absurd hands that put the combo in play early on - just keep those.

Let's see a few examples:

This hand has nearly everything, but it is missing one red mana. Against blue decks, it is too risky because it automatically loses to Force of Will. Against decks that don't play counterspells or that can't kill you on turn 1, you can keep it. Fable on turn 1 opens the way for a lot of things on the following turn.

Verdict: mulligan it. You can keep it against decks that aren't explosive or that don't play Force of Will.

This is a great hand. It already has a combo and can find another on turn 2. Starting with Welder on turn 1 and Moxite on turn 2 sets up a few things: if you draw Sewer-veillance Cam and discard it with Moxite, that's already a combo on turn 2. If you don't, you can discard Painter's Servant and swap with Welder to set up another combo with Grindstone on turn 3. There is another possibility: if you draw Cam with Moxite, you can play Lotus Petal, create blue mana, swap Moxite for Petal, play Cam, and win.

Verdict: keep it. Look at how many things you can do with it.

This hand is slow and not that interesting against most decks. It is interesting against slow opponents or opponents that struggle against Ensnaring Bridge - Eldrazi, for instance.

Verdict: mulligan it. Only keep it against slow opponents.

This hand is weird, but it can work because of the fetchland. If you put Welder in play through Furnace on turn 1, all you have to do is wait until your next drawing step to get a Melded Moxite. If that doesn't happen, you can get Thundering Falls, play an artifact in the graveyard, and swap Great Furnace. But that's a lot of "ifs". I'd send it back.

Verdict: mulligan it.

The first card that stands out in this sideboard is Ravenous Trap. Four copies of it are the 0-turn answers that all decks that see play online are forced to use against Oops.

Afterward, there are 2 wide-range cards that hit a lot of things but aren't particularly effective against anything: Abrade and Disruptor Flute. Because Legacy is so diverse, playing these wide-range cards is often necessary.

You'll also see 2 Blood Moon, which are a real threat against some decks in the format - Cloudpost, Lands (be careful to not enable Dark Depths), and Beanstalk Control.

The rest of the sideboard includes Urza's Saga targets: Haywire Mite as an extra answer for artifacts/enchantments, Pithing Needle, which disables many problematic abilities, and Soul-Guide Lantern as extra protection against graveyards.

Other options you can use include Fury, Leyline of the Void, Lightning Bolt, and Mindbreak Trap.

Dimir Tempo

The real issue in this matchup is keeping Goblin Welder alive against Orcish Bowmasters (be careful with your Melded Moxite!!), so playing Cam combos will be more difficult. You should go with the Painter strategies instead. Pyroblasts in the main deck make a huge difference against Force of Will.

Post-side, they'll struggle against Blood Moon. Abrade hits almost nothing on the other side, so I don't recommend getting it. Meanwhile, you must stop Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student's planeswalker side, so Needle and Flute are a must. Flute, on top of it all, can disable some of their answers if you play it at the end of a turn and also open the way so you can play your combo once it's your turn again. Another idea is getting only Needle and Moon, and in this case you may keep more Moxites and Cams.

In:

Out:

Show and Tell

This was a problematic matchup, but Cam balanced things out because they don't have an easy answer against Goblin Welder.

Post-side, you'll rely less on the Painter combo and get answers for Show and Tell and Sneak Attack (don't get Needle if they're not playing red).

In:

Out:

Boros Aggro

The problematic card in this matchup is Goblin Bombardment because it allows them to win over Ensnaring Bridge and turns tokens into answers to Goblin Welder. But they must always keep an answer for Painter, or you'll win. If Goblin Welder lives for one turn, you don't need to push the combo through on the spot: playing it at instant speed as an answer to something they play works really well too.

In:

Out:

Oops

In game 1, you'll have to get lucky with the dice to win, and it will still be difficult because you don't have many ways to prevent them from playing their combo on turn 1: Agatha's Soul Cauldron or Painter's Servant + Pyroblast.

Post-side, you'll get your graveyard answers. There's not much you can do: you'll avoid dying on turn 1 and, if you survive, anything you can do to win works.

In:

Out:

Eldrazi Stompy

You must keep an eye on Kozilek's Command, Chalice of the Void, Wasteland, Wastescape Battlemage, and Thought-Knot Seer.

Kozilek's Command answers Goblin Welder and hits things in your graveyard. Chalice of the Void can disrupt many of your plans. Wasteland can cut your time short when paired with Eldrazi pressure. Wastescape Battlemage can exile important artifacts. And Thought-Knot Seer can remove key cards.

In any case, they're not efficient enough to disable your game plan and will struggle to win over Ensnaring Bridge. Abrade and Haywire Mite will open the way so that you can play your combo over Disruptor Flute.

In:

Out:

I believe Sewer-veillance Cam was the most discussed card when we reviewed the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set with Legacy in mind, and indeed it proved to be very efficient. Adding something new to a consolidated list is no easy task, but this new artifact did it. It's true that it caught some decks by surprise, particularly if they thought Null Rod was enough to stop this archetype. As the meta evolves, though, we'll see how it adapts to welcome this new/old deck.

What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!